Help me decide on SPEECH class topic (I've done my HW)

[MegaVovaN]

Hello fellow ATOTers!

I am taking a Public Speaking class at local community college. On Monday I will be giving a Demonstration speech. Audience is 22 people, most between 18 and 24 years old.
Time limit is 3-5 minutes and I need visual aids.

I am split between what to do:

How to fix a bike flat
I'll bring a bike, take front wheel off, deflate it, take tire off with tire levers, check rim and tire for debris, put another tube in and put the wheel back on bike. If time allows (I'll practice and time myself) lecture on co2 cartridges and adapters and how to patch punctured tube.

OR


How to clean a computer keyboard
I have lots of pictures for this, as I took apart and cleaned my Logitech MX Duo keyboard. While pics play in power point, I'll explain steps in taking buttons out and either wiping the board that's under buttons OR taking rest of keyboard apart and washing it in a bucket with laundry detergent along with buttons.
I'll bring the same keyboard I took apart and pop a few keys off with a screwdriver (won't take keyboard completely apart because this particular one is huge pain in the @ss to put back together with it's extras like function buttons, volume control and it being wireless).


So, which of these should I pick? Vote in POLE and if you choose Other, please explain. Thanks!

 

[HardcoreRobot]

i think the first would take too long, but i am slow at changing tires...

 

[MegaVovaN]

Five minutes is a very long time, I think I'll be able to manage it. Tomorrow I'll take friend's mountain bike and practice on it (don't want to use my road, since it's a bit more tricky with thin tires.)

 

[datalink7]

poll...

 

[AreaCode7O7]

Computer keyboard. Everyone's keyboard is a mess, so you'll probably get some genuine interest.

 

[Jeff7]

If you do the keyboard one, next week your time is going to be spent reassembling keyboards from 20 people.


5 minutes during a speech can actually be quite limiting. You don't want to talk too fast, and that can easily cut your speaking speed in half compared to what you might normally manage. My normal speaking speed is around 180WPM, but when giving a speech, I'd slow it down quite a bit, coming out at right around 138WPM rather consistently. During my "Effective Speech" course, I found while rehearsing that I would often have to cut out large portions of my speeches to fit the allocated time, and still maintain a suitable speed.

From "The Art of Public Speaking," a textbook written by Stephen Lucas:
- Average speaking speed in the US is 125-150WPM
- Daniel Webster spoke at about 90WPM, Franklin Roosevelt - 110WPM, John Kennedy - 180WPM.
"Martin Luther King opened his 'I Have a Dream' speech at a pace of 92 words per minute and finished it at 145."

 

[MegaVovaN]

Yup. I cut out large portions to fit in 5 mins on previous speech (How to lose weight). And I'll assemble teh keyboards if they pay me 20 bucks a pop

 

[theflyingpig]

You should show them how to masturbate in a room full of people without getting caught. It's a very important life skill that is rarely (if ever) taught in schools these days.

 

[DrPizza]

I think the keyboard speech would be better - it would appeal more to your audience. Also, it would allow more opportunities for some humor. i.e. "Now, when your friends find out that you're good at cleaning keyboards and they somehow persuade you to clean theirs, don't forget to swap the 'm' and 'n' keys."

Personally, I'd have more than one keyboard available for the speech; start with one, showing how to disassemble & wash, and finish with another one, showing how to reassemble.

 

[kstu]

how to hand roll a cigarette

 

[darkxshade]

Originally posted by: kstu
how to hand roll a joint

fixed

 

[MegaVovaN]

bump

 

[Martin]

Originally posted by: darkxshade

Originally posted by: kstu
how to hand roll a joint

fixed

A much underdeveloped skill.

Topics can include:
- How fat is too fat?
- Saliva moisture mitigation techniques
- Roaches, Clips and Papers - a guide to holding a joint.
- etc

 

[SSSnail]

How to cut a hole in a box, and it's function.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I once took a speech class where a student demonstrated how to string a guitar. She started with an empty guitar and put the E string on and tightened it up while explaining what she was doing. Good stuff right? She then proceeded to string the rest of the guitar, taking great pains to get each string in perfect tune, in complete silence. It was only 5-7 minutes I'm sure, but man it seemed to take forever to string that guitar. My suggestion is to not do anything like that. I mention this because taking apart a keyboard seems like it could conceivably turn out like that.

 

[Ksyder]

I say do the bike tire, I mean that is more practical. I don't think the average non-techie isgoing to dismantle their keyboard, seriously.

 

[Farang]

Do some sort of neat chemical reaction science experiment instead everyone loves those.

 

[imported_Imp]

It'll be hard to do anything with the real object in 3-5 minutes. Best to bring a slideshow.

I semi-screwed up a presentation once when I let a small bug slip through a sumple program after weeks of debugging.

 

[sdifox]

wtf, those are not public speaking topics...

try something like political commentary.

watch a little Hitler tapes if you need inspiration. The man was a master at it.

 

[IronWing]

Vulcan nerve pinch. Seriously, bring a friend as the victim. Work it out ahead of time that the friend doesn't collapse until you do it correctly. Explain the procedure and common mistakes. Easily kill five minutes.

 

[darkdiablo]

do the keyboard like they said, it'll def give u some genuine interest

 

[MegaVovaN]

up

 

[IronWing]

How to turn ten minutes a day into $10, no $15, no $18,000 dollars or more a month with Amwai!

 

[MoPHo]

I was a communication and rhetoric major and had to do a bunch of public speaking classes. IMHO if you do the bike, you won't be making eye contact with the audience, you'll be focusing too hard on the bike itself. I vote the keyboard w/ soap and water.

Wouldn't worry much about the time aspect. If you can do it within 5 minutes in private, you shouldn't have a problem speaking. You'll generally speak and do things faster in front of an audience.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: Imp
It'll be hard to do anything with the real object in 3-5 minutes. Best to bring a slideshow.

You are right. I did a slide show on keyboard and rehearsed speech about 7 times. Four minutes fly by very fast.

Originally posted by: sdifox
wtf, those are not public speaking topics...

try something like political commentary.

watch a little Hitler tapes if you need inspiration. The man was a master at it.

I have a persuasion speech next week...