Hamburger Technique for Writing Speeches

1. The creative idea. (The planning and preparation of the hamburger.)

* Decide and know your topic well.
* Choose a subject that appeals to your audience's mind, emotions, and senses.
* Write down the conclusion you want to reach.
* Once you have all this, you are ready to prepare your speech.

2. The introduction. (Top hamburger bun - appetising introduction)

* Catch immediate attention. Open with a question, some startling statement, or a fact that will catch your audience's attention.
* Tell them the purpose of your speech. Many times inexperienced speakers ramble on and the audience doesn't know where the speaker is going with the speech.
* Let them know early the purpose of your speech and the audience will follow you just like they would follow the ball players in a rugby, netball or hockey game.

3. The body. (The fillings of your hamburger - Each layer of filling = tasty aspect of your topic. )

* Contains supporting ideas for the conclusion you want the audience to understand. Present your first key point and have your supporting information following-usually 1-2 supporting ideas under each key point. Do this with every point and you will not get lost. Just remember that you are working on the "meat (middle) of the hamburger."

* Include stories, personal experiences, examples and anecdotes when appropriate.

* Include facts, proof, or examples.

4. The powerful close/conclusion (Bottom of the bun = conclusion - holds your burger together)

* Tie in the ending with your opening. Take a look at your opening again and here is where you will tie it in to the ending. Your audience will remember this. Make it a well-remembered ending.

* Finish forcefully and confidently. That doesn't mean shout. It means get your point across with confidence. That you know it and believe it.

* This may be the only thing the audience remembers. That's right. After hours of planning and preparing your speech and honing it down to a 1 -3 minutes presentation, your conclusion/close/climax may be the only thing the audience remembers so make it memorable.

Criteria for Speeches

Speech Writing
My speech followed the hamburger technique 5
The message/information/story came through 10
The ending was effective & finished off the speech 5
My speech was well-researched 10
My speech was logically sequenced 5
My speech was suited to my target audience 5
My speech was in my words 10

Presentation
I enunciated my words clearly 5
My voice was easily heard 10
I learnt my speech off by heart 10
I used expression in my voice 10
I had good contrast in volume, pitch and pace 5
I used eye-contact 5
My speech was well-paced 5

Speech Finalist

I feel really pleased with the high standard of speeches this year. Every Q Zealander should be proud of his or her achievements. They were well written, and well prepared.

Congratulations Lydia on reaching the Skyscrapers Speech Final.

Success Criteria for Writing a Speech

• My speech followed the hamburger technique
• The message/information/story came through
• The ending was effective & finished off the speech
• My speech was well-researched
• My speech was logically sequenced
• My speech was suited to my target audience
• My speech was in my words

Researching our Speeches

We have some great speech topics lined up and students have been brainstorming on their 'Ideas Maps'.



The next step is to research our topics. Speeches need to contain some factual information, but it needs to be balanced with interpretations and perhaps some interesting stories.



Next week we will start writing the speech. We have discussed the hamburger technique for writing a speech.

Speech Topic

We are nearly ready to start writing our speeches. Children will come tomorrow with their finalised speech topic, relating to the theme of "It's a Small World". We will then brainstorm our topic by using an ideas map.

Speeches

We are about to start learning about how to write and deliver a prepared speech. Our theme will be "It's a Small World". So we expect topics to range from "Interesting Insects" to "The Advantages of Being Small" to "The Dangers of Small Mindedness" to "Microscopic Creatures which Inhabit our Skin" to "Globalisation" to "We're a Tiny Part of the Universe" to "They Can't Make Me Feel Small". What else?

The speeches will be written at school, and perhaps finished or polished at home but would be really helpful to discuss ideas at home.

One person from each class will be selected to speak at a Skyscrapers team final. Then there will be a trophy for the winning speech maker.