FIRST, THINK: Who is this person and why are they significant?   Make a list of people you might like to talk about and list some adjectives to describe them.  Consider how comfortable and capable you are discussing someone if they are no longer alive. (highlighted in yellow is the person chosen).

List of potential people: Mom (empathetic, kind, compassionate, strong), Mammy (strong, kind, caring), Uncle Roy (always helping, creative, can-do attitude), Janet (kind, caring, strong), Pierre (creative, out of the box thinker, helpful), Gabe (overcomes challenges, creative, kind).

NEXT: BRAINSTORM:  What other stories or anecdotes can you think of? Continue to add depth to your outline and speech.  (Writing a draft of a toast for your “person,” even if you are not composing a toast, might help shape your speech.)   Imagine that this is a SKETCH.

Intro will focus on me being a preemie, her being a single mom for most of my life, my parents’ divorce, etc. The main point/thesis will be something about her teaching me resilience. Then, the body will contain 2 stories with each story correlating with a main point (maybe, if there is enough time, have to run it for it to work) If there isn’t enough time it will just be the radiator story with pictures: Radiator story (when I cut my chin on the radiator and she broke down the bathroom door to get me) and diagnosis of alopecia when in middle school. These will correlate with pictures on a power point. Conclusion will focus on telling the audience to find who gives them the strength to be resilient.

NEXT: NARROW:  Pick one person and focus on what you think your audience should know about this person.

Mom- she is strong, compassionate, kind, and resilient.

NEXT: STRUCTURE:  Lay out 3 clear parts on paper: Intro, Body, Conclusion and start to budget the time your will spend delivering each part.

3 clear parts are in brainstorm section, 30 seconds on intro, 30 seconds on thesis, 3 minutes on 3 main points, and 1 minute on conclusion. Might have to narrow down or cut stories to save on time.

NEXT:  IN MOTION: Draft, add, subtract, practice, revise, repeat.  This speech, like all the others, is meant to evolve as you keep working with it throughout the week.