Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant Communities - ILRC

Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 2003application process and the advantages and disadvantages of applying, and finallyrecommend where you can get assistance if you want to apply. I’ll also talk aboutwhy it’s so important to apply for naturalization right now."• State the purpose, reason or thesis of the speech.• Give an example or story about the topic.• State whether or not you will take questions during the speech or at the end.ii. Body• This is the meat of your speech. It is the longest part of the speech and youropportunity to make all the points you need to make.• Feel free to show a video as part of the body, or write your major points onbutcher paper so everyone can read them. These tools will reinforce the pointsyou are making in the speech.• If appropriate, try to get the audience to participate in the presentation in someway. It is often effective to ask questions. For example, How many of you haveheard all the myths about what immigrants are doing to the economy inCalifornia? or What do you think about these ideas? Other ways to include theaudience is by asking people talk about their personal experiences with the topicand encouraging them to give their comments and input about the issues.iii. Conclusion• Summarize the major points you made during the speech and review them onbutcher paper if you have written them down for the audience to see.• Talk about any next steps—what you want your audience to do after your speech,such as sign a petition, join an organization, apply for something or make sometype of presentation to the school board.• Let audience members ask questions if you have enough time to and you feelcomfortable answering them. Otherwise you can give them a phone number tocall for further information.• Thank the people in the audience for their patience and their comments andquestions.f. Rehearsing the speechPractice the speech until you feel comfortable giving it. Although your family mightthink you are crazy, practice giving the speech out loud. It usually helps to practice infront of a mirror or with friends and family. Practicing will not only help you deliver thespeech more fluidly, it should also ease your nerves.Giving the SpeechA. The first thing to do during a speech is to walk up to the front, pause for a coupleseconds, smile and then start.B. While giving the speech, try not to read it unless you really have to. You don't have tomemorize it either, but if you are really familiar with the speech and have practiced it a12-50