11.2: Informative Speech Examples

Sample Speech 1

Title: Going Green in the World of Education

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about how schools are going green.

Thesis Statement: The green movement has transformed school buildings, how teachers teach, and the environment in which students learn.

Introduction

Attention Getter: Did you know that attending or working at a green school can lead students and teachers to have fewer health problems? Did you know that allowing more daylight into school buildings increases academic performance and can lessen attention and concentration challenges? Well, the research I will cite in my speech supports both of these claims, and these are just two of the many reasons why more schools, both grade schools and colleges, are going green.

Introduction of Topic: Today, I will inform you about the green movement affecting many schools.

Credibility and Relevance: Because of my own desire to go into the field of education, I decided to research how schools are going green in the United States. But it’s not just current and/or future teachers that will be affected by this trend. As students at Eastern Illinois University, you are already asked to make “greener” choices. Whether it’s the little signs in the dorm rooms asking you to turn off your lights when you leave the room, the reusable water bottles given out on move-in day, or even our new Renewable Energy Center, the list goes on and on. Additionally, younger people in our lives, whether they be future children or younger siblings, or relatives, will likely be affected by this continuing trend.
Thesis/Preview: In order to better understand what makes a “green school,” we need to learn about how K–12 schools are going green, how college campuses are going green, and how these changes affect students and teachers.

Transition: I’ll begin with how K–12 schools are going green.

Body

1. According to the “About Us” section on their official website, the US Green Building Council was established in 1993 with the mission to promote sustainability in the building and construction industry, and it is this organization that is responsible for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, which is a well-respected green building certification system.
   1. While homes, neighborhoods, and businesses can also pursue LEED certification, I’ll focus today on K–12 schools and college campuses.
      1. It’s important to note that principles of “going green” can be applied to the planning of a building from its first inception or be retroactively applied to existing buildings.
         1. A 2011 article by Ash in Education Week notes that the pathway to creating a greener school is flexible based on the community and its needs.
            1. In order to garner support for green initiatives, the article recommends that local leaders like superintendents, mayors, and college administrators become involved in the green movement.
            2. Once local leaders are involved, the community, students, parents, faculty, and staff can be involved by serving on a task force, hosting a summit or conference, and implementing lessons about sustainability into everyday conversations and school curriculum.
         2. The US Green Building Council’s website also includes a tool kit with a lot of information about how to “green” existing schools.
      2. Much of the efforts to green schools have focused on K–12 schools and districts, but what makes a school green?
         1. According to the US Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools, green school buildings conserve energy and natural resources.
            1. For example, Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, was built in 2006 and received LEED certification because it has automatic light sensors to conserve electricity and uses wind energy to offset nonrenewable energy use.
            2. To conserve water, the school uses a pond for irrigation, has artificial turf on athletic fields, and installed low-flow toilets and faucets.
            3. According to the 2006 report by certified energy manager Gregory Kats titled “Greening America’s Schools,” a LEED-certified school uses 30–50 percent less energy, 30 percent less water, and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent compared to a conventional school.
         2. The Center for Green Schools also presents case studies that show how green school buildings also create healthier learning environments.
            1. Many new building materials, carpeting, and furniture contain chemicals that are released into the air, which reduces indoor air quality.
            2. So green schools purposefully purchase materials that are low in these chemicals.
            3. Natural light and fresh air have also been shown to promote a healthier learning environment, so green buildings allow more daylight in and include functioning windows.

Transition: As you can see, K–12 schools are becoming greener; college campuses are also starting to go green.

1. Examples from the University of Denver and Eastern Illinois University show some of the potentials for greener campuses around the country.
   1. The University of Denver is home to the nation’s first “green” law school.
      1. According to the Sturm College of Law’s website, the building was designed to use 40 percent less energy than a conventional building through the use of movement-sensor lighting; high-performance insulation in the walls, floors, and roof; and infrared sensors on water faucets and toilets.
      2. Electric car recharging stations were also included in the parking garage, and the building has extra bike racks and even showers that students and faculty can use to freshen up if they bike or walk to school or work.
   2. Eastern Illinois University has also made strides toward a more green campus.
      1. Some of the dining halls on campus have gone “trayless,” which according to a 2009 article by Calder in the journal Independent School has the potential to dramatically reduce the amount of water and chemical use, since there are no longer trays to wash, and also helps reduce food waste since people take less food without a tray.
      2. The biggest change on campus has been the opening of the Renewable Energy Center in 2011, which according to EIU’s website is one of the largest biomass renewable energy projects in the country.
         1. The Renewable Energy Center uses slow-burn technology to use wood chips that are a byproduct of the lumber industry that would normally be discarded.
         2. This helps reduce our dependency on our old coal-fired power plant, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
         3. The project was the first known power plant to be registered with the US Green Building Council and is on track to receive LEED certification.

Transition: All these efforts to go green in K–12 schools and on college campuses will obviously affect students and teachers at the schools.

2. The green movement affects students and teachers in a variety of ways.
   1. Research shows that going green positively affects a student’s health.
      1. Many schools are literally going green by including more green spaces such as recreation areas, gardens, and greenhouses, which according to a 2010 article in the Journal of Environmental Education by University of Colorado professor Susan Strife has been shown to benefit a child’s cognitive skills, especially in the areas of increased concentration and attention capacity.
      2. Additionally, the report I cited earlier, “Greening America’s Schools,” states that the improved air quality in green schools can lead to a 38 percent reduction in asthma incidents and that students in “green schools” had 51 percent less chance of catching a cold or the flu compared to children in conventional schools.
   2. Standard steps taken to green schools can also help students academically.
      1. The report “Greening America’s Schools” notes that a recent synthesis of fifty-three studies found that more daylight in the school building leads to higher academic achievement.
      2. The report also provides data that show how a healthier environment in green schools leads to better attendance and that in Washington, DC, and Chicago, schools improved their performance on standardized tests by 3–4 percent.
   3. Going green can influence teachers’ lesson plans as well their job satisfaction and physical health.
      1. There are several options for teachers who want to “green” their curriculum.
         1. According to the article in Education Week that I cited earlier, the Sustainability Education Clearinghouse is a free online tool that provides K–12 educators with the ability to share sustainability-oriented lesson ideas.
         2. The Center for Green Schools also provides resources for all levels of teachers, from kindergarten to college, that can be used in the classroom.
      2. The report “Greening America’s Schools” claims that the overall improved working environment that a green school provides leads to higher teacher retention and less teacher turnover.
      3. Just as students see health benefits from green schools, so do teachers, as the same report shows that teachers in these schools get sick less, resulting in a decrease of sick days by 7 percent.

Conclusion

Transition to conclusion and summary of importance: In summary, the going-green era has impacted every aspect of education in our school systems.

Review of main points: From K–12 schools to college campuses like ours, to the students and teachers in the schools, the green movement is changing the way we think about education and our environment.

Closing statement: As Glenn Cook, the editor in chief of the American School Board Journal, states on the Center for Green Schools’s website, “The green schools movement is the biggest thing to happen to education since the introduction of technology to the classroom.”

References

Ash, K. (2011). “Green schools” benefit budgets and students, report says. Education Week, 30(32), 10.

Calder, W. (2009). Go green, save green. Independent School, 68(4), 90–93.

The Center for Green Schools. (n.d.). K–12: How.

Eastern Illinois University. (n.d.). Renewable Energy Center.

Kats, G. (2006). Greening America’s schools: Costs and benefits. A Capital E Report.

Strife, S. (2010). Reflecting on environmental education: Where is our place in the green movement? Journal of Environmental Education, 41(3), 179–191.

USGBC. (n.d.). About us. US Green Building Council.

Sample Speech 2

Informative Speech on Lord Byron

Introduction

1. Attention Grabber: Imagine an eleven-year-old boy who has been beaten and sexually abused repeatedly by the very person who is supposed to take care of him.
2. Reveal Topic: This is one of the many hurdles that George Gordon, better known as Lord Byron, overcame during his childhood. Lord Byron was also a talented poet with the ability to transform his life into the words of his poetry. Byron became a serious poet by the age of fifteen and he was first published in 1807 at the age of nineteen. Lord Byron was a staunch believer in freedom and equality, so he gave most of his fortune, and in the end, his very life, supporting the Greek war for independence.
3. Credibility: I learned all about Lord Byron when I took Humanities 1201 last semester.
4. Thesis/Preview: Today, I will discuss his childhood, poetry, and legacy.

Body

1. Lord Byron was born on January 22, 1788, to Captain John Byron and Catherine Gordon Byron.
   1. According to Paul Trueblood, the author of Lord Byron, Lord Byron’s father only married Catherine for her dowry, which he quickly went through, leaving his wife and child nearly penniless.
   2. By the age of two, Lord Byron and his mother had moved to Aberdeen in Scotland and shortly thereafter, his father died in France at the age of thirty-six.
   3. Lord Byron was born with a clubbed right foot, which is a deformity that caused his foot to turn sideways instead of remaining straight, and his mother had no money to seek treatment for this painful and embarrassing condition.
      1. He would become very upset and fight anyone who even spoke of his lameness.
      2. Despite his handicap, Lord Byron was very active and liked competing with the other boys.
   4. At the age of ten, his grand-uncle died leaving him the title as the sixth Baron Byron of Rochdale.
      1. With this title, he also inherited Newstead Abbey, a dilapidated estate that was in great need of repair.
      2. Because the Abbey was in Nottinghamshire England, he and his mother moved there and stayed at the abbey until it was rented out to pay for the necessary repairs.
      3. During this time, May Gray, Byron’s nurse had already begun physically and sexually abusing him.
      4. A year passed before he finally told his guardian, John Hanson, about May’s abuse; she was fired immediately.
      5. Unfortunately the damage had already been done.
      6. In the book Lord Byron, it is stated that years later he wrote “My passions were developed very early- so early, that few would believe me if I were to state the period, and the facts which accompanied it.”
   5. Although Lord Byron had many obstacles to overcome during his childhood, he became a world-renowned poet by the age of 24.
2. Lord Byron experienced the same emotions we all do, but he was able to express those emotions in the form of his poetry and share them with the world.
   1. According to Horace Gregory, The author of Poems of George Gordon, Lord Byron, the years from 1816 through 1824 is when Lord Byron was most known throughout Europe.
   2. But according to Paul Trueblood, Childe Harold was published in 1812 and became one of the best-selling works of literature in the 19th century.
      1. Childe Harold was written while Lord Byron was traveling through Europe after graduating from Trinity College.
      2. Many authors such as Trueblood, and Garrett, the author of George Gordon, Lord Byron, express their opinion that Childe Harold is an autobiography about Byron and his travels.
   3. Lord Byron often wrote about the ones he loved the most, such as the poem “She Walks in Beauty” written about his cousin Anne Wilmont, and “Stanzas for Music” written for his half-sister, Augusta Leigh.
   4. He was also an avid reader of the Old Testament and would write poetry about stories from the Bible that he loved.
      1. One such story was about the last king of Babylon.
      2. This poem was called the “Vision of Belshazzar,” and is very much like the bible version in the book of Daniel.
   5. Although Lord Byron is mostly known for his talents as a poet, he was also an advocate for the Greek war for independence.
3. Lord Byron, after his self-imposed exile from England, took the side of the Greeks in their war for freedom from Turkish rule.
   1. Byron arrived in Greece in 1823 during a civil war.
      1. The Greeks were too busy fighting amongst themselves to come together to form a formidable army against the Turks.
      2. According to Martin Garrett, Lord Byron donated money to refit the Greeks’ fleet of ships but did not immediately get involved in the situation.
      3. He had doubts as to if or when the Greeks would ever come together and agree long enough to make any kind of a difference in their war effort.
      4. Eventually the Greeks united and began their campaign for the Greek War of Independence.
      5. He began pouring more and more of his fortune into the Greek army and finally accepted a position to oversee a small group of men sailing to Missolonghi.
   2. Lord Byron set sail for Missolonghi in Western Greece in 1824.
      1. He took a commanding position over a small number of the Greek army despite his lack of military training.
      2. He had also made plans to attack a Turkish-held fortress but became very ill before the plans were ever carried through.
   3. Lord Byron died on April 19, 1824, at the age of 36 due to the inexperienced doctors who continued to bleed him while he suffered from a severe fever.
      1. After Lord Byron’s death, the Greek War of Independence, due to his support, received more foreign aid which led to their eventual victory in 1832.
      2. Lord Byron is hailed as a national hero by the Greek nation.
      3. Many tributes such as statues and road names have been devoted to Lord Byron since the time of his death.

Conclusion

1. Transition into conclusion/Review of main points: In conclusion, Lord Byron overcame great physical hardships to become a world-renowned poet, and is seen as a hero to the Greek nation, and is mourned by them still today. I have chosen not to focus on Lord Byron’s more liberal way of life, but rather to focus on his accomplishments in life. He was a man who owed no loyalty to Greece, yet gave his life to support their cause.
2. Closing statement: Most of the world will remember Lord Byron primarily through his written attributes, but Greece will always remember him as the “Trumpet Voice of Liberty.”