External Speech Critique

1

My friends and I threw a going away party for my friends Katie and Matt who are going away to college very soon. My friend Wade gave a farewell speech to them. He began with a joke about the first time he met Katie and the first time he met Matt. His hand gestures and his ability to not slip up added to the comedic effect – though he often looked down at his paper which he had written most of his speech on.2

Near the beginning, he brought up what tied us all together – our love and friendship for Matt and Katie. His thesis statement was one somewhere along the lines of, “Even though we are all going on separate journeys we should all stay good friends – especially with Katie and Matt.” Most of us were going away to college soon, but this was their first year away.3

There was not a preview of the main points. Wade was very effective with his narrative techniques – calling back old memories with Katie and Matt and telling them very vividly. However, he did mix up one or two details he had to go back on. 4

The conclusion was a dedication to them. He revealed two surprises including cakes that we had purchased for them involving inside jokes. He summed up how important they were again and mentioned all the great times we have had again. As I stated, he was very good with language – other than a few slip ups – but did stick to his paper a little too much. He also went in and out of being formal and informal in a non-organized manner. 5

He could have practiced some beforehand, so he wasn’t so stuck to his paper and made sure he had his stories straight, but it was a touching and pretty memorable speech. So, I would say it was pretty effective and appropriate for the party.6