In civics exams (and also in the written baccalaureate) the operator "gestalte" is used an important operator of the third requirement area. As a rule, either an argument (click here to go to the Controversy) demands or a political speech. A (political) speech is actually an oral presentation of thoughts / of one’s own point of view on a topic. Speeches are addressed to a specific audience and they have an occasion and a purpose.
In civics, speeches in exams are logically required in writing. However, the principles of a good speech remain (by and large) the same. However, in a few places – because it is an examination task – we have to use some of Tucholsky’s advice for a bad speaker (see below).
Preliminary considerations
Before writing a speech, one must be aware of three questions:
- Who are my listeners? (addressee specificity)
- What do I want to achieve with my speech? (content-related goal)
- How do I have to structure the speech to be as convincing as possible? (rhetorical elaboration)
Relating to the addressee
Since a speech is addressed to a specific audience, it must also be "addressee-related".
This means that both the language and the structure of the speech must address the target audience. A speech to a youth audience must use different language than a speech to young adults or adults does.
It must also be noted that the speaker speaks authentically.
This, in turn, means that a professor generally uses different language than a 13-year-old student does.
Example:
The guiding question of the Future Forum on Democracy is: "How should we make political decisions in Germany??"
You are invited as Expert Invited to give a speech to interested young Adults to deliver.
Design a speech to answer this question.
Solution notes:
In this case, you have to make sure that the speech uses language that is appropriate to an expert (i.e. z.B. a scientist) is appropriate and aimed at young adults (!) judges. Formulations such as "voll krass", "comes off" etc. would therefore be inappropriate in this case.
Content goals
Similar to a commentary, when giving a speech, you must first identify the crucial arguments, examples, and evidence (evidence and examples must be assigned to arguments!) collect.
Then one should decide which opinion one represents.
It is then worthwhile to discuss the arguments or. You have to weight the points of the speech and think about which arguments or opinions you want to express. Counterarguments fit together.
example:
The central question of the Future forum democracy reads: "How should we make political decisions in Germany?"
You are invited as an expert to give a speech to interested young adults.