3. Give a five-minute expository speech, using largely the method of examples, on one of the following topics: (a) Rationalization (b) Conditioned responses (e) Motive of self-preservation Tact (g) Suggestibility (h) The three forms of force. 4. Give a five-minute expository speech, using largely the method of comparison, on one of the following topics: 5. Give a five-minute speech, using largely the method of causal relation, on one of the following topics: 6. Give a five-minute expository speech, using largely the method of restatement, on one of the following topics: (a) The greatness of Washington (b) The essentials of Lincoln's character (c) The meaning of competition (d) The horrors of war (e) The virtues of indolence (f) Failures of success (g) The message of Roosevelt. 7. Prepare a six-minute expository speech on a subject of your own choosing, in which you will make use of a carefully prepared chart. 8. Give a six-minute expository speech, on a subject of your own choosing, in which you will make careful use of models or samples. CHAPTER XXVII AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES I. DEFINITION AND FUNCTION II. FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES A. Short B. Good-Humored C. Spontaneous D. Interesting E. More than a String of Funny Stories I. DEFINITION AND FUNCTION If we say that an after-dinner speech' is simply a speech which is delivered to any audience immediately after dinner, and while they are still seated at the dinner table, we have not done very much to define the type of speech we have in mind. Almost any type of speech, of course, might be delivered under such circumstances. A lecture or a campaign speech, however, which is delivered to an audience immediately after the audience have dined, is not particularly different from any other lecture or campaign speech. Of course, in such a situation the speaker should consider this fact, as he should consider all facts that have a bearing upon the spirit and temper of his audience. If there are special circumstances concerning the banquet, which have a significant bearing upon the temper of the audience, or touch particularly the speaker or the subject, they should be given careful consideration. But this is only to say that any circumstances bearing upon the condition in which a speaker finds his audience should always be given full weight. 1 See J. M. O'Neill's Models of Speech Composition, and Modern Short Speeches. The typical after-dinner speech is given for the primary purpose of entertainment. It may have, and probably will have, some serious thoughts; but it will not be given primarily for the purpose of praising some great man, or winning votes in an election, or gaining support for some legislative program, or selling goods, or winning a law suit, or saving souls. The main purpose of an after-dinner speech is to give the listeners a good time. II. FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES A good after-dinner speech usually has the following characteristics: A. Short. Good after-dinner speeches are usually from five to fifteen minutes in length. The time limits that have been agreed upon or prescribed by the toastmaster should be carefully observed. An after-dinner speech which steals the time properly belonging to other speakers is discourteous. One that continues after the audience has wearied of it, is a poor speech, regardless of whatever good qualities it may otherwise have. B. Good-Humored. It is good-humored, friendly, happy, intimate. Contentious questions, matters which arouse feelings of bitterness, opposition, anger, sorrow, etc., are either excluded or treated with great tact. Good after-dinner speakers do not attempt to grind any of their own axes in their after-dinner speeches, or to pay off political or professional grudges. C. Spontaneous. It is fresh, spontaneous. It aims to have certain of its points rise out of the occasion itself. It is related to what has been said by others who have spoken before. It is, at least in part and perhaps wholly, extemporaneous; manufactured as used, but manufactured out of ideas that have been planned in advance. D. Interesting. An after-dinner speech should be interesting. It should be suited to the audience to whom it is addressed, and expressed in language which they can understand. It should have no figures of speech that are not full of meaning to them. It should touch their life, their interests, their experience. E. More than a String of Funny Stories. Probably more after-dinner speeches fail because of the speaker's attempt to tell funny stories than for any other one reason. If you have a good story which is appropriate to the occasion and your subject, and you know how to tell it, it may be worth while to include itotherwise omit it. See to it that your after-dinner speech is more than a string of unrelated stories which seem funny to you. EXERCISES 1. Prepare a list of appropriate topics for after-dinner speeches for one of the following occasions: (a) Annual dinner of the debating society of the college (b) Annual dinner of the college dramatic club (c) Complimentary dinner to the football club (d) Complimentary dinner to the Dean of the college on his birthday (e) College alumni dinner in June (f) Senior class dinner. 2. Bring to class prepared to read for class criticism a four-minute after-dinner speech on one of the following topics. State the kind of occasion, audience, etc., you have in mind. (a) Our Opponents (b) College Spirit (d) The Ways of an Editor (g) Triumph in Defeat (h) The Good Old Days (k) Rebuttal (1) Hills to Climb (m) On Rounding Curves (q) Pied Type (r) Gray Matter (i) The Fish that Got Away (s) The Day We Celebrate (j) The Road Ahead (t) After-Dinner Speeches. 3. Let the class be divided into groups of seven members each. From the programs handed in for Exercise 1, arrange a separate program for each group. Appoint one member of each group to act as toastmaster, and have each group take up a recitation period with a program of five-minute speeches. 4. Bring to class a good after-dinner speech from some collection of speeches. Be prepared to read it aloud to the class and to give a careful criticism of it. Tell exactly what you like about it, and what you do not like about it, if anything. 5. Prepare for oral delivery in which you worked for Exercise 2. class the after-dinner speech on Profit as much as possible from the class criticism of that exercise, and from other experiences in these exercises. Let this be the best after-dinner speech that you are capable of making. |