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COM 102 Melvin Speech Communication

Use this guide to understand how to research and prepare for your COM 101 and 102 speeches

Your Assignment

READ THIS CAREFULLY!

This is the assignment for both of your COM 102  speeches - 

1. Topics for each assignment must be approved by Prof. Melvin prior to starting your research.

2.  You must have a minimum of 7 reliable, recent and credible sources from library resources. Research is to be done using the college library resources.  *Prepared students know the value of gathering 10-12 articles so you can choose the articles which work the best for you.

3.  Short reference articles may be used and are encouraged, but will not be included in the minimum required. 

4. Books may be used but must be approved by your Professor before hand.

5. Statistical data is important to informative speeches. Statistics can be found in your research articles and/or using the Statista database from the library.

6.  APA citation style is required for the bibliography. 

7. Attention-getters are required. Find something in your research that is compelling, intriguing, shocking, thought-provoking or amusing.

Begin Your Research

Once your topic is approved, begin your research with some of the Library's more general databases.

Informative speeches are strictly factual based. No opinions are allowed.

 

Academic Search Premier- Use this as your starting place. Use the advanced search to limit the number of pages for your articles.

For health related topics, take a look at one of these databases-

If your topic is more specific (related to science, history, biography for example), you may want to look at a more subject specific database-

Once your topic is approved, begin your research. Think about the argument  you are going to make and remember to investigate all sides of the issue. These databases will help you with that-

You may also want to consider some of the more subject specific databases-

Author Information

Bibliography/Author's Credentials together = 30% of total "informative speech" grade.

The Author's credentials are half of the grade of the bibliography. Each article, book or source must have some verifying information proving the validity of the information:

-multiple author articles (provide author's credentials on ONE of the authors, not all)

Information about your author should include:

  1. institution & highest level of education
  2. year of graduation from highest level
  3. degree concentration
  4. current job title/organization
  5. years of experience
  6. #of publications
  7. awards
  8. affiliations

- articles published by companies, institutions, government sites should find all of the following information:

  1. date established
  2. person or group who founded
  3. specialty field
  4. mission statement or statement of purpose
  5. number of employees (of importance. For example, if the publication is authored by a medical institution, #of medical doctors & researchers are important).
  6. number of locations
  7. awards or achievements

Researching the information on author or corporate background can be done using Google, Linkedin, etc. but takes detective work and persistence. For businesses, try looking for an annual report.