Finals of Nationals Examples

The example- Mari Garcia | 2023 NSDA Semi-finalist | Informative Speaking 

Andrea Schiefelbein "Beyond Pink and Blue" - Informative Speaking - Nationals 2019 

Felicia Tang "It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Aviation!" - Informative Speaking - Nationals 2019 

Nadia Franzen "Who You Callin' Hysterical?" - Informative Speaking - Nationals 2019 

Nationals 2017 - Jordyn Allen "The Birds and the Weaves" - Informative Speaking 

"Autism and Minecraft" - Kalen Sieja, Nationals 2022 Informative Speaking Finals 

Heavily Stolen from Mr Egan's How to Write an Informative 

How to Write an Informative Speech in Forensics

1. Choose a topic

   1. Find a topic

   2. With the two or three options you have, start doing some preliminary research. It is up to you to decide if there is enough information to create a ten minute speech! 

2. Research your topic

   1. While doing this, you MUST use credible sources. You cannot cite “MedicalThings.blogpost” and expect me to approve of that. You can check in the hallway at the “fake news board” for a list of credible sources. Wikipedia is NOT a credible source, but Wikipedia cites credible sources at the bottom of each of their pages! If you are still unsure - ask!

   2. It is always important to have one source that has an incredible amount of information, we call this the “base source.” It has the wealth of information you will draw the majority of your speech from. Then, any extra sources can back up the information from the base source in order to add even more verbal citations to your speech. You should have at least 7 different citations. Print out each source that you think you will cite.

3. Highlight your sources. (Stout says use the research guide OR this process)

   1. From the sources you printed in step 2, highlight anything that you think will be useful in crafting your speech later on. Odds are you will spend a lot of time researching your sources and then not look back at the sources for another couple days. Highlighting the sources gives you a visual representation of what YOU think is important so that when you are writing - it will jog your memory quickly and you can take direct quotes with the snap of a finger without having to reread the article 100 times.

4. Decide what your three main points are going to be. 

   1. The Informative Speech is very formulaic. As long as you follow the basic main point structure, you will see a lot of success.

   2. The first main point should be about what your topic is. Give us some background that explains to us what you will be discussing over the course of this speech. Ask yourself “What should audience members know” - let the answers to that question guide you as you decide how to write out your first point.

   3. The second main point should be analyzing your topic. Is your topic a good thing for society? A bad thing for society? Why? How has this topic been corrupted or supported over time?

   4. The third main point is what we call implications. What are the effects that your topic will have on society? Why does this topic matter for the future of the way our society, our country, our world, our individual life operates? How can it change our futures?

   5. Remember that the three main points should be DISTINCT from each other. You can build off of information from one point to the next, but you should not be repeating information from main point to main point!

5. Begin writing your main points!

   1. I know it sounds crazy to start there rather than start with an introduction. Your intro will be based around what you talk about in the main points in your speech. You cannot create an intro without knowing your main points. Same with your conclusion! If you try to do this - you will end up rewriting your introduction and conclusion….probably multiple times!

   2. Remember to use DETAIL in your main points!! You’re going to want to make a few important points within each main point about your topic. The more detailed your point is, the better off it will be during the editing process. 

   3. Each main point needs to have AT LEAST two sources. It never hurts to have more than that! When you cite a source you can choose to quote it word for word or summarize the point - NO MATTER WHAT YOU MUST CITE THE SOURCE. A verbal citation usually looks like this: “According to {source name or author} on {month, day, year}, {information}.

   4. Remember it’s a speech: you do not need a work cited page or MLA format.

   5. Read your main points OUT LOUD when you are finished. Do they have massive grammar issues? Does it sound professional but also casual enough that you won’t seem stiff? Is it long enough?? Remember these are ten minutes long. It is not uncommon to see each main point be at least 30 sentences long!

6. Create the introduction. (Use this process or Stout's Process-- this one is more detailed)

   1. You need to start off every speech with some sort of story. NOT a story about yourself, but a story about someone affected by your topic. This is an easy way to grab your audience’s attention (it’s called an Attention Getting Device).

   2. After you finish telling the story, you will explain why you included that story. How does it connect to your topic? Why is your topic important? Etc. (We call this a Link.)

   3. At the end of your link - you will have a declarative sentence that explains what it is that you will be discussing (it is called a thesis statement). It should be one sentence long and start with “So today, it is important that we talk about ________.”

   4. Following the thesis, you will have a “preview” statement or what is also called a “scheme.” It is here that you will say what your three main points are. Just say “First, we will discuss ________, next we will talk about _________, before finally explaining ___________.” (Fill in the blanks with the titles of your main points).

   5. At the end of your introduction, the last sentence is usually one powerful sentence that explains your topic’s importance. A declarative statement that should remind the audience of what is at stake as they listen to this speech. Example: “Because this can literally be life or death.

7. Create the conclusion.

   1. Your conclusion begins with repeating your preview and thesis, in that order.  “So today, we TALKED about ______, ______ and ________. It is so important that we learn about __________ because _________”

   2. Using the information you stated in your three main points, you will continue to stress the importance of your subject and why you just forced an audience to listen to you for ten straight minutes. Answer the audience question: “Why should I care?”

   3. After the thesis, you will bring back up the story that you spoke about in your introduction. Now that we know all of the information from the last ten minutes, how does that change our outlook on the story from the Attention Getting Device? If you spoke about a specific person affected by your topic, where are they now?

8. Finally, what should the visual aid be?

   1. Usually they are not full of difficult to read graphs and statistics. Rather, pictures that emphasize your points or show us examples of what you are discussing.

   2. This is a way to incorporate humor and is usually something very malleable. It is something that we can continue to use in different ways or move around throughout the speech. Visual Aid boards, props and more can be used. There are NO limits! It does not have to be a posterboard, though that is the most common form of a VA. Common does not necessarily mean bad!