Public Speaking

Types of Informative Speeches (^205)
I. Dong Nguyen is a Vietnamese video game developer.
A. This very shy computer game developer created Flappy Bird.
B. The game practically ruined his life.
C. He won’t have his photo taken, and he disconnected from the Internet.
II. Flappy Bird became a very famous game globally.
A. It earned Nguyen $50,000 a day in advertising revenue.
B. He took the app down because he thought it was too addictive.
C. Rumors continue on whether or not it will return.
Speeches about groups such as the Amish, Indigenous Australians, or medieval
knights are also interesting. Here, the subject Thuggees is organized topically:
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about Thuggees, professional assassins,
who gave the name to today’s thugs.^14
Central Idea: Historically, Thuggees or Thugs were professional assassins who
operated in the region of India for several hundred years.
I. In more remote areas of India, travelers journeyed on horseback or on foot.
A. They banded together with strangers for safety and companionship.
B. Each carried money to buy necessities along the journey.
II. Organized Thuggees joined these travelers.
A. The Thugs gained their trust and helped get needed supplies.
B. When trust was complete, the Thuggees strangled the travelers, buried them,
and took their belongings.
III. Today, thug means criminal or villain or hooligan.
A. The original Thugs killed thousands, maybe even millions.
B. As you can see, today’s thugs are not the same as Thuggees.^15
Today, the word thug denotes
criminals of many kinds;
however, a speech about
Thuggees—the group of
assassins they’re named
after—informs listeners that
historical Thugs gained trust
before they strangled and
robbed their victims.
Science & Society Picture Library
Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.