Group Puzzle Presentation

 

This assignment is designed to introduce students to the process of working as a group.  The task is to present a series of separate speeches (2 – 4 minutes each) on a central theme. (eg vacation spots, water sports, wonders of the world, deserts from foreign lands, etc.)  The central theme should emerge as elements important to your identity. Try to utilize your cultural background or personal interests as common ground to show the audience the diversity and similarity of your group members.

 

Culture is not only connected to ethnicity but to language, values, foods, music, traditions, holidays and styles of dress.  Each member should pick several topics that are important to them, then as a group list your topics to see if there is a central theme that will work for a group presentation. Hopefully this presentation will allow you to get to know each other on a deeper level.

 

The thrust of the speeches is to be informative (descriptive) rather than persuasive (tell us about something, not how something is better). Also this information should be personal knowledge and not require any research. Each presentation should have an introduction which contains an attention getting device and a thesis statement. The body of each speech should be divided into a minimum of three main points with sufficient support for each point. There should be a conclusion that pulls the entire presentation together. 

 

Each group should select an individual who will serve as moderator introducing and concluding the overall presentation. The moderator should point out both diversity and commonalities the group discovered in the process of this presentation. Please note that each member can only serve as the moderator for one speech per semester. Keep in mind that the moderator MUST present their portion of the presentation in addition to the overall group introduction and conclusion.

 

Procedures:

 

  1. Each member should have a full sentence outline that will be turned in one class day prior to the day of the presentation. (For this speech ONLY, individual outlines are the only ones required) 

 

  1. Each presentation should be extemporaneously delivered. I highly encourage you to be creative as a group. Keep in mind that visual aids can enhance the presentation and each member should provide at least one visual item for the presentation.

 

  1. Group members are required to present for 2-4 minutes each.

 

  1. A two page reflection paper will be due one day after the last group presents. Please see reflection guidelines on the classroom webpage for more information.

 

  1. Peer evaluations will be completed at the conclusion of the presentation. These include a one to two sentence justification along with a numerical grade.

 

  1. Audience participation is vital to all presentations. Audience members will be asked to respond to presentations with positive feedback. Each audience member will fill out an audience response sheet that needs to be given to the instructor on the day of the presentations.

 

  1. Remember this is a puzzle speech so the group must show the audience visually how their group connects.