Speaking to Inspire: Ceremonial and Motivational Speeches

The most memorable speeches inspire, entertain, and praise. By blending stories and eloquence, great speeches highlight the core values motivating an audience. You might need to do this in a keynote address, a eulogy, or simply a business meeting. Inspiring audiences is a common, but difficult writing challenge. You want a speech that elevates the topic and the audience. This course gives you a method for preparing and delivering speeches that inspire and entertain. By the end of this course, you should be able to compose and deliver moving speeches that praise core audience values through evidence, storytelling, and humor. You should be able to write eloquent passages in tones appropriate to the audience and occasion and speak fluidly from either a well-prepared manuscript or from memory. Learners will record speeches, providing and receiving peer feedback

• Compose inspiring speeches that emphasize core audience values
• Use evidence, storytelling, and humor effectively
• Deliver speeches fluently from manuscript or memory
• Adapt speech tone to audience and occasion
• Record speeches and receive peer feedback

• No deep prior experience required
• Basic computer and internet skills helpful
• Ability to read course instructions in English and complete short practice activities