Informational Speech Outline
Writing Center
**I. ****Introduction
a. Hook: How many of you hate writing papers? I know some of you are journalists working on the Collegian but for others if you’re like me writing papers isn’t exactly a piece of cake. But with the writings centers help I was able to get helpful critiques that made me feel more confident in my paper and its quality.
b. Body of Intro: Our University had various resources that are offered to students to help them with their academic struggles. The resources were created to provide students with available tutoring if needed or seeked out. The University Learning Centers include tutoring for Math, Language, Writing, Technology, and Learning Skills which includes studying habits, time management, and test taking skills. But today I’m going to focus on one that I personally need the most help with.
c. Thesis: The writing center is a very useful resource for students who need help on all aspects of their writing pieces, and can be used to help you throughout any step of writing. It’s free and could be very beneficial, but isn’t a well known resource.
d. Main Points: So my mission today is help you get more acquainted with the writing center by explaining what it is, who is reading you paper, and how they can help you, and some general information that you’ll need to know before venturing out to actually use it.
Transition: I know I keep going on about the writing center and some of you may not be sure on what exactly it is.
II. Main point 1: What is it and who is reading my paper?
a. A free resource offered to all Penn State students who want to seek out help on pieces of writing.
i. That includes anything from essays, research papers, literature reviews, abstracts, and even testing out speeches.
b. The tutors that you meet with are fellow Penn State students.
i. Just so you don’t think that you have just anyone reading over your paper the tutors have been through a training process and are qualified to be making corrections on your paper.
ii. And contrary to what you might think the tutors are from all different majors not just English. Kate Ericsson a tutor at the center, also a Political Science explained to me the process of becoming a tutor. You will need a teacher recommendation as well as turning in a sample piece of your writing. She said that all tutors must take the course English 250, which according to Penn State website has the course description of an “Introduction to skills and attitudes required for successful peer tutoring in writing. (and also) Provides internship experience in a writing center.”
iii. Through my experience when I went in there I felt more comfortable knowing that a student rather than a professor was reading my paper, because I felt that I could relate more to my tutor more rather than being more intimidated by an older adult.
Transition: Now that you can feel confident in who is reading your paper, it is time to find out what exactly they help you on.
III. Main Point 2: How can they help you?
a. When you first go into the writing center and sign in the secretary sitting at the desk will give you paper to fill out. On it are questions of what exactly you’d like to go over on your paper. The topics range from the theme, clear transitions, grammar, and organization. You can check off as many that apply to you or be like me and ask to go over everything that you have time for in your time limit.
b. If you don’t have any specific areas you would like to visit in your paper then Kate Ericsson shared that they normally like to work their way down from the big concerns in your paper like if you are doing the assignment correctly as well ad organization, and then work their way down to the smaller concerns like grammar.
i. She said that it’s more important to have it overall correctly organized and focused paper than to worry about small grammatical errors.
ii. Your tutor will work on whatever they can get through in the time frame that they are given which is a half an hour if there are other people waiting to be helped. And if they feel as though you still need help you can set up another time to meet and finish reviewing your paper.
iii. In my personal experience me and my tutor read through my paper paragraph to paragraph. She made me read it out loud so I might catch some of my own mistakes. We would stop if a sentence didn’t make sense or if it ran on too long. Giving me advice on what sentences I could include to make my point stronger, and also what sentences I could eliminate to make my paragraphs more clear.
c. Kate also said that they are there not only there to help you fix your papers so that you can get that A but also to teach you the grammar and organization skills to use in your next paper to make them better.
Transition: Now that you’ve learned all about how useful the writing center can be to you I’m sure your dyeing to know where it’s located so you can take your next paper there.
IV. ****Main point 3: General Information
a. ****Where it’s located: During the summer it’s only location is in the Bouke building which is located on Pollock road right next to Osmond Lab, and right down the road from the Hub. If you enter the main entrance you’ll want to go up the stairs. The room number that it is in is 219. If you can’t find it there will be signs on the walls that can help you along the way.
b. ****When it’s Available to you: During the summer the hours are different than in the fall but they are still an available resource to you while we’re here for the summer. Their summer hours there are Monday through Thursday one to four p.m. and then they reopen at seven and are open until nine p.m.. They are also open on Sunday nights from seven to nine.
c. ****What to bring: Since it’s a free resource the only thing that you’re to bring along with you is of course the paper or piece of writing that you need help on. But also your student I.D. and if you for some reason don’t have your I.D or forgot to bring it along with you, you many use your Penn State e-mail address. And be sure to know the name of the course that the paper is pertaining.
d. All this information is on the University Learning Centers website if you can’t remember.
Transition: Now that you’re all experts on the writing center
V. Conclusion**
a. You’ve learned who would be reading your paper, what they would be helping you on, and where you can get that help at. It’s up to you to use the resource which is provided to you. I’ve shared how much I’ve benefited from it, and so if you feel like you could use some help on writing skills and revision the writing center could be your answer.
Works Cited
(K. Ericsson, personal communication, July 22, 2007)
FEEDBACK: Great outline Kelsie! You seem very prepared for your speech. Your outline is detailed and precise and flows well. I really liked your introduction. My only recommendation is to check up on a few gramatical errors before you turn it in. Your speech should be great though! Good luck-Katie
Kelsie! I really like the format of your outline. The outline itself is really easy to follow. There is a lot of good information, so good luck and I am looking forward to hearing your speech.
-Ryan
Kelsie, I thought your speech today was well-thought-out. You had strong main points and made solid eye contact. I would recommend working on stronger transitions for your next speech, but other than that, i thought your speech topic was very good and interesting as well. Good job! - Alan
Kelsie- Your outline is very well put together and it flows really well. You did a really good job in class today but I agree with Alan about working on transitions. Great job!- Lauren Grimes
Kelsie! amazing job today. don't worry if you mess up just keep going and try not to let it show on your face. we might not even notice! really strong speech though and really good job!!!-Kara
Kelsie! you know any speech you do I'm going to love because you have the cutest voice ever! You were very credible and it was obvious you knew a lot about the writting center. I like how you put personal experience into your speech. Just work on word pronunciation, Good job! -Lisa
Kelsie you did a great job today! Your speech was very well organized and you clearly knew the material. Your personal experience with the Writing Center really added to the content. Your transitions were really good too. Next time don't be nervous...you did fine! -Katie
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