Help Someone Who is New to OO?

[Grandiloquence]

Hey everyone!

This is my first year doing speech/debate and at my school, we are required to compete in OO.

I do have an idea for my oratory, but I figure it's been overdone (it's about teen girls' obsession with being thin rather than being healthy). I have to ask, is it?

If it is, I'll probably end up doing it anyway. I have an idea for an introduction, but I still need to actually, well, write everything down. Can someone please guide me to how to get started? My coaches are stressing the usage of vehicles, as well as the method of writing the body of the oratory before the introduction and conclusion, and honestly, that's intimidating because this is all new to me.

Being new to this, any help at all is really appreciated. (:

[airpezman]

I would check out www.thespeechsite.com for examples of excellent oratories. (2002 NFL Final Round Transcripts). I would find a good model and pay close to attention to structure.

Also, there is a video on Oratory on the nfl website that is about 10 minutes long conducted by one of the greatest oratory coaches of all time, Mr. Joe Wycoff.


PEZ

[oratorygirl]

There is no such thing as an overdone topic, because each speech is ORIGINAL! For example, the person that won NFL nats did it on imagination. It has to do with taking a spin on the topic that will interest the audience. In other words, don't stick to the basic facts that everyone already knows.

You should definitely outline and write the body of your oratory before writing the intro and adding vehicles. It's a lot easier that way.

[Grandiloquence]

@PEZ - Wow, thank you so much for the site! That is really helpful. Definitely bookmarking.

@oratorygirl - Thanks for the advice! I'm outlining it right now and am (unrealistically) trying to get it done by tomorrow. I have an absolutely terrible habit of procrastination, unfortunately. It's getting a bit better though.

[prosergal]

I don't know if you still want some advice, but i would suggest approach writing this OO as you would a research paper you would write for school. Granted, you don't need as much citation, but the principles still hold.

And have you had this proof-read by a teacher or future English Major?

I also found this article on structure of an OO:
http://www.forensicscommunity.com/bl...ry#comment-383

[mayday53]

i have seen that topic alot, and its one of those speeches where i think "oh man my mom talks to me about that," which there is nothing wrong with. I think that if you took your own original spin on it, it would be awesome!

last year in my speech i had a section on weight and how we focused on it too much, but instead of girls, i focused on football boys that pack on the weight to be the best high school linemen. i got a bunchh of positive comments that all talked about how they had never thought of that and it was a great spin on an old discussion. (my piece last year was about how we make to many decisions based on numbers)

[klau1230]

I think another question you have to answer is why are you writing on this topic? why do you care specifically about this topic, and not something else? how is that special? most importantly, what makes this speech YOU?

this can be accomplished through your AGD, jokes, impact story etc. and it will allow you to stand out.

structure is also important. once you outline your points (causes, effects..@$#^%..) with the right structure, it's just plugging things in.

[remiss]

It might seem intimidating at first, but it'll come together eventually! Just keep working or trying... and remember that this one OO isn't the end of the world. You have years of practice available.

[acon11]

Structure and caring about the topic is great, but it is also crucial to speak conversationally and naturally. When I write speeches, I attempt to write the conversationally--that is, I try to make it sound as natural as possible. I think that is a big part of the performance aspect of OO--that fact that, in the end, it shouldn't be a performance.