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ELA 4: Complete Sentences
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In this lesson we'll subject you to some verbs and predicates. Each one is a necessary part of a complete breakfas—er...sentence.

ELA 4: Word Choice
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Choosing words carefully is important. You may end up vexing the assemblage of citizens you're conversing with...or you might even just plain bore...

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ELA 4: How to "Read" a Nonfiction Speech 29 Views


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Description:

Today we'll give you some tips on reading a nonfiction speech. Of course, we don't mean the literal reading part. You should probably have that down already...

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:12

Giving a speech might seem pretty simple. You just need to stand near a microphone and [Guy looks confused behind a microphone]

00:15

talk, right?

00:16

But it turns out that giving a speech is a way more complicated than just standing around [Girl at a podium]

00:20

and talking.

00:21

So let's focus on some of the most important elements of a good speech…i.e., knowing [Crowd full of famous people]

00:24

your audience, having a main idea, and using effective techniques. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

00:28

Most of the time when we think about an audience, we think about a big roomful of people watching

00:33

something, whether it's a movie…

00:35

…a play… [Shakespeare appears]

00:36

…or a guy stuffing chicken puppets into a hat. Well, maybe not the chicken thing, [Coop stuck in a magicians hat]

00:39

but movies and plays? Definitely. But no matter what kind of text we're thinking

00:42

about, it always has an audience…y'know, whoever's watching, reading, or listening [Girl holding a pile of books]

00:46

to something that's written.

00:47

And no matter what kind of writing you're doing, you want to know your audience, so [T.S. Eliot at a desk]

00:50

that they're more likely to enjoy your writing.

00:52

And by "know your audience," we don't mean sending personalized Christmas cards to everyone [The whole audience holding their Christmas cards]

00:56

in the room.

00:57

We just mean having a general idea of what kind of people are listening to you speak! [David Cameron giving a speech]

01:01

That way, you can tailor your material to fit your audience.

01:04

After all, when you're giving a speech, your audience is right there in front of you… [Man being boo'd by the audience]

01:07

…and if they don't like what they hear, they'll let you know. Maybe with snoring…

01:10

…or maybe with rotten tomatoes. [Woman is hit in the head with a tomato]

01:12

Hey, at least they didn't pick pineapples! Having a main idea is pretty straightforward. [A pineapple hits the woman and she falls over]

01:16

In a speech, you're generally trying to tell the audience something.

01:19

That "something"? It's usually your main idea.

01:21

Speeches without main ideas are pretty rare. You don't generally organize a big speech [Man with a trolley full of shopping]

01:26

to tell people how your trip to the grocery store went.

01:28

And last but not least, a good speech should use different techniques, aka, tricks to make [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

01:32

your speech exciting and memorable.

01:35

Writing a boring speech, and then reading it in a dull, monotone voice won't help you win [Cat at a microphone]

01:39

many fans.

01:40

Well…unless you find people who like to be really bored all the time, but they're [Guy with sun glasses on asleep]

01:44

pretty rare. We can see all three of these ideas in action

01:47

if we look at a speech by Winston Churchill.

01:49

As the prime minister of Britain during WWII, he had to give many speeches, including his [Churchill giving a speech]

01:54

famous "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech delivered on June 4th, 1940.

01:58

It was way more popular than his "We Shall Lie on Towels on the Beaches" speech he gave [Churchill in speedos at the beach]

02:03

every time he went on holiday. This was definitely a guy who knew his audience.

02:07

He was speaking in the British House of Commons…

02:09

…but he was also speaking to the British public.

02:12

He uses the word "we" a lot, which helps to unite his audience as the proud British public. [Churchill at a podium]

02:17

He also makes it clear who is audience isn't, when he talks about the Germans as a "dull

02:22

brute mass."

02:23

Seriously, the guy wasn't afraid to step on a few toes. [Churchill stepping on Hitler's foot]

02:26

His speech also had a main idea: that the British would fight the Germans with everything

02:30

they had, no matter what.

02:31

Even if all they had left were wrenches and watering cans, they'd keep on fighting. [Soldiers holding a wrench and a watering can]

02:35

And this main idea was really helped along by Churchill's use of a very effective technique: [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

02:40

repetition. Let's look at this bit from near the end of his speech.

02:43

You don't have to read it all, but you might notice the repetition of two key words: "we

02:48

shall."

02:49

Churchill used repetition to get people fired up, and give them confidence in his plan.

02:53

If he'd just said, "And yeah, we should definitely try to win, if we can," people probably would [Churchill waving to a huge crowd]

02:57

have been a lot less enthusiastic.

03:00

So next time you give a speech, be like Churchill!

03:02

…Maybe don't dress like him, though…that might be…weird. [Guy dressed like Churchill]

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