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It’s happened: you’ve just begun this course, and already your instructor has assigned your first speech. Often, this first assignment is designed to be an icebreaker—a speech introducing a classmate, for example, or talking about yourself. Such assignments are usually focused on giving students an opportunity to speak in front of the class in a low-pressure situation as well as a chance to get to know one another better. Other instructors may begin with a more substantive assignment, such as a three- to five-minute speech describing a hero in your community or an artifact that is significant to your culture. In either case, because the speech comes early in the term, you will not be expected to be familiar with all of the concepts in this book. However, your professor will have covered some of these topics and will expect to see you apply them in your presentation.

In this section of chapter 2, you’ll find a quick guide to preparing and delivering your first speech. By following each of these steps, you should be able to pull together a workable speech and deliver it on the appointed day. Refer to your assignment description or ask your instructor which of these steps you will be responsible for, and emphasize them in your preparation. If you’d like to know more about any of these steps, use the following table to find the corresponding chapter where each step is discussed in more detail.