Indeed. I’d never heard that Mountain Dew was invented as a mixer, and had to look it up. I think you should explain why it was invented as a mixer, rather than just stating a fact.
Reading it on a message board, it comes in at about 30 seconds. Granted, you have a visual aid you need to display; but it still seems short to me.
I agree with others that your audience mightn’t be as enthusiastic about Mountain Dew as you seem to be. It comes off to me as, ‘I really like Mountain Dew. You guys really need to drink it.’ That is, it comes off like a commercial. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since commercials are meant to introduce products. If I were writing this speech (I think our ‘introductory speeches’ were supposed to be three minutes on introducing ourselves – it’s been a long time) I’d go for humour. I mean, it’s pretty wacky to do a speech on a soft drink.
You’re probably too young to remember the commercials I grew up with: Animated hillbillies yelling, ‘Yaaaaaa-HOO! Mountain Dew!’ That’s how I’d start. I’d walk up to the lectern, place my cue cards upon it, straighten myself with some dignity, and then do the ‘rebel yell’ from the commercial. 'That’s how Mountain Dew was introduced to consumers in their commercials from the early-‘70s…’ Then I’d talk a little about its history (explaining why it was originally intended as a mixer, as I said before), and go for some laughs to keep the audience engaged. But you’re not me. That’s just the way I’d do it.
FWIW, you’ll probably have to do a ‘demonstration’ speech. For mine, I demonstrated how to make three different paper airplanes: I started with the simple dart, then another design, and then a two-piece design that uses a square sheet of paper for the wings and the leftover strip from the square to make an empennage. I made the planes beforehand and brought them in as completed examples, and then demonstrated how to make each one in the speech. My speech was well-received.
Please take this as being helpful and not as a slam:
‘Yay’ is an exclamation one uses to show joy or excitement or some similar emotion.
‘Yea’ means ‘yes’. (It can also mean ‘indeed’, as in ‘Johnny L.A. loves aviation; yea, he dreams about it nightly.’ But that’s not important in the context of the title.)
(And ‘yeah’, pronounced differently from ‘yay’ and ‘yea’, is an informal way of saying ‘yes’.)
Depends on what you mean by “moonshine.” By some definitions (including mine), “moonshine” means illegally distilled liquor (usually corn liquor/unaged whiskey when used in an American context). By others, it simply means dstilled corn liquor/unaged whiskey (so it’s clear, not white, and tastes a bit rough around the edges) in the style of these illicit Appalachian and Southern liquors. You can find the latter in Florida. I checked the Florida liquor store websites, and there’s plenty of commercial “moonshine” available. The former, by definition, would be illegal.
Yeah, I’m a pretty experienced drinker and know a lot about the process of making (and have made) all sorts of alcoholic beverages, but this thread actually is the first time I’ve learned that “mountain dew” means “moonshine.” I had no idea. Now, this doesn’t mean it’s not a fairly well-known term, but I’ve never come across it before. I just thought the name “Mountain Dew” was chosen for the lovely image it conveys.
Lots of straightforward facts there. Aren’t there any jokes, or comically embarrassing incidents involving this stuff? That’s the sort of thing that might keep the attention of this sort of age group. I’d imagine, for example, discussing your pets’ reaction to it might be a bit too twee for them, but you never know.
And don’t, don’t, don’t just read from the outline. Use it as a prop to talk conversationally - try catching the eye of someone not too near the front, and talk as though to them.
(Unless the professor expects “public speaking” to mean a State of the Union address.)
I meant to mention this. I see speaking to an audience as being akin to acting. I’ve seen many actors whom I look at and say, ‘He (or she) is acting.’ I’m almost always behind the camera; but were I an actor I would think it better to believe I am the character and behave as that character naturally would, than to believe I am an actor playing a role. So, with public speaking. Believe you’re chatting with some friends instead of believing you’re dispensing information to strangers. ‘Just be natural’, as it were. (I’m not sure I’m doing a good job of explaining it. I guess I should brush up on my acting.)
I just checked out Mountain Dew — the soft drink — [at Wikipedia](Mountain Dew" was originally Southern and/or Scots/Irish slang for moonshine (i.e., homemade whiskey), or poitín as it is called in Ireland.).
So it goes back a very long way.
Pix of Mountain Dew’s hillbilly labelling are there, too.
I can’t edit my post immediately above because of a blank text box again, and it will double post anyway if I post the corrected link in the blank text box. So I’m posting the corrected link with this explanation.
The song, here performed by The Dubliners and The Pogues, was written for The Blackbird (1882). Obviously this was much later than the origin of the phrase.
Your visual aid - if you haven’t glued the botts down already, a “Do the Dew” poster background might be nifty (yeah, I said nifty);
I can’t offer a cite for this, but–at least in the '60s–MD had RED PEPPER in it for tang, I suppose. I read it on the can when I was 9, and will defend it to my dying breath.
Thanks, great advice. I will make eye contact with the nice lady in the front row and stare into her soul. I really hope I don’t do that. Should I just blink excessively? I really hate making eye contact.
I don’t see it as a slam. Thanks for this tidbit.
My professor stated to stay away from humor during the speech. I think maybe I’ll squeeze in something the group might find humorous-- they’re very young, so perhaps a funny internet meme or something.
Cool airplanes… I want to do that for my demonstration speech now.
Noted.
What is another way I can wrap up the talk? I want it to be known that I am finished so there’s no like awkward silence at the end, LOL.
Community college and Associate in Arts degree. There is AS which is Associate in Science, also.
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Thanks for everyone’s feedback. After a few minor alterations, I am feeling a lot better about it.
Far be it for me to do your homework for you, but I just read a Mental Floss article the other day about interesting Mountain Dew facts (including its history as a mixer for booze).
You could add into your speech that it was originally brewed for the personal use of its creators, didn’t originally have the same citrus flavor (which explains why it could be mixed with bourbon), and that it was originally marketed as a hillbilly drink with slogans like “It’ll tickle yore innards”.
Also, as someone who took a speech class at a Florida university, here’s some advice that worked for me: go to the Professor’s office hours and tell him or her that you are a nervous public speaker, but that you care about how you do in school, so any advice or tips on doing well are appreciated. Speech classes are graded very subjectively, and that little bit of effort immediately shot my grades up from B’s to A’s without any discernable difference in my performances.
Wow I have taken the advice and I am working on making a better speech. A bit more facts, elaboration on moonshine, and I think I will still remain below 3m duration.
I put a little extra effort into the visual aid and I think it turned out pretty neat. Picture below. http://imgur.com/Xn72WeQ.jpeg
Additionally, I think I’m going to pass around a hand-out for everyone in the class of some of my favorite Dew logos to kind of keep their eyes from looking at me… Good or bad idea?
Bad idea. Very bad idea. If you did that in one of my Speech classes it would be an automatic drop of a letter grade. Well, after I told you not to do it, of course. There should be nothing distracting the audience from your presentation. They should be completely focused on you.
Take every point you make in the speech and add something to it. Then cut the whole thing by 25%. You have been given a wealth of ideas in this thread. Distill them down into something that is your own.
