Speeches give us a way to express our experiences and opinions. They allow us to persuade an audience in regards to a stance they should take, or they let us give advice or guidance on how to handle different situations in life. The great part about speechmaking is that everyone has something meaningful to say that is worthy of a speech. A maker space is known as a place for people to make things; in this maker space, we will use words to make speeches! 

As part of Outschool’s Make Your Own Year, this class will be a place where learners are able to make their own speeches. The class topics and structure will include:

-learning about different purposes of speeches including famous examples
 
-identifying strategies and literary devices used by speech writers 

- practicing writing, and for anyone who wishes to, sharing our own speeches (trying our best to aim for at least two paragraphs in our speeches)

I will utilize slides I have prepared to share information on the purposes, examples, and elements of speeches, but I will also welcome hearing from the class about what speeches they know about and what they think makes a good speech. 

I believe that learners of all abilities are capable of taking on big challenges. I like giving learners room to grow and try new things. So many learners have strong ideas to share, and I hope this speech maker’s maker space will provide learners with a vehicle for expressing those ideas.