by: Carla Robinson
Every high school student is required to take Speech I, which is a semester long class taught by Mrs. Colleen Westergard.
In this class students give a variety of speeches, including educational, impromptu, how-to, and informative speeches.
Currently, this semester’s two classes are working on their informative speeches, where they give a speech on a topic that they have knowledge of, interest in, and that their audience would want to learn about.
After choosing their topic, the students found three solid resources to incorporate into their speech as well as cite them. By using sources and citing them in the speech, the students sound more credible to their audience, this also helps the audience know where they can go if they want more information.
“The informative speech is an excellent project for Speech I students because they bring all of the skills they have learned first quarter and apply them to a longer speech. They also incorporate research and learn the importance of citing sources within the speech,” said Speech I teacher Mrs. Colleen Westergard about why the informative speech is an important part of the Speech I class.
Some of the topics that the students will be giving informative speeches on which include, but are not limited to: first aid information, the history of chocolate, violence in South Africa, rodeo, teen pregnancy, bulimia, the anniversary of the Oreo Cookie, and the history of Sioux City.