Dear Daughter is a speechie. Speechies need compelling stories to cut into compelling speeches. Henceforth the call for book titles of compelling reads.
So, what makes a great speech book?
- Compelling Content. Or rather, engaging stories that have emotional moments. A speech is created by cutting passages and piecing them together in a way that tells a story. No genre should be dismissed as long as emotional impact exists–whether the content makes the reader laugh or cry. An example of compelling content is A Child Called It.
- Compelling Characters. Audience connection is so important in a speech. Speechies literally perform in front of judges. Speechies become the character, while the speech itself is the character’s plea to be heard. Compelling characters: Katniss at Rue’s death in The Hunger Games.
- Compelling Voice. Humor, hate, frustration, love, heartache. All these things can be present in a good speech, but the voice must be strong enough to carry the content. Can the audience feel the character based on the words he uses? If so, this would make a good speech. Example: Susanna Kaysen’s memoir, Girl Interrupted.
Competitive speech is made up of different categories. Humor, prose, drama (plays), duos (two speechies), poetry, etc. It is especially difficult to pin down a good book for prose. It takes time to read through novels and/or memoirs until a speechie finds the right fit. Because of this, I’m developing a resource list in hopes of helping our speechies more easily sift through the abundance of titles on the shelves.
What I need from you: Titles of books that moved you (joyfully or tragically) and a brief quip on why/how the book impacted you. If you can give a specific example, that would be great, but not necessary.
Thanks so much!
Words from the Woods 