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CST 110: Public Speaking Guide (Annandale)

This public speaking guide is created for students in CST 110 with Prof. Karimova.

Get General Information and Overviews on Speech

What is a speech?

A speech is a formal talk given to an audience. Speeches tend to be clearly organized and have a fairly defined structure, such as Cicero's classic six-part arrangement...They are often given on special occasions, such as awards ceremonies, recognition events, and important social rite-of-passage events such as weddings, conventions, and campaigns".

What is an informational presentation?

Informational presentations focus on giving the audience facts, figures, statistics, analyses, and other information necessary for making decisions or understanding a current situation. Informational presentations are extremely common in business and business-like settings like volunteer organizations or committees. Reports, summaries, press statements, and debriefs are all informational presentations.

What is a persuasive presentation?

Persuasive presentations are intended to convince an audience to take a specific action or point of view. Nearly every presentation has an element of persuasion in it. Sales presentations, legal speeches, and motivational talks are obvious forms of persuasive presentation. Other types of presentations might have a persuasive element embedded in them. Many educational presentations are also intended to persuade people to adopt a new idea, process, or way of thinking. Speeches are often persuasive in nature, especially when being given for political reasons. Skill in persuasive presenting is highly valued in business settings.

To obtain more information from Handy Answer, see the section SPEECHES AND PRESENTATIONS in: 

The Handy Answer: The Handy Communication Answer Book

Access the additional resources listed below to begin to explore more about speech or search the Nova Library catalog:

Great Moments from Great Speeches

Your Guide to public speaking: build your confidence, find your voice, and inspire your audience

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Public Speaking and Presenting(with featured article "How to Give a Killer Presentation" by Chris Anderson

10 Steps to Successful Presentations

Information taken from Montgomery College Library Research Guide COMM 108: Speech