[Aice 29]

Has anyone taken this course or is taking it ? I have to make a persuasive speech on a topic of my choice during my last Intro. to Speech Communications class. It has to be 3-4 min. long and I'm stuck..

I have a couple of ideas of what I can make a speech about like maybe foreign films and how some people are turned off by subtitles and they miss out on great films because they aren't made by Hollywood. I'd probably talk mostly about asian movies because that's the maj. of the ones I watch but I have watched italian, spanish, etc.. movies. I'm not sure how I would organize it, though...just discuss the premises and other things about a few of the movies I've enjoyed? Or should I try to cover a more sensitive topic like bullying and start by talking about Cho Seung Hui and the columbine school killers, showing the monumental consequences that bullying can inflict. Then, from there I can go on about basic facts about bullying and specific cases. I know my teacher wants us to have personal anecdotes , so should I include experiences of people I know like an old friend who was harassed by another girl in high school ( she would write harsh things on her locker, desks,etc.. going to an all girls school can get vicious). I can also talk about my cousin who takes medication for depression because she gets bullied in her school for her heavy weight. Well, she's probably 13 now but she was 12 the time I saw her (she's so innocent and sweet, too ). I've experienced bullying in my elementary school as well but I'm uncomfortable disclosing that detail in class. I'm too embarrassed to state the main reason why I was and I don't think I can just state that I was bullied in my childhood without giving specifics. I wonder if i can even mention all this in 3 to 4 minutes . Does anyone have feedback on my ideas, what I've written in general, or have any other interesting suggestions for a persuading speech? It has to relate to a group of students roughly around 18 to early 20s. There are a few older students ( one of them is a father). I don't want anything too controversial and difficult to understand and argue... nothing too common or done to death, too.

If you read everything I typed, thanks. p.s. Please reply .

[Johnny Y]

I've taken Speech twice, two different classes because I thought it was interesting. I think it might be too soon to be talking about Cho Seung Hui, but maybe it feels that way because I live in VA. You should just do a speech that's interesting to you since you'll be able to speak passionately about it and you'll be able to stay motivated writing in. Plus if you forget something, you'll still know all about it. I once wrote a paper about the influence of Asian Cinema (mainly Akira Kurosawa) on Western Cinema. I think if you could find research(might be hard though), the whole subtitles and foreign film thing could be cool. You could do a persuasive speech on why people should watch more foreign films and talk about how they're unique, educational, and give viewers a glimpse of culture. Anyway, hope some of this helped and good luck with your speech!

[Aice 29]

Thanks for the reply . Yea, I've decided to do my speech on foreign films and have found articles about them and americans ( and some british) reception to them. I'm not sure what would be a good opener for my speech though.

[annyunghee]

Oooh! I had to do a speech on this also! Dang! I can't remember what my topic was! ...It might have been something with Korea in it...