Assignment: Demonstration Speech

The nature of the demonstration speech is to show the audience how to do something. You'll want to be more creative for this presentation, as visual aids will add tremendous value to your delivery. Perhaps you can have someone record your activity, and then you place your narration overtop of the video. Perhaps it's something that you can show us with pictures or screen shots while you describe what we're seeing. Nonetheless, there are quite a few ways to get it done!

One of the best Demonstration Speeches I've seen was from a student who demonstrated in 7 minutes how to secure your wireless server. This may seem like familiar territory to all of us, but there's an enormous population in this country who have NO idea how to do this. The idea is not to do something trivial and simple, but rather to do something interesting and useful! Other ideas include how to cook something (spaghetti is one of my favorites!) or even how to change the oil in your vehicle. What can you teach others to do?

Remember to have good camera positioning while demonstrating. It's important that I can see you demonstrating (that means I need to see from your waist up). You may also incorporate other visual aids such as photos, screen shots, models, etc.

A few parameters:

1. Your speech much be between 5-10 minutes in length.

2. Please use at least 3 visuals.

3. Be sure to have an introduction. Tell us who you are, what you're planning to demonstrate and why you feel qualified to teach all of us to do this "thing." It is critical that you establish credibility - "Hi, I am Fred Flintstone.. I completed my MBA online and have been teaching virtual classes for three years. Today I'd like to share some best practices about online learning with you." You can get the feel just from the first couple sentences that I've introduce myself, my qualifications, and my topic. This helps establish credibility with your audience, removing any doubt as to your expertise.

4. Organize the body of the speech, and stick to your outline. Stay focused and remember - too much detail can sound like rambling!

5. Conclude by showing us the completed product and encouraging the audience to give it a try. Remind us of the process briefly and avoid leaving us hanging. "Thank you for watching" serves a great purpose in Demonstration Speeches.