Declamation / Memorize Speech / Oratorical Interpretation / Great

Speeches
Declamation, or Oratorical Declamation, or Memorize Speech is the interpretation and
presentation of a non-original speech. These speeches may be historical (Martin Luther
King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech, etc.), adapted from magazine articles,
commencement addresses, or any number of other adaptations of non-original material,
including forensics speeches from previous years. Declamations tend to be persuasive,
and competition is similar to Original Oratory. As in Oratory, the length of a speech is
generally about eight minutes. Memorization is usually a requirement in Declamation. It
is also termed 'Oratorical Interpretation'.
Presented by: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_events_(speech)

November 19, 2008

November 20/21, 2008
November 24/25, 2008

- Speech is selected by Student

- Speech Practice
- Speech Delivery

Possible Web Sites for Declamation:

Here are a few sites that you may find useful. Most of them contain the full texts of
speeches given by other individuals. Some of the speeches are boring just to read so
avoid those! If you find one you like, copy it to a word file. Be sure to copy and paste
the web site address and get the speakers name and the occasion.
Great site for Graduation speeches I found two great ones by Billy Joel and Jon
Stewart
http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Graduation/Speeches/
Speeches by Women You can browse by the initial letter of the womans last name or
by the year. Its kind of fun to go by the year and see what was pertinent to a specific
year.
www.giftsorspeech.org
Great American Speeches organized the Top 100 speeches, Most Requested or Movie
Speeches
http://www.americanrhetoric.com
Great background to each of the speeches. Nice collection of American Speeches (for
the romantics among us, look at the Abdication speech of King Edward VIII)
http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/previous.htm
Famous eulogies
http://www.eulogywriters.com/famous_eulogies.htm
Humorous Speeches Go to the Index and choose humorous speeches
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~mamalade/TMspeeches.htm#humour

FYI: Remember it generally takes a speaker two minutes to read a double spaced page
of 12 point type.

Rubric for the Declamation Speech

Name ____________________

Introduction
Sets up the speech by identifying the speaker, the time period
and the setting for the speech. Tells us why the speaker chose the speech
Had excellent eye contact

_____/2

The Speech
Selection was appropriate and of interest to the audience

_____/3

Speech was rehearsed and memorized

_____/3

Delivery
Got into the speech (had an emotional connection) used gestures
Appropriately
_____/2
Voice could easily be heard and understood
used vocal variety to enhance the speech

_____/3

Poise maintained concentration and a professional demeanor

Used the podium appropriately
_____/3
Posture stood up straight and kept weight on both feet

_____/2

Use of manuscript manuscript was formatted correctly and

aided the speaker in a smooth delivery

_____/2

_____/20

Total =

Time 4 - 5 minutes with a 30 second grace period at the beginning

0 30 seconds -2
31 60 seconds -4
1 2 minutes 7
2 3 minutes 10

Grading Scale
Excellent Very Good
18/20
16/17

Good

Fair
14/15

Poor
12/13

10/11