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Week 6 · Speech Workshop

Week 6 — Speech Workshop / Rehearsal Studio · "The Convert Drill"

Public Speaking · COMM 1 Fall 2026 · Prof. Marchetti Fictional sample

Course: Public Speaking — Fundamentals of Oral Communication (COMM 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Marchetti
Objective: Objective 4 — convert a preparation outline to a keyword speaking outline; deliver from keywords without reading · SLO A (deliver extemporaneously) & SLO B (analyze delivery from keywords vs. reading)
Worth 50 points · Speech Workshops group = 15% of the grade · Workshop 6
Format this week: a convert-and-self-record drill — no special equipment, just a phone camera or Zoom and an approved chatbot.

This is the course's signature outlining workshop. The Convert Drill is the single most practical skill in Week 6: you take a full-sentence preparation outline and strip it to a keyword speaking outline, then you record yourself delivering from the keywords. The recording proves the most important thing — "I spoke, I didn't read."

Part 1 — The Big Picture

Everything in Week 6 comes down to one practical question: can you take your organized speech off the page and into your mouth?

A preparation outline is your plan on paper — complete sentences, every idea accounted for, transitions labeled, oral citations noted. That document belongs in your binder, not in front of the audience. The speaking outline is what crosses the threshold with you: a few keywords per card, just enough to keep you on track without letting you read.

The Convert Drill forces you to do both, in sequence, and then prove you can actually use the speaking outline by recording yourself with it. If you record yourself and you're reading full sentences off the card — you haven't yet built the speaking outline correctly. That's not a failure; it's data. Do it again.

The guiding question: When I strip my outline to keywords and then speak, do I sound like a real person talking — or do I sound like someone trying to remember a script?

Part 2 — The Preparation Outline (Starting Point)

Option A — Use your Assignment 6 outline.
If you've already built your preparation outline for the Week 6 assignment, use that. Copy the three main points and at least two sub-points per main point into this worksheet. (Doing both in this order — assignment first, then Workshop — is the recommended path.)

Option B — Use the provided outline below.
If you haven't done the assignment yet, work with this outline. It's fully correct — your job is to convert it, not fix it.

PROVIDED PREPARATION OUTLINE — "Three Strategies for Eating Well on a Tight Budget"

Topic: Eating well on a student budget
General Purpose: To inform
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about three strategies for eating well 
  on a limited student budget
Thesis: Eating well on a student budget comes down to planning around sales, 
  batch cooking, and smart storage.

Introduction
  Attention-getter: "Last semester I fed myself for four days on eleven dollars. 
    Here's how."
  Thesis: Eating well on a student budget comes down to planning around sales, 
    batch cooking, and smart storage.
  Preview: First, I'll explain how planning meals around sales saves money. 
    Second, I'll describe how batch cooking multiplies your meals. 
    Third, I'll show how smart storage prevents food waste.

[Transition: Let's start with the first strategy — planning around sales.]

Body

I.  Planning meals around grocery-store sales dramatically reduces food costs.
    A.  A flexible weekly meal plan built around this week's loss-leaders 
        can cut a grocery bill significantly.
    B.  Grocery-app features (like browsing weekly store ads) make 
        sale-based planning fast and easy.

[Transition: Once you've shopped strategically, the second key is batch cooking.]

II. Batch cooking on one day of the week multiplies the number of meals 
    you get from a single session.
    A.  Cooking a large batch of grains (rice, oats, quinoa) and a protein 
        (eggs, lentils, beans) once provides the base for multiple different meals.
    B.  Portioned containers make weekday eating fast, cheap, and consistent.

[Transition: Buying and cooking strategically only helps if you avoid food waste — 
    which is where smart storage comes in.]

III. Smart storage practices prevent the food waste that makes healthy eating expensive.
    A.  The FIFO method — First In, First Out — means using older food first 
        so nothing expires before you reach it.
    B.  Storing produce correctly (for example, keeping fresh herbs in water 
        and storing apples away from other fruit) extends shelf life meaningfully.

Conclusion
  Summary: Today I covered three strategies: planning around sales, batch cooking, 
    and smart storage.
  Clincher: "Pick one of these and start this Sunday. That's the whole game."

Part 3 — The Convert Scaffold (complete this before recording)

Your job: strip the preparation outline above (or your own) down to a keyword speaking outline on note cards. One card per section. Use the table below as your guide.

Rules for the speaking outline:
- Keywords and short phrases only — no full sentences except for an exact quotation you must quote precisely.
- Each card should have 5–8 bullet points at most. If it has more, you haven't stripped enough.
- You should be able to glance at a bullet and speak a full sentence or two from memory — the keyword is a trigger, not a script.

Section Preparation Outline has… Your Speaking Outline card should have…
Intro card Full attention-getter, thesis, preview 3–4 bullets: hook idea / thesis in 5 words / preview: "1st __ 2nd __ 3rd __"
Main Point I card Two full-sentence sub-points Main point keyword / A bullet / B bullet / one-line transition cue
Main Point II card Two full-sentence sub-points Main point keyword / A bullet / B bullet / one-line transition cue
Main Point III card Two full-sentence sub-points Main point keyword / A bullet / B bullet
Conclusion card Summary + clincher "Sum: 1-2-3" / clincher keyword phrase

Write your five cards here (or on actual note cards):

CARD 1 — INTRO:

• Hook: ______________________
• Thesis: ______________________
• Preview: 1st __ / 2nd __ / 3rd __

CARD 2 — MP I:

• Main point: ______________________
• A: ______________________
• B: ______________________
• [Trans to II]: ______________________

CARD 3 — MP II:

• Main point: ______________________
• A: ______________________
• B: ______________________
• [Trans to III]: ______________________

CARD 4 — MP III:

• Main point: ______________________
• A: ______________________
• B: ______________________

CARD 5 — CONCLUSION:

• Sum: (list the three main points as keywords)
• Clincher: ______________________

Part 4 — Record Yourself Delivering from the Keywords

Do this:
1. Put your five cards in front of you (on a desk or held in your hand — not taped to the wall behind the camera).
2. Record yourself for 90 seconds to 2 minutes on a phone camera or Zoom. Speak to the lens.
3. Deliver from the keywords — do not read full sentences off the cards. Glance, look up, speak. Glance, look up, speak.
4. Don't re-record yet. Watch this first take all the way through.

What to watch for while you watch: Are you glancing at the card and then speaking — or are you reading the card with your eyes down? Did each main point come out as a complete, sensible thought — or did you get stuck and lose your place? Did you make it through all three main points?

Part 5 — Self-Assessment Scaffold (fill in after watching your first take)

What to check Score (1–5) What I noticed
Keywords only — did your speaking outline have keywords, not sentences? Did it feel like you were reading or speaking? ___ ______
Coverage — did you hit all three main points? ___ ______
Eye contact — did you glance at the card and look up, or keep your eyes down on the card? ___ ______
Transition delivery — did you signal the move between main points (even just "second…" or "now, the third strategy…")? ___ ______
Conversational vs. scripted — did it sound like a real person talking, or someone reading a script from memory? ___ ______

Your ONE thing: what is the single most useful change for your next take? "Next time I will ______."

Second take (required): Make the one change you named above. Record a second take. Did naming one specific thing actually help? Write 2–3 sentences on what changed.

Part 6 — Analysis Questions

Answer in a sentence or two each:
1. What was the hardest part of stripping the preparation outline to keywords? What did you want to keep but had to cut?
2. In your first take, what happened when you reached the transition between main points — did you deliver it naturally or did it feel awkward? What does that tell you about how well you know the structure?
3. After watching both takes: does delivering from keywords feel more or less like "you" than if you had read the full preparation outline? Why?

Part 7 — Rehearsal-Coach Moment (BYOAI)

Bring in your approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) as a rehearsal coach.

  1. Paste your five keyword cards (as text) and describe briefly how both takes went.
  2. Ask: "I'm practicing delivering from a keyword speaking outline in my public speaking class. Here are my five cards and notes on how it went. Give me specific, actionable feedback on how to improve my next take — focus on eye contact, transitions, and whether my keywords are at the right level of detail."
  3. Read its feedback and try its best one concrete suggestion before or during your next practice session.

Part 8 — AI-Critique Moment (required — the BYOAI judgment step)

Here's the habit again: make the AI be specific, and catch it when it isn't.

  1. After it gives feedback, look hard at what it actually said. Chatbots routinely give hollow praise — "Great job converting your outline! Your keywords look very well organized!" — and vague advice — "Just practice more and trust yourself!" Neither tells you what to do.
  2. Push it: "That's too generic. Look at my cards specifically — are my keywords too long or too short? Do my transitions look like full sentences (which I'd read) or genuine triggers? Give me one concrete change to exactly one card."
  3. Watch for the fabrication risk this week: if you asked the chatbot for help finding evidence for your speech topic, it may have given you statistics or citations. Write 1–2 sentences about whether you verified any chatbot-supplied sources at the original source — and what you found when you checked.
  4. Write 2–3 sentences reporting: one example of empty praise or vague feedback the chatbot gave, and what genuinely specific, actionable feedback would look like instead.

Part 9 — What to Submit

Submit a single document (or text entry) with:
- Your completed five speaking outline cards (Part 3)
- Your self-assessment scaffold (Part 5) including your "one thing" and notes on the second take
- Your Part 6 analysis answers
- Your Part 8 AI-critique paragraph (including the verification note)
- Your recording(s) — upload the best take or paste a link; both takes are ideal

Due Sunday, Oct 11, 11:59 p.m. (50 points)

Instructor answer key & model responses — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

The Convert Drill is personal — students use their own outlines (or the provided one). The key grades the quality of the conversion (are the cards genuinely keyword-level?) and the recording evidence (does the student speak vs. read?).

What full-credit keyword cards look like (based on the provided outline):

CARD 1 — INTRO
• Hook: "4 days, $11"
• Thesis: sales → batch → storage
• Preview: 1st sales / 2nd batch / 3rd storage

CARD 2 — MP I
• Main point: planning around sales
• A: flexible plan + loss-leaders
• B: grocery app → scan weekly ads
• [Trans: "once you've shopped..."]

CARD 3 — MP II
• Main point: batch cooking
• A: grains + protein, one session → many meals
• B: portioned containers → weekdays easy
• [Trans: "buying well only helps if..."]

CARD 4 — MP III
• Main point: smart storage
• A: FIFO method
• B: produce tips (herbs in water; apples separate)

CARD 5 — CONCLUSION
• Sum: sales / batch cook / storage
• Clincher: "pick one, start Sunday"

What the recording should show: student glances at card, looks up, speaks in full sentences. Each main point gets at least two sub-ideas in their own words. Transitions are delivered as brief connecting phrases. The total feels conversational — not read, not memorized.

Model self-assessment (illustrative):
- Keywords only: 4 — "I had to fight the urge to write full sentences, but the final cards were mostly keywords."
- Coverage: 5 — "I hit all three main points both takes."
- Eye contact: 3 — "I kept glancing down on Main Point II — I don't know that section as well."
- Transition delivery: 3 — "The transition between I and II felt awkward — I said 'um, so' and paused."
- Conversational vs. scripted: 4 — "Second take felt much more natural once I stopped trying to remember exact words."
- One thing: "Next time I will practice the transitions out loud before recording — they're the most awkward moments."

Model AI-critique (illustrative): "The chatbot said 'Great outline conversion! You've clearly worked hard on this!' — which told me nothing specific. When I pushed it, it gave a useful note: 'Your Card 2 has a full sentence under bullet A — that's too long; strip it to 4 words or fewer so you don't read it.' That's specific and actionable. I also noticed it gave me a 'fact' about grocery savings percentages when I asked for context — I didn't verify that, so I'm not using it."

Fabrication note for the verification check: the provided outline in Part 2 uses the phrase "cut a grocery bill significantly" rather than citing a specific percentage — because any specific percentage would need to be verified at a real source. Students who asked a chatbot for a savings figure should be prompted to check whether they verified it.

Grading rubric — 50 points

Criterion Full Partial None
Speaking outline cards (Part 3) — five cards with genuine keywords (not full sentences); each card covers its section; total ≤ 40 words per card (15) 15 8–12 0–6
Recording + self-assessment (Parts 4–5) — evidence of at least two takes; self-assessment is honest and specific about whether keywords were used vs. read; names a real "one thing" (20) 20 11–16 0–8
Analysis questions (Part 6) — three genuine reflections; not "it was fine" (5) 5 3–4 0–2
AI-critique (Part 8) — names a specific instance of empty/vague feedback and what specific feedback looks like; includes the fabrication/verification note (10) 10 5–8 0–4

Quality gate (self-checked): rubric criteria sum to exactly 50 (15 + 20 + 5 + 10 = 50). ✓ This workshop does not assert any specific statistics, quotations, or citations — the provided outline uses only illustrative, non-attributed content (no specific percentages for grocery savings, no attributed quotations). The AI-critique section explicitly requires students to address whether any chatbot-supplied statistics were verified — that is the citation-integrity gate for this workshop. Supportive tutor language is used throughout. No fabricated sources. Rubric sums confirmed.

~ Prof. Marchetti's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com