Exercise Seven: writing a speech

As a senior writer for the East Snowshoe State University public affairs office, one of your fun jobs is to help administrators write speeches. It’s Friday afternoon. You’re about ready to take off for a scenic trip to see the last of fall color in southern Minnesota, when you get an e-mail from the vice president of academic affairs, Stacy H. Nern III.

"Looks like I can't get out of giving a speech," she says. "And I need to you to write it for me, because I'm not much of a writer myself. Here's the thing: the local Rotary Club needs me to give a 15-minute or so talk on the state of our university’s communication department. They’re particularly curious to know about new technology in communication, new things going on the department, new degrees, and so on. Well, I checked the department’s web site for starters, and you can too (www.ndsu.edu/communication). Looks like they have this new Ph.D. going, and some interesting statistics on their master’s program. Then I see some kind of communication conference they do in the spring, and, hm, what some of their graduates are doing. Oh, activities too. Hey, what’s this Thunder Radio thing?

“Of course, I also called up the department chair. I think you know him—Pedro Nelsonita. He told me some stuff too:

'Yes, it’s exciting here this year. We have about 21 Ph.D. students. Must have been a real pent-up demand for that program here. And we’re working on starting a web design minor. It will be interdisciplinary, but administered in our department. We’re really excited about the research our faculty is doing, and of course, one of our students’ favorite instructors, Rae Ann Sailbow, is serving as interim registrar this year. That’s for the whole university! Right, we now have about 250 mass comm. undergrad majors, and about 50 speech comm. undergrad majors. Hope all this helps.’”

Dr. Nern continues: “Can you put this all together in a speech for me? Keep the sentences short, the way I like 'em. Try to get a little humor in there, if you can, heh heh. Use some examples. Make a punchy conclusion. Do whatever it takes to keep their interest. As you know, I'm kind of a slow speaker, so the speech probably doesn't need to be much longer than about two double-spaced pages, typed, so I can read it. Thanks for your help! Oh, by the way, you can finish this after the weekend.”

Of course, it’s an amazing coincidence that you too happen to be a genuine graduate of East Snowshoe’s communication department. You think you can probably add some information on the department yourself, and maybe talk to some current students.

Beginning
Begin the speech as below, based on a class vote:

Imagine the world without communication. East Snowshoe State University realizes and celebrates the importance of communication with an extensive undergraduate and graduate program. The communication department at ESSU is home to 250 mass communication undergraduate majors, 50 speech communication undergraduate majors, four dozen master's students, and nearly two dozen Ph.D students.