Week 14 · Chapter

Chapter 14 — Special-Occasion & Small-Group / Team Communication

Public Speaking Free sample edition

The module's primary reading · ~35–45 minutes · Objective 8 (speak effectively in special-occasion, small-group, and impromptu settings — fitting the occasion, brevity, and tone; playing task and maintenance roles in a group; structuring an unprepared answer with the PREP frame — and manage audience questions honestly), Objective 5 (use clear, vivid, and appropriate language written for a listener, including ethical and inclusive language, and deliver extemporaneously with effective vocal delivery (rate, pitch, volume, pauses, articulation, vocal variety) and physical delivery (eye contact, gestures, movement, posture, facial expression), distinguishing the four delivery methods) · Read it first this week; the lecture, the slide deck, the tutorial, the quiz, and the Speech Workshop all build on it.

In plain language

This week you learn to speak for a moment instead of for an argument. A special-occasion speech (a short speech that fits an event such as a party, an award night, or a graduation) is judged by whether it fits the room, stays short, and matches the feeling. You learn why one true detail beats ten warm phrases, and you build a toast in four steps. Then you move from one speaker to a small group (a few people working toward a shared goal), where you learn a six-step way to solve problems together and the roles that help or hurt a group.

Why you already care about this

At a retirement party in a small public library, two coworkers raise a glass to the same colleague. The first says she was always there for everyone and will be missed. People nod politely. The second says that for years the front desk kept a drawer of spare reading glasses for visitors, and she was the one who kept it full. The room laughs, then goes quiet, and then the glasses go up. The scene is illustrative and attributed to no one.

Both speakers meant every word. Only the second one gave the room something to picture. Her toast fit the party, stayed short, matched the warm mood, and rested on one detail that could only be true of this one person.

You will give a speech like this sooner than you think: a toast at a cousin's wedding, a few words when a teammate wins an award, an introduction for a guest at a club meeting. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln dedicated a cemetery at Gettysburg in under three minutes, and people still read that speech. Short does not mean small.

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

judge a special-occasion speech by its three criteria and replace a generic line with a true, specific detail;
sort an occasion by what the speaker is there to do, and fix an introduction or an acceptance that misses its job;
build a toast in four beats, size it to a time limit, and deliver it from one keyword card;
walk a group problem through the reflective-thinking agenda and sort what members say into task, maintenance, and self-centered roles;
catch a chatbot's toast that fits anyone and its invented story about a real person.

Carry this line with you: one true detail — not ten warm phrases.

Where we are

Already covered: Weeks 1 to 13 built a full speech and then aimed it, first to teach, then to persuade, then to reason soundly.
This week: the special-occasion speech, its three criteria and the specific-detail principle, the occasions sorted by job, the four-beat toast, and small-group communication with its agenda, roles, and formats.
How they connect: you keep every delivery and language skill from earlier weeks and fit it to a moment that is shorter, more personal, and shared with other speakers.
Where we're going next: Week 15 takes away the preparation time, with impromptu speaking, a four-part frame for answers, and handling questions from an audience.

Here is what each earlier week hands you now. Week 2 taught you the situational lens, and the occasion is now the main thing you read. Week 3 named the third general purpose, to entertain or mark an occasion, and this week you finally build one. Week 6 turned a full outline into a few keyword cards, and a toast fits on one card. Week 7 taught appropriateness and register, which decide whether a joke belongs in the room. Week 9 taught extemporaneous delivery, the strategic pause, and eye contact, and a toast uses all three in about a minute. Weeks 11 to 13 aimed a speech at a purpose; this week the occasion sets the purpose for you.

1. Fit the moment: what a special-occasion speech is for

Think about the last wedding, graduation party, or farewell lunch you went to. Someone stood up to speak. Within a few seconds, you knew whether they had read the room. The ones who had read it said something short and true. The ones who had not read it talked about themselves, or kept going, or told a joke that landed wrong.

That reading is the whole job. A special-occasion speech is a speech whose job is to fit and serve a particular occasion, such as a retirement party, an award night, or a graduation, rather than mainly to inform or persuade. Week 3 named its general purpose: to entertain or mark an occasion.

The course judges a special-occasion speech by three criteria of its own.

Occasion fit is the special-occasion criterion that asks whether a speech does the job the event calls for, such as keeping a retirement toast on the person who is leaving.
Brevity is the special-occasion criterion that asks a speech to stay inside its time and say only what the moment needs, because a short speech has no room for filler.
Mood or tone match is the special-occasion criterion that asks a speech's feeling, word choice, and delivery to match the event, such as warm and light at a party or calm and serious at a memorial.

One rule makes all three easier. The specific-detail principle is the rule that a true, specific detail about a person or event lands with an audience, while a generic sentiment that could be said about anyone does not. A true, specific detail lands; a generic sentiment does not.

Worked example — the library toast against the three criteria. The party, the coworkers, and the toast are illustrative and attributed to no one.

The generic line: "She was always there for everyone, and we will all miss her so much." It could be said about anyone, so it gives the room nothing to picture.
The specific line: "For years the front desk kept a drawer of spare reading glasses for visitors, and she was the one who kept it full." It could only be said about her, so the room pictures it.
Criterion 1, occasion fit: a retirement party celebrates the person leaving, so the toast stays on her, not on the speaker.
Criterion 2, brevity: the toast has a 60- to 90-second limit, and its four beats fit inside it.
Criterion 3, mood or tone match: the party is warm and light, so the toast is warm and light, with no teasing that would suit a roast and no weight that would suit a eulogy.
Count: that is 3 criteria: occasion fit, brevity, and a mood or tone match. The toast passes 3 of 3 criteria.

In words: the specific line did the heavy lifting, and the three criteria kept it from being buried under extra words or the wrong mood.

Honesty note: the three criteria are this course's own way of judging an occasion speech. Other treatments use other lists, so learn these three as a tool, not as a law.

Misconception check. Students often think a special-occasion speech can be winged, because it is short and friendly. That is tempting, since nobody grades a toast at a wedding. But the shorter the speech, the less room there is for filler, so every sentence has to earn its place. A speaker who wings it reaches for the generic line, because that is the line that comes to mind first. The cure: find your one true detail before the event, write it on a card, and rehearse the speech out loud at least once.

Memory hook: fit the room and the mood — and keep it short.

2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?

Picture a robotics club's award night. One person walks to the front to hand over the trophy. A minute later, a different person walks up to receive it. Same stage, same trophy, two very different speeches. The first speaker is there to give an honor; the second is there to accept it.

The course sorts occasions by what the speaker is there to do. The list is open-ended and named in words; the course never counts it.

To introduce another speaker. A speech of introduction is a short special-occasion speech that presents another speaker to an audience by naming who the speaker is, what the topic is, and why this audience should listen.
To present or accept an honor. A speech of presentation is a special-occasion speech that hands over an honor or award by explaining what it recognizes and why the recipient earned it. A speech of acceptance is a special-occasion speech in which the person receiving an honor thanks the people most responsible, says what the honor means, and stays brief.
To celebrate or remember someone. A toast is a short special-occasion speech that celebrates a person or event and ends by inviting the audience to raise a glass or cheer together. A tribute is a special-occasion speech that honors a person, group, or achievement by showing what made them matter, in a tone the occasion sets. A eulogy is a tribute given after a person has died, which remembers that person's life and comforts the people who are grieving. A roast is a tribute built on gentle teasing among people who know the honoree well, where the jokes still show affection and respect.
To entertain with a purpose. An after-dinner speech is a special-occasion speech that entertains an audience with humor that serves a purpose, rather than a string of jokes with no message.
To send a group on its way. A commencement address is a special-occasion speech that marks the end of a program and sends a group of graduates on its way.

Caveat: speeches for weddings, funerals, and graduations differ across cultures and communities, and that variation is beyond this course's scope. Ask the host what the occasion expects when you are not sure.

Worked example — four fresh occasions, sorted by job. Each occasion is illustrative and attributed to no one.

A robotics club gives its build award. The adviser who hands it over gives a speech of presentation; the student who takes it gives a speech of acceptance.
A neighbor who is moving away gets a farewell on the front steps. That is a toast: it celebrates someone and ends by inviting the group to cheer together.
A nursing cohort's pinning ceremony marks the end of its program. The student speaker sends the group on its way, the job of a commencement address.
A neighborhood meeting welcomes a guest who leads a tree-planting crew. The chair gives a speech of introduction.

That makes 4 fresh occasions sorted, each by what the speaker is there to do. In words: before you write a word, name the job, because the job tells you what belongs in the speech and what does not.

Two slips and their fixes

Two classic slips come from losing track of the job.

Worked example — the introduction about the introducer. The lines are illustrative and attributed to no one.

Before: "I have known our guest for years, and I remember the summer I first joined a planting crew myself."
After: "Our guest leads the volunteer crew that planted the trees along this street. Tonight she will explain how a block can apply for the next planting. Please welcome her."
What changed: the fix covers the speaker, the topic, and why this audience should listen. The introducer disappears, which is the goal. In a real introduction you would also say the guest's name, pronounced the way the guest says it.

Worked example — the acceptance that thanks everyone. The scene is illustrative and attributed to no one.

Before: a list of every coach, parent, sponsor, and teammate the student can name, read from a phone.
After: thank the build team who stayed late, say in one sentence what the award means, and sit down.
What changed: the audience hears gratitude with a face on it, and the speech stays brief.

That is 2 slips fixed. In words: an introduction serves the next speaker, and an acceptance serves the honor; neither one is about covering every name.

Misconception check. Students often mix up the speech of introduction and the speech of presentation, because both are given by the person who walks up first. The cure is the job test. An introduction presents a speaker who is about to talk. A presentation hands over an honor. A second wrong turn is thinking a tribute must be serious. Tone follows the occasion: a tribute at a retirement party can be warm and funny, and a eulogy can include a gentle laugh. A third is mistaking the after-dinner speech for a stand-up set. Its humor serves a purpose the audience can name afterward.

Pause and reflect. Choose one option and jot two or three sentences.

(a) Think of an occasion speech you have heard, such as a toast, an award, or a graduation. Which job was the speaker there to do, and did the speech stay on that job?

(b) Think of an occasion coming up in your own life. Which speech would it call for, and what is the one slip you would most need to avoid?

Memory hook: name the job first; the job decides what stays in.

3. Build a toast in four beats

Think about a toast that worked. It probably did four things in about a minute. It told you one thing the person did. It told you what that thing showed about them. It wished them something. And then it asked the room to lift a glass. You can build that shape on purpose.

The four-beat toast is the course's shape for a toast: a specific detail, what that detail reveals about the person, a wish for the future, and the raise. The order matters, because each beat sets up the next.

Worked example — the library toast as a keyword skeleton. The toast is an illustrative keyword skeleton for a fictional colleague's retirement, attributed to no one. The dots separate the keywords on the card, the way a speaking outline does.

Beat 1, a specific detail: "reading-glasses drawer · front desk · kept it full."
Beat 2, what it reveals: "noticed what people needed · before they asked."
Beat 3, a wish: "slow mornings · a book with no due date."
Beat 4, the raise: "glasses up · to the keeper of the drawer."

That is 4 beats, in the order detail, reveal, wish, raise. The skeleton carries no name, because the colleague is fictional. In your own toast, the raise usually names the person.

In words: the detail gives the room a picture, the reveal tells them why it matters, the wish turns toward the future, and the raise hands the moment to everyone.

Keep it brief: sizing a toast to its time

A toast with a 60- to 90-second limit has to fit in about a minute and a half. How many words is that? You can estimate it from a speaking rate.

Worked example — sizing the toast. The rate comes from the delivery self-assessment table you met in Week 9, and it is illustrative.

The table's illustrative take-2 rate is 120 words per minute.
At that rate, 60 seconds is 1 minute × 120 = 120 words.
And 90 seconds is 90 ÷ 60 × 120 = 180 words.
So the full toast runs about 120 to 180 words.

In words: a whole toast is about the length of one long paragraph, so there is room for one detail, not three. Limitation: the rate is illustrative, and no speaking rate is a target. Time your own rehearsal instead of trusting any number.

A famous model of brevity sits on the Readings & Resources page. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863) dedicated a cemetery in under three minutes. It runs only a few hundred words, and it fit its occasion. You will find it there as a link.

Deliver it: language and voice that fit the room

The words of a toast and the way you say it both have to match the mood. Week 7's appropriateness still rules your language: an inside joke that only three guests understand shuts everyone else out, and teasing that suits a roast can sting at a retirement party. Humor is welcome when it serves the toast's purpose.

Delivery follows the same rule. Speak extemporaneously from one keyword card, so you sound like yourself. Take a strategic pause before the raise, so the room has time to lift a glass. Give eye contact to the honoree on the wish and to the whole room on the raise. Let your rate stay warm and unhurried for a party, and slower and lower in volume for a memorial.

Worked example — the delivery plan for the library toast. The plan is illustrative.

Method: extemporaneous, from one keyword card.
Pause: a strategic pause before the raise.
Eye contact: the honoree on the wish; the room on the raise.
Rate and tone: warm and unhurried, matching the mood.

Misconception check. Students often think the safest toast is memorized word for word, because the speech is short and the stakes feel personal. That is tempting, since a memorized speech feels safe right up until you lose one word. Then the whole thing stalls. The cure is the same as in Week 9: rehearse from keywords until the four beats come out in order, in slightly different words each time. A related wrong turn is filling the toast with jokes because the occasion is happy. One honest laugh that grows out of the detail beats a string of borrowed lines.

Memory hook: detail, reveal, wish, raise — then sit down.

4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats

Think about a group project where nothing happened for two weeks. Maybe everyone waited for someone else to start. Maybe one person talked the whole time and nobody else got a word in. Groups fail in predictable ways, and communication scholars have names for the moves that fix them.

Start with two terms. A small group is a few people who talk with and influence one another as they work toward a shared goal. A team is a small group whose members hold distinct, linked roles and share responsibility for one result. Every team is a group; not every group is a team.

Worked example — the planning committee. The committee, its members, and its meeting are illustrative and attributed to no one. A nursing cohort's planning committee must plan the program for its pinning ceremony. Its members hold distinct jobs, a drafter, a timer, and a name-reader, and they share one result. So the committee works as a team.

The reflective-thinking agenda

When a group has a problem to solve, the order of its talk matters. The reflective-thinking agenda is a six-step problem-solving sequence for groups, adapted from John Dewey's How We Think: define the problem, analyze it, set criteria, generate solutions, evaluate and select, and implement. Communication courses adapt it from Dewey (1910), How We Think. Like every model in this course, it is a classroom model, a simplification you can hold in one hand.

Worked example — the committee walks the agenda. The meeting is illustrative.

Define the problem: "How should our pinning ceremony honor every graduate within the time the hall gives us?"
Analyze it: at the program's last pinning ceremony, every speaker thanked everyone, and the program ran long.
Set criteria: every graduate is named aloud, no speech runs past its slot, and the tone is celebratory.
Generate solutions: one student speaker; one speaker for each clinical site; a slideshow of names with no speeches.
Evaluate and select: test each solution against the criteria, and choose one student speaker followed by every name read aloud.
Implement: the drafter writes the speech, the timer runs timed rehearsals, and the name-reader practices every name.

That is 6 steps, and criteria come before solutions. In words: the group agreed on what a good answer looks like before anyone argued for a favorite answer.

Three families of roles

Now listen to what the members say. Benne and Sheats (1948), "Functional Roles of Group Members", sorted the parts people play in a group into families. The course adapts their work into three role families; they called the third family "individual" roles.

Task roles are group roles that move the work forward, such as initiating, seeking and giving information, summarizing, recording, and coordinating.
Maintenance roles are group roles that keep members working well together, such as encouraging, harmonizing, gatekeeping, and compromising.
Self-centered roles are group roles that serve one member's needs at the group's expense, such as blocking, recognition-seeking, dominating, and withdrawing.

Worked example — five lines from the committee meeting, sorted. The members are labelled by letter and attributed to no one.

Member A: "Before we vote, can we list every option?" That is a task role, initiating.
Member B: "We have not heard from Member D yet. What do you think?" That is a maintenance role, gatekeeping.
Member C: "My idea is the only one worth a vote, so let's skip the list." That is a self-centered role, dominating.
Member D: "I will write down what we decided and send it tonight." That is a task role, recording.
Member E: "Both ideas work if the speaker keeps to the slot and we read the names after." That is a maintenance role, compromising.

The role tally: 2 task lines + 2 maintenance lines + 1 self-centered line = 5 lines sorted into 3 role families.

Leadership is a function

Who led that meeting? It is tempting to say Member C, the loudest voice. Look again. Leadership as a function is the view that leading a group means performing the task and maintenance moves it needs, which any member can do, rather than having a particular personality or the loudest voice.

Leadership as a function: 2 task lines + 2 maintenance lines = 4 leadership moves, made by 4 different members. Member C talked the most and led nothing. In words: four members shared the leading, and the one who tried to take over did not lead at all.

Two ways to present as a group

Groups also speak to audiences. Two formats come up often.

A panel is a group format in which members discuss a topic together in front of an audience, often with a moderator asking questions.
A symposium is a group format in which each member gives a prepared speech on one aspect of a topic before the floor opens for questions.

Worked example — panel versus symposium. The briefing is illustrative. The committee's members brief next year's cohort. As a symposium, each member gives a prepared speech on one clinical site, and questions open afterward. As a panel, the members sit together and discuss the sites in front of the room while a moderator asks questions.

In words: a symposium is several short speeches in a row; a panel is one conversation the audience watches.

Misconception check. Students often think task roles matter more than maintenance roles, because task roles look like "real work". That is tempting in a rush. But a group whose members stop listening to each other stops producing, too. Both kinds matter. A second wrong turn is mistaking the loudest member for the leader. Volume is not leadership; the moves that keep the work and the people going are. A third is jumping to solutions in the first minute. The agenda puts criteria first, so the group can judge ideas fairly.

Pause and reflect. Choose one option and jot two or three sentences.

(a) Think of a group you have worked in. Which maintenance role did the group most need, and who, if anyone, filled it?

(b) Think of a group you will join soon, at work, in a club, or in a class. Which task role could you take on first, and what would you say in the first meeting to start it?

Memory hook: criteria before solutions; moves, not volume, make the leader.

5. Check the machine: a toast that fits anyone

You will use a chatbot as a rehearsal coach this term. For an occasion speech, it fails in a way that sounds kind. Ask it for something "heartfelt," and it hands back warm sentences that would fit anyone, anywhere.

Worked example — checking a chatbot's toast. The exchange is illustrative and names no product.

The request: you ask a chatbot for "a heartfelt retirement toast for my coworker."
The draft: it returns lines such as "She has been an incredible part of our team, always there with a smile."
Problem 1, it fits anyone: no line names a detail that belongs to your colleague. The draft fails the specific-detail principle.
The follow-up: you give it a job title, and it adds "I will never forget the day she saved the holiday party."
Problem 2, the story is invented: it never happened, and a chatbot cannot know a real person's life. Saying it aloud would put a made-up story in front of people who knew her.
Count: problems caught: 1 + 1 = 2.
The fix: cut the invented story, replace the generic lines with the true reading-glasses detail you saw yourself, and keep your own words.

In words: the chatbot gave you warmth with nothing true inside it, and the fix is a detail only you could supply.

Then rehearse. Record the toast 2 times and self-assess in the shape of the delivery self-assessment table. Name one moment to fix in the first take, such as rushing the raise without a pause. The table's numbers are illustrative, and none of them is a target. If you prefer no camera, an audio recording or a run-through for a friend who names one moment to fix works the same way. You never need to share a recording with a chatbot; describe the take in your own words instead. Your coworkers would rather hear one true detail from you than a polished toast that fits anyone.

Misconception check. Students often think a chatbot's touching story is harmless because the occasion is friendly. That is tempting, because the story sounds like the kind of thing that happens at offices. But a specific story about a real person is a factual claim, and an invented one is a fabrication, the same problem as an invented statistic. The people in the room may know it never happened. The cure: every story in an occasion speech is one you witnessed or one you checked with someone who did.

Memory hook: if you did not see it, do not toast it.

Key terms

Special-occasion speech — A speech whose job is to fit and serve a particular occasion, such as a retirement party, an award night, or a graduation, rather than mainly to inform or persuade. (first used: 1. Fit the moment: what a special-occasion speech is for)
Occasion fit — The special-occasion criterion that asks whether a speech does the job the event calls for, such as keeping a retirement toast on the person who is leaving. (first used: 1. Fit the moment: what a special-occasion speech is for)
Brevity — The special-occasion criterion that asks a speech to stay inside its time and say only what the moment needs, because a short speech has no room for filler. (first used: 1. Fit the moment: what a special-occasion speech is for)
Mood or tone match — The special-occasion criterion that asks a speech's feeling, word choice, and delivery to match the event, such as warm and light at a party or calm and serious at a memorial. (first used: 1. Fit the moment: what a special-occasion speech is for)
Specific-detail principle — The rule that a true, specific detail about a person or event lands with an audience, while a generic sentiment that could be said about anyone does not. (first used: 1. Fit the moment: what a special-occasion speech is for)
Speech of introduction — A short special-occasion speech that presents another speaker to an audience by naming who the speaker is, what the topic is, and why this audience should listen. (first used: 2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?)
Speech of presentation — A special-occasion speech that hands over an honor or award by explaining what it recognizes and why the recipient earned it. (first used: 2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?)
Speech of acceptance — A special-occasion speech in which the person receiving an honor thanks the people most responsible, says what the honor means, and stays brief. (first used: 2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?)
Toast — A short special-occasion speech that celebrates a person or event and ends by inviting the audience to raise a glass or cheer together. (first used: 2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?)
Tribute — A special-occasion speech that honors a person, group, or achievement by showing what made them matter, in a tone the occasion sets. (first used: 2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?)
Eulogy — A tribute given after a person has died, which remembers that person's life and comforts the people who are grieving. (first used: 2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?)
Roast — A tribute built on gentle teasing among people who know the honoree well, where the jokes still show affection and respect. (first used: 2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?)
After-dinner speech — A special-occasion speech that entertains an audience with humor that serves a purpose, rather than a string of jokes with no message. (first used: 2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?)
Commencement address — A special-occasion speech that marks the end of a program and sends a group of graduates on its way. (first used: 2. Sort the occasion: what are you there to do?)
Four-beat toast — The course's shape for a toast: a specific detail, what that detail reveals about the person, a wish for the future, and the raise. (first used: 3. Build a toast in four beats)
Small group — A few people who talk with and influence one another as they work toward a shared goal. (first used: 4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats)
Team — A small group whose members hold distinct, linked roles and share responsibility for one result. (first used: 4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats)
Reflective-thinking agenda — A six-step problem-solving sequence for groups, adapted from John Dewey's How We Think: define the problem, analyze it, set criteria, generate solutions, evaluate and select, and implement. (first used: 4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats)
Task roles — Group roles that move the work forward, such as initiating, seeking and giving information, summarizing, recording, and coordinating. (first used: 4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats)
Maintenance roles — Group roles that keep members working well together, such as encouraging, harmonizing, gatekeeping, and compromising. (first used: 4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats)
Self-centered roles — Group roles that serve one member's needs at the group's expense, such as blocking, recognition-seeking, dominating, and withdrawing. (first used: 4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats)
Leadership as a function — The view that leading a group means performing the task and maintenance moves it needs, which any member can do, rather than having a particular personality or the loudest voice. (first used: 4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats)
Panel — A group format in which members discuss a topic together in front of an audience, often with a moderator asking questions. (first used: 4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats)
Symposium — A group format in which each member gives a prepared speech on one aspect of a topic before the floor opens for questions. (first used: 4. Work as a group: the agenda, the roles, and the formats)

Summary

A special-occasion speech fits and serves the occasion.
The three criteria: occasion fit, brevity, mood or tone match.
One true, specific detail beats a generic sentiment.
Sort the occasion by the speaker's job: introduce, present or accept, celebrate or remember, entertain with a purpose, send a group on its way.
An introduction is about the next speaker; an acceptance thanks a few people and stays brief.
The toast's four beats: detail, reveal, wish, raise.
Size a toast to its time limit, and deliver it from one keyword card.
A team is a group with linked roles and one shared result.
The reflective-thinking agenda puts criteria before solutions.
Task, maintenance, and self-centered roles; leadership is a function, not a voice level.
A panel is one conversation; a symposium is several prepared speeches.
A chatbot's toast fits anyone, and its stories about real people are invented.

Check your understanding

Work these before looking at the answers — they are ungraded, and the answers (with reasoning) are at the bottom of the page.

A community theater holds its volunteer awards night. Name the speech each person gives. Then say what job each one is there to do. (a) The board member who hands over the volunteer-of-the-year plaque. (b) The volunteer who receives it. (c) The host who brings a visiting set designer to the microphone for a short talk.
A city bus driver is retiring, and a coworker drafts this line for a toast: "He was a great guy who always made everyone's day better." Say which principle the line breaks, and rewrite it with one illustrative specific detail.
You are asked to introduce a guest in 30 seconds. Using the delivery table's illustrative take-1 rate of 130 words per minute, about how many words is that? Show the steps.
A food-pantry volunteer group opens its first meeting. One member says, "Let's do a bake sale; it's the only idea that works." (a) Which agenda steps did the group skip? (b) Which role family does the line belong to, and which move is it?

Answers (worked reasoning — read after attempting)

(a) A speech of presentation. The board member hands over an honor and explains why the volunteer earned it. (b) A speech of acceptance. The volunteer thanks the few people most responsible, says what the plaque means, and stays brief. (c) A speech of introduction. The host presents the next speaker, the topic, and why this audience should listen. The job test keeps (a) and (c) apart: one hands over an honor, the other hands over the microphone.
The line breaks the specific-detail principle: it could be said about any coworker, so the room has nothing to picture. An illustrative rewrite: "For years he kept a spare umbrella under the driver's seat and handed it to anyone who boarded soaked." The new line could only be about him, and it shows the care that the generic line only claims.
30 seconds is half a minute. Step 1: 30 ÷ 60 = 0.5 minute. Step 2: 0.5 × 130 = 65 words. So the introduction runs about 65 words. The rate is illustrative, so time your own rehearsal; 65 words is room for the speaker, the topic, and why the audience should listen, and not much more.
(a) The group skipped to step 4, generating a solution, and skipped defining the problem, analyzing it, and setting criteria. Without criteria, there is no fair way to compare the bake sale with any other idea. (b) It is a self-centered role, dominating: it shuts down other ideas to serve one member's preference. A task move would be "Before we pick, what are we trying to raise money for, and by when?"

Next up in this module: the Readings & Resources page, the lecture tutorial, the practice set, and the quiz; next week the PREP frame gives you a four-part method for answering on the spot.

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