A CASE STUDY: MIA

Now that Mia has chosen her supporting materials, let’s see how she organized them into main points.

After gathering her supporting materials, Mia spent the next few days studying for a midterm exam for another class. Because she was on schedule for her speech preparation, she could take some time to relax, so she went to a movie with friends. The next day, Mia selected her main points. She wrote a brief description of each of the supporting materials that she was considering on a sticky note and then sorted these notes into categories. She ended up with ten different categories—which seemed like too many! Mia noted that several categories (such as using apps to calculate currency exchange, find lodging, and plan the next day’s route) could be combined into one main point about using smartphones for taking care of daily needs on emigrants’ journeys. Two other categories (limiting reliance on traffickers and surviving crises at sea) could fit under one main point on coping with danger. Other supporting materials fit under the general idea that a large number of emigrants rely on smartphones and consider them essential to their journey. Several other supporting materials fit into a potential main point about how smartphones help emigrants after they reach their final destination. She decided to leave this main point out because it did not relate to her specific purpose—emigrants’ use of smartphones during their journey.

Next, Mia considered the organizational pattern and order of main points in her speech. She selected a topical pattern because her main points did not really proceed in a chronological manner or fit a spatial pattern. Mia decided that her first main point would show the audience that many emigrants do consider smartphones essential. Then she would explain their uses for daily needs. She would end with the use of smartphones to deal with dangerous situations, which included some of her most compelling material.

Look for the and throughout the chapter for adaptive quizzing and online video activities.

A CASE STUDY: JACOB

Here’s how Jacob went about organizing his ideas.

Jacob needed to get going: he was presenting in two days. The speech was supposed to be at least a thousand words, and Jacob was determined to make that mark. He began by writing his introduction, telling the story of his favorite basketball player, Anthony Davis, who left college after one year to play professional basketball. Next, Jacob wrote down the opinion of his roommate, the former football player, to support the claim that scholarships did not provide student athletes with enough money. These two points took almost three hundred words. He was on his way!

Jacob cut and pasted several chunks of information from the article he found on Google, and he made it to six hundred words. Jacob then added his own opinions about why students on revenue-producing sports teams deserved to be paid a salary, supported by statistics. Finally, he added his plan. He had over one thousand words! Time to call it a day.

Look for the and throughout the chapter for adaptive quizzing and online video activities.