Week 10 Speech Workshop: Show It, Then Put It Away
Part 1 — The Big Picture
This workshop is where your aid meets a real listener. You choose the one main point of your next speech that most needs something to look at, decide what job the aid does for your audience, and build a first draft. Then you check it against the design principles, cut it down to one idea, and deliver the point twice: once with the first draft, once with the redesign and reveal, reference, return. You measure both takes the same way and fix one moment between them. Along the way you use a chatbot as a rehearsal coach and then check its work, because a chatbot asked about slides often praises a crowded one, hands over a memory statistic with no real source, and polishes your plain words into something no listener can follow.
Time budget: Plan for about 90 minutes.
Part 2 — The Task
Guiding question: When you deliver one main point with its aid, does the aid help your listener understand and remember the point, and do you stay with the room instead of the screen?
Workshop data: Your own presentation aid for one main point of your next speech, in a first draft and a redesign, and two takes of that main point spoken aloud (student-generated)
Source: The data in this workshop is your own: one aid for one main point of a speech you will give, in the first draft you make and the redesign you build from it, and two takes of 60 to 90 seconds delivering that main point, measured in the tables in Part 4. Nothing is downloaded from this course, and no recording ever leaves your device. If you do not have a speech or an aid in progress this week, the fallback supplies an illustrative first-draft slide attributed to no one.
- Rows: 1 aid per student, planned on the 5 rows of the aid audit table, checked on the 6 rows of the design checklist, used in 2 takes measured on the 6 rows of the measures table, and watched on the 5 rows of the listener checklist
- Columns: the aid audit table has the question and your answer; the design checklist has the principle, the first draft, and the redesign; the measures table and the listener checklist have the measure, take 1, and take 2
- Measures: the words on the aid, the lines on the aid, the times you turned to read it, whether you revealed it at its idea, whether you returned to the room when done, 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
- Pick a speech you will give this term and the one main point that most needs an aid. Fill in the aid audit table in Part 4: the main point, the aid type, the function it serves for this audience, the question your data answer and the graph that fits them (or why your aid is not a graph), and one fact about the room. 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 five rows of the aid audit table hold an answer in your own words.
- Build a first-draft aid the way you would if no one had told you the principles: a slide in any document editor, a sketch on paper, an object, or a map. Count its words and lines, and fill in the first-draft column of the design checklist and the words and lines rows of the measures table for take 1. 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 first-draft column of the design checklist is filled in, and the word and line counts for the first draft are in the measures table.
- Redesign the aid around one idea: large readable type, high contrast, minimal text, a consistent style, and a quality image if you use one. Fill in the redesign column of the design checklist, then write your one-sentence reference and your one-sentence backup on the card for that main point. 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 redesign column is filled in, the redesigned aid states its one idea, and the card carries a reference sentence and a backup sentence.
- Do take 1 for a listener, such as a classmate, a friend, or a family member: deliver the main point with the first-draft aid, showing it however you naturally would. You may record audio only, record video, or speak while your listener watches with no recording at all; keep any recording on your own device. Right after the take, ask your listener to mark the take 1 column of the listener 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: One complete take exists, the listener checklist is marked for take 1, and no recording has been uploaded or shared.
- Do take 2 for the same listener with the redesigned aid: keep it hidden until you reach its idea, say your reference sentence, then put it away and turn back to the room. Ask your listener to mark the take 2 column, then fill in the rest of the measures table for both takes, naming a moment rather than a feeling. 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 of the measures table and the listener checklist are complete, and the last row names a moment a listener could point to.
- Rehearsal coach step: in a new chat with one approved chatbot, describe both takes and both versions of your aid in words using your tables (never upload or link a recording) and ask for one specific, actionable suggestion about how you used the aid. Write down its best concrete suggestion and the change you will make, in your own words, then deliver the changed moment once more. 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 made is written in your own words.
- AI-critique step: paste the prompt in Part 6 into the same chatbot below your tables, 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 do not have a speech or an aid in progress this week, if no listener is available, or if speaking aloud is not possible for you right now.
Do the audit, design, coach, and critique steps on the illustrative first-draft slide below instead of your own. Fill in the aid audit table and the design checklist for this slide, redesign it around one idea in words or a sketch, write its reference and backup sentences, use the notes on take 1 to fill in the measures table and the listener checklist, and in analysis questions 2 to 4 say what you would change in your own speech. You submit the same items and earn the same credit.
This route earns the same credit as the primary route.
An illustrative first-draft slide from an informative talk on how a city bike-share dock works, with take notes, all attributed to no one, measured on the same rows as your own tables.
| Item | Fallback slide or take |
|---|---|
| Slide headline | How to Borrow a Bike From a Bike-Share Dock |
| Line 1 | Download the app and create an account with a payment card |
| Line 2 | Find a dock on the map and walk to it |
| Line 3 | Scan the code on the handlebar to unlock the bike |
| Line 4 | Ride to any dock in the service area |
| Line 5 | Push the bike into an open slot until the light turns green |
| Line 6 | Check the app to confirm the ride has ended |
| Speaker's notes on take 1 | Showed the slide from the first sentence of the talk; turned to read each line aloud; never took the slide down. |
| Listener's checklist after take 1 | Could read the slide from the back: no; knew where to look: no; could say its one idea afterward: no. |
| Your audit table, design checklist, redesign, reference sentence, backup sentence, and one moment to fix |
Part 4 — The Scaffold
Decide what job your aid does for this audience before you build anything.
| Question | Your answer |
|---|---|
| The main point the aid supports | |
| The aid type (object or model, photograph, graph, diagram, map, clip, handout, or demonstration) | |
| The function it serves for this audience (clarity, retention, interest, or credibility) | |
| If it shows data: the question the data answer and the graph that fits (pie, line, or bar); if not, why another type fits | |
| One fact about the room that shapes the aid (size, setting, light, or screen) |
Check the first draft and the redesign against each design principle.
| Design principle | First draft | Redesign |
|---|---|---|
| One idea per slide | ||
| Large readable type | ||
| High contrast | ||
| Minimal text (words and lines against the six-by-six rule of thumb) | ||
| Consistent style | ||
| Quality images (or none needed) |
Measure both takes the same way so you can see what the redesign and the reveal changed.
| Measure | Take 1: first-draft aid | Take 2: redesigned aid with reveal, reference, return |
|---|---|---|
| Words on the aid | ||
| Lines on the aid | ||
| Times you turned to read the aid (a tally) | ||
| Revealed at its idea (yes or no) | ||
| Returned to the room when done (yes or no) | ||
| The one moment to fix |
Your listener marks this checklist after each take; it shows whether the aid helped them or pulled them away from you.
| Listener check | Take 1 | Take 2 |
|---|---|---|
| I could read the aid from where I sat | ||
| I knew where to look when the aid appeared | ||
| I could say the aid's one idea afterward | ||
| The speaker faced me, not the aid, for most of the point | ||
| I was listening, not reading ahead |
Record the chatbot's answers and your corrections, or your corrections to the printed flawed response.
| What the chatbot said (quoted) | The problem it shows | Your correction and its evidence |
|---|---|---|
Part 5 — Analysis Questions
- From your measures table, subtract the redesign's words from the first draft's words to find how many words you cut, and subtract the six-by-six ceiling of 6 × 6 words from the first draft's words to find how far over or under the rule of thumb it was; show both subtractions.
- At what moment in take 1 did you turn to read the aid, or did your listener read ahead, and what on the first draft explains it: too many words, small type, low contrast, or more than one idea?
- Name the function your aid serves and explain why you chose its type; if it shows data, say what question the data answer and why that graph fits better than the other two, using your listener checklist as evidence.
- Using the situational lens (size, setting, light, and equipment), explain how the room you will really speak in shaped one design choice and your backup sentence.
- Choose one and answer it in 3–4 sentences. (a) One main point is not a whole speech: what could this drill not tell you about the aids in your full speech, and how could you find out? (b) Which part of your redesigned aid still pulls attention from you, and what would you change before the real speech?
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 preparing a short speech for a public speaking class. I've pasted my aid audit table, the words of my first-draft slide and my redesigned slide, and my measures table for two takes above; I have not shared any recording. Please do six things. First, tell me what you think of my redesigned slide. Second, give me feedback on how I used the aid during my delivery. Third, give me one statistic showing how much more an audience remembers when a speaker uses visual aids, with a source I can cite out loud. Fourth, give me one famous quotation about the power of pictures and say which speaker said it and in which speech. Fifth, rewrite my one-sentence reference so it sounds more polished. Sixth, put the aid into my speaking outline as a main point with subpoints, using Roman numerals and letters.
Test the response for these likely failures:
- Chatbots often answer 'What a sleek, professional slide!' without naming the one idea on it, the function it serves, or a single word it cut.
- Chatbots tell you to 'make more eye contact with the audience' or 'be more confident with your slides' even though they never saw either take, and they name no moment.
- Asked how much more people remember with visuals, chatbots often hand over a precise-sounding percentage as settled fact.
- Chatbots attach the percentage to a real-sounding institute, journal, or 'recent study' with no author, title, or date you can find.
- Asked for a famous line about pictures, chatbots often credit a popular saying, such as 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' to a famous speaker and speech that never contained it.
- Asked to polish your reference sentence, chatbots often return something like 'This graphical representation delineates the comparative magnitudes across the respective categories,' which no listener can follow and which no longer sounds like you.
- Asked to fold the aid into your speaking outline, chatbots often add 'A. Show the slide' under a main point with no B, or lift the aid up to the level of a main point.
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 aid or tables 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 your listener or another classmate for one specific suggestion about how you used your aid, or reread your take 1 notes and write the one moment you turned to read it; 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: "What a sleek, professional slide! Be more confident and make more eye contact when you present it. Research shows audiences remember 47 percent more when a speaker uses visuals, according to a national presentation institute. As Lincoln said at Gettysburg, 'a picture is worth a thousand words.' Here is a more polished reference sentence: 'This graphical representation delineates the comparative magnitudes across the respective categories.' Here is your aid in your outline: I. Your main point. A. Show the slide." Mark it up: quote each flawed sentence, name what is wrong (hollow praise, delivery feedback that names no moment, an unverified statistic, an invented source, a misattributed quotation, a voice-erasing rewrite, or an outline with a lone subpoint), cite the evidence from your tables, your aid, or Chapter 10, and write a corrected sentence beneath it. This route assesses the same objective (Objective 6 — design presentation aids that serve the audience — one idea per slide, the right graph for the data, high contrast, minimal text — and integrate them with the reveal-reference-return sequence and a backup plan, without reading from the screen) 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 completed aid audit table
- The completed design checklist for the first draft and the redesign, with a description or sketch of each version of the aid
- The completed measures table for take 1 and take 2
- The completed listener checklist
- Your one-sentence reference and one-sentence backup
- 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 one aid for one main point of your next speech: the aid audit table, the design checklist with a description or sketch of the first draft and the redesign, the measures table for two takes, the listener checklist, your reference and backup sentences, 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, recorded, or visual 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.
| Criterion | Full | Partial | None |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aid chosen by its function and fitted to the room | The aid audit table names the main point, the aid type, the function it serves for this audience, the graph that fits the data's question or why another type fits, and one room fact, and analysis questions 3 and 4 explain the choice with listener-checklist evidence. | The aid and its function are named, but the graph choice or the room fact is missing or asserted without a reason. | No aid audit, or an aid chosen with no function named. |
| Design checked and cut to one idea | Both columns of the design checklist are complete, the first draft is counted against the six-by-six rule of thumb, and the redesign states one idea and fixes at least two principles the draft broke. | The checklist is partly complete, or the redesign still carries more than one idea. | No design check or redesign. |
| Two takes measured with reveal, reference, return | Both columns of the measures table are complete, each take names a moment, the listener checklist is marked for both takes, take 2 shows the reveal and the return, and analysis question 1 shows both subtractions. | One take is measured, a take names a feeling instead of a moment, or the counts are given without the subtractions. | No take measured. |
| Coach feedback acted on in your own voice | One coach suggestion, or one listener suggestion on the equivalent route, is quoted and answered with a change in the student's own words that shows up in the redesign or in take 2. | A suggestion is quoted, but the change copies the suggestion's wording or does not appear in the redesign or take 2. | No suggestion appears, or a chatbot-built aid is submitted as the student's redesign. |
| 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 tables, aid, or Chapter 10, every chatbot statistic, quotation, 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 the limits of the drill | The chosen reflection option is answered in 3–4 sentences that name a specific limit of the one-point drill or a part of the aid that still pulls attention, and a concrete way to check or fix it. | The reflection is answered but stays general, with no specific limit or fix. | No reflection appears. |
Quality Gate
- Every recording stays on your own device; none is uploaded, linked, or shared with a chatbot or anyone else, and speaking to a listener with no recording counts fully.
- The aid, the redesign, and the reference sentence are your own, not a chatbot's.
- Any statistic on your aid names a real source you checked, said aloud with who, what, and when; the chatbot's statistics, sources, and quotations are marked unverified.
- Both takes are delivered to a listener, and the measures table names moments rather than feelings.
- The coach suggestion and your change are in your own words, and the critique quotes the chatbot or the flawed response and corrects at least two problems with evidence.
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