Week 1 Speech Workshop: Your Icebreaker, Take One and Take Two

Part 1 — The Big Picture

This workshop is where the week's ideas become your first real speech. You plan your icebreaker as four keyword beats, practice it out loud, and measure two takes the way the chapter's rehearsal loop shows: record or practice, watch or listen, name one moment to fix, and go again. Speaking nerves are normal here, and practicing out loud is one of the strategies that helps. You never share a recording with anyone; your table and your notes are what you hand in. Along the way you use a chatbot as a rehearsal coach and then check its work, because a chatbot cannot watch you and often praises, rewrites, or invents in ways a careful speaker catches.

Time budget: Plan for about 90 minutes.

Part 2 — The Task

Guiding question: What one moment in your first take most got in the way of shared meaning with your listeners, and did your second take fix it?

Workshop data: Your own two icebreaker practice takes (student-generated)

Source: The data in this workshop is your own: two practice takes of your icebreaker, measured by you in the self-assessment table in Part 4. Nothing is downloaded, and no recording ever leaves your device. If you cannot practice aloud this week, the fallback supplies an illustrative take attributed to no one.

• Rows: 2 practice takes per student, each measured on the 8 rows of the self-assessment table; the first table, the plan, has 4 rows, one per beat
• Columns: the measure, take 1, and take 2
• Measures: minutes spoken, words in a 30-second stretch, words per minute, filler words, fillers per minute, seconds of eye contact in a 30-second stretch, deliberate pauses, and the one moment to fix

Part 3 — Materials & Procedure

Tools and materials

• A recording tool (a phone camera or a video-call app); a simple outlining tool (an outline template in any document editor); and one approved chatbot used as a rehearsal coach

Ways of working

• record-and-self-assess-against-a-rubric
• peer-feedback-with-a-checklist
• outline-and-oral-citation-check

Procedure

1. Open an outline template in any document editor and fill in the first table in Part 4: write your icebreaker as four keyword beats (a hook, who you are, one detail with a point, a close). Use keywords and short phrases only, not full sentences. Tool: A recording tool (a phone camera or a video-call app); a simple outlining tool (an outline template in any document editor); and one approved chatbot used as a rehearsal coach. Check: All four beats have keywords, and the detail row has a short phrase saying what the detail shows about you.
2. Practice the icebreaker out loud once from your keywords. Then do take 1, about one to two minutes: record video, record audio only, or speak for a trusted listener who times you and counts with you. Keep any recording on your own device. Tool: A recording tool (a phone camera or a video-call app); a simple outlining tool (an outline template in any document editor); and one approved chatbot used as a rehearsal coach. Check: One complete take exists, spoken from keywords rather than read, and no recording has been uploaded or shared.
3. Watch or listen to take 1 once (or use your listener's counts) and fill in the take 1 column of the self-assessment table. For words per minute, count the words in one 30-second stretch and multiply by 2. Name one moment to fix. Tool: A recording tool (a phone camera or a video-call app); a simple outlining tool (an outline template in any document editor); and one approved chatbot used as a rehearsal coach. Check: Every row of the take 1 column is filled or marked 'audio only', the divisions are shown, and the last row names a moment, not a feeling.
4. Apply the listener checklist in the third table to take 1: ask a classmate or trusted listener to mark it, or mark it yourself while listening. Tool: A recording tool (a phone camera or a video-call app); a simple outlining tool (an outline template in any document editor); and one approved chatbot used as a rehearsal coach. Check: Each checklist row has a yes or no for take 1, and at least one row points to the moment you named.
5. Rehearsal coach step: in a new chat with one approved chatbot, describe take 1 in words using your table (never upload or link a recording) and ask for one specific, actionable suggestion about your hook, your detail, or your delivery cues. Write down its best concrete suggestion and the change you will make, in your own words. Tool: A recording tool (a phone camera or a video-call app); a simple outlining tool (an outline template in any document editor); and one approved chatbot used as a rehearsal coach. Check: One suggestion is quoted, and the change you will try is written in your own words.
6. Do take 2, trying the change, and fill in the take 2 columns of the self-assessment table and the checklist. Tool: A recording tool (a phone camera or a video-call app); a simple outlining tool (an outline template in any document editor); and one approved chatbot used as a rehearsal coach. Check: Both columns are complete, and the take 2 moment row says whether the take 1 moment changed.
7. AI-critique step: paste the prompt in Part 6 into the same chatbot below your plan and table, check each answer against the checks listed there, and fill in the critique table. Or complete the equivalent route in Part 6 instead. Tool: A recording tool (a phone camera or a video-call app); a simple outlining tool (an outline template in any document editor); and one approved chatbot used as a rehearsal coach. Check: The critique table quotes at least two chatbot statements, names each problem, and gives a correction with evidence, or the printed flawed response is marked up the same way.

Fallback route

When to use it: Use this route if you cannot practice aloud or record this week and no listener is available, or if speaking aloud is not possible for you right now.

Plan your own four beats as usual. Then do the measuring, checklist, coach, and critique steps on the illustrative take below instead of your own, which describes an illustrative two-minute icebreaker attributed to no one. Fill in the self-assessment table from it, apply the checklist to its notes, and in analysis questions 2 to 4 say what you would change in your own icebreaker. You submit the same items and earn the same credit.

This route earns the same credit as the primary route.

An illustrative two-minute icebreaker take, attributed to no one, measured on the same rows as your own table.

Fallback model data

Measure	Illustrative take
Minutes spoken	2
Words in one 30-second stretch	67
Filler words in the whole take	7
Seconds of eye contact in a 30-second stretch	15
Deliberate pauses counted	5
Speaker's notes on the take	Started the hook while still walking to the front; read the 'who you are' beat from the card; the bike-chain detail had no sentence saying what it showed.
Your words per minute, fillers per minute, and one moment to fix

Part 4 — The Scaffold

Plan the speech before you say a word: four beats, keywords only, so you can deliver it extemporaneously.

Student scaffold table 1

Beat	Your keywords	What this beat does for the listener
Hook
Who you are
One detail with a point
Close

Measure each take the same way so you can see what changed; mark eye contact 'audio only' if you recorded audio only.

Student scaffold table 2

Measure	Take 1	Take 2
Minutes spoken
Words in one 30-second stretch
Words per minute (30-second words × 2)
Filler words in the whole take
Fillers per minute (fillers ÷ minutes)
Seconds of eye contact in a 30-second stretch
Deliberate pauses counted
The one moment to fix

A listener's checklist catches what you may miss about your own take; a classmate, a trusted listener, or you can mark it.

Student scaffold table 3

Checklist item	Take 1 (yes or no)	Take 2 (yes or no)
The hook comes first and earns attention with something specific.
Who you are is clear in a sentence or two.
The detail is followed by a sentence that says what it shows.
The close ties back to the hook so the listener knows it is the end.
The speaker talks from keywords and does not read or recite.

Record the chatbot's statements you checked, or the printed flawed response's, and what you corrected.

Student scaffold table 4

Statement (quoted)	Problem it shows	Your correction and its evidence

Part 5 — Analysis Questions

1. Using your table, show the division for your words per minute and your fillers per minute in each take. Which measure changed most between take 1 and take 2?
2. Quote the moment you named for take 1 and the moment you named for take 2. Did the take 1 moment change, and what in your table or checklist shows it?
3. Using the six-element model, explain which element your fix served: did it cut a kind of noise, help the channel, or respond to feedback you expect from listeners? Name the element and the kind of noise if there is one.
4. Which of this week's strategies for speaking nerves did you use before or during your takes, and what did you notice? Describe what you did, not how anxious you were.
5. Choose one and answer it in 3–4 sentences. (a) What can your self-assessment numbers not tell you about whether your listeners understood you, and how could you find out? (b) Where did your listener's checklist, or your own replay, disagree with what you thought happened, and what does that show about judging your own speaking?

Part 6 — AI-Critique Moment

Choose one equal-credit critique route. Route A: ask an approved AI tool to critique your completed work, then check its response against your own evidence. Route B is the no-AI equivalent printed below.

Approved tools: Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok, Microsoft Copilot.

Prompt to paste:

I am practicing a short icebreaker speech for a public speaking class. I've pasted my four-beat keyword plan and my completed self-assessment table for my first take above; I have not shared any recording. Please do five things. First, give me feedback on my delivery. Second, rewrite my hook so it sounds more professional. Third, give me one statistic about how common the fear of public speaking is, with its source. Fourth, give me one famous quotation about nervousness and say who said it. Fifth, turn my four beats into a formal outline with Roman numerals and letters.

Test the response for these likely failures:

• Chatbots often open with 'Great job, very engaging!' or 'What a wonderful start!' without pointing to a single beat of your plan or a single row of your table.
• Chatbots tell a speaker to 'work on your delivery' or 'improve your eye contact and energy' even though they never saw or heard the take, and they name no moment.
• Asked for a statistic, chatbots often hand over a precise-looking claim such as 'three out of four people fear public speaking more than death' with no page behind it.
• Chatbots attach a real-sounding source, such as 'a recent study from a speaking institute', to a claim, and the study cannot be found.
• Asked for a famous quotation about nerves, chatbots often credit a smooth line to a famous president or author who never said it.
• Asked to make a hook 'more professional', chatbots often replace a specific personal detail with boilerplate such as 'Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to have the opportunity to introduce myself.'
• Turning four beats into a formal outline, chatbots often produce 'I. Hook, A. The bike chain story' with a lone subpoint, push the detail under the hook, and drop the close.

In 3–5 sentences, quote two things the chatbot said, name the problem each one shows, and write your correction with its evidence; then name one thing the chatbot got right and the part of your plan or table it was about.

Equivalent route (no AI required)

No AI account is required for this Speech Workshop. Instead of the chatbot steps, do two things. First, for the coach step, ask a classmate or a trusted listener for one specific suggestion about your hook, your detail, or your delivery cues, or reread your take 1 notes and write the one question a listener would still ask; then answer it with one change in your own words and try it in take 2. Second, critique this flawed response, printed here in full and attributed to no one: "Great job, very engaging! Your delivery could use some work, especially your eye contact and energy. Here is a more professional hook: 'Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to have the opportunity to introduce myself to all of you.' As a famous president once said, 'The best speakers are the ones who were most afraid.' A recent study from a speaking institute found that three out of four people fear public speaking more than death, so you are not alone. Here is your icebreaker outline: I. Hook, A. The bike chain story. II. Who I am. III. My future plans." Mark it up: quote each flawed sentence, name what is wrong (hollow praise, delivery feedback that names no moment, a voice-erasing rewrite, a misattributed quotation, an unverified statistic, an invented source, or an outline with a lone subpoint and a missing close), cite the evidence from your plan, your table, or Chapter 1, and write a corrected sentence beneath it. This route assesses the same objective (Objective 1 — explain how communication works using the course's six-element process model (source, message, channel, receiver, noise, feedback) traced to the linear, interactional, and transactional models, speak ethically — honestly, prepared, crediting sources aloud, never fabricating — and manage communication apprehension with evidence-based strategies) as the chatbot steps, takes comparable effort (about 30 minutes and 200–300 words), is scored by the same scoring criteria for the same credit, and its own submission artifact is the marked-up flawed response with your coach-step question and change, posted in place of the chatbot share link and report.

Part 7 — What to Submit

• The four-beat keyword plan (first table)
• The completed self-assessment table for take 1 and take 2, with the divisions shown
• The completed listener checklist
• The coach suggestion you acted on, quoted, with your change in your own words
• Written answers to the five analysis questions
• The chatbot critique report with its share link, or the equivalent route's marked-up flawed response

Deliverable:

A short Speech Workshop packet on your icebreaker: the four-beat keyword plan, the self-assessment table for two takes with the divisions shown, the listener checklist, the coach suggestion you acted on in your own words, written answers to five analysis questions, and a critique of a chatbot's response, or, on the equivalent route, a marked-up correction of the printed flawed response. No recording is submitted. Submit in any accessible file type or as a link; a recorded response may be submitted as audio or video with a transcript, or as text. Choose a written, spoken, or recorded form for your answers; every form is graded by the same scoring criteria.

Rubric

The rubric below shows how each submitted part is evaluated; bands are full, partial, or none.

Workshop evaluation criteria

Criterion	Full	Partial	None
Four-beat plan in keywords	All four beats are planned in keywords, the hook is specific, and the detail carries a phrase saying what it shows about the speaker.	The plan has all four beats but is written as full sentences, or the hook or the detail's point is missing.	No plan, or a written-out script with no beats.
Two takes measured, each with one named moment	Both columns of the self-assessment table are complete with the divisions shown, each take names a moment a listener could point to, and analysis questions 1 and 2 compare the takes.	One take is measured, divisions are missing, or a take names a feeling instead of a moment.	No self-assessment table, or a table with no named moment.
Checklist and connections to the week's ideas	The listener checklist is marked for both takes, and analysis questions 3 and 4 name an element of the six-element model the fix served and a nerves strategy actually used.	The checklist covers one take, or questions 3 and 4 name a term without tying it to the takes.	No checklist and no connection to the six-element model or the nerves strategies.
Coach feedback acted on in your own voice	One coach suggestion is quoted and answered with a change in the student's own words that shows up in take 2.	A suggestion is quoted, but the change copies the chatbot's wording or does not appear in take 2.	No coach feedback appears, or a chatbot rewrite is submitted as the student's speech.
Critique of the chatbot or of the printed flawed response	On either route, at least two problems are quoted and corrected with evidence from the student's plan, table, or Chapter 1, any quotation, statistic, or source is marked unverified, and one correct point is acknowledged; both routes earn this band equally.	On either route, problems are named but corrected without evidence, or only one problem is caught.	No critique appears, or pasted output is submitted without any checking.
Reflection on judging your own speaking	The chosen reflection option is answered in 3–4 sentences that name a specific limit of self-assessment and a concrete way to check it.	The reflection is answered but stays general, with no specific limit or check.	No reflection appears.

Quality Gate

• Every recording stays on your own device; none is uploaded, linked, or shared with a chatbot or anyone else.
• The plan is keywords only, and both takes are spoken from it rather than read or recited.
• Every division in the self-assessment table is shown, and each take names one moment, not a feeling.
• No quotation, statistic, or source appears in your work unless you found and checked it yourself; the chatbot's are marked unverified.
• The coach suggestion and your change are in your own words, and no sentence of your speech is pasted from a chatbot.
• The critique quotes the chatbot or the flawed response and corrects at least two problems with evidence.