Entry #7

When beginning the speech it is very important to remember who the audience is that you are speaking to. Since this speech is to be delivered to an audience of inner-city high school students on why they should attend college I would strive to not sound too preachy and would focus mainly on the advantages that come from going to college. I would first ask for a quick poll of who already planned to attend college and then would ask them their feelings about going to college so that I could see where exactly my audience was coming from so I could gear my speech towards their needs. I would tell them of local colleges and universities as well as junior colleges that would be accessible to them. I would definitely let them know that there is financial aid available, such as loans and scholarships, so money should not be something that should keep them from going to college. Since I am an athlete here at Elon on a scholarship I would really stress the fact that scholarships (athletic and academic) are a great way to help pay for college. I would use a combination of pathos and logos to deliver my points and try to make it more convincing. I would try to use more pathos, explaining how fun college is and how many great experiences they will have. I would want to bring in a person, preferably someone famous, who was from the inner-city and went and found success in college. Since I am from a suburb I would not be able to connect to them very well and would want them to hear advice from someone who had been in their shoes before. I would be able to explain college to them since I am a freshman and have had to deal with a lot of the same issues as them when it comes to the selection of colleges. Using logos I would give them some statistics and try to show them that many jobs these days require education that extends past the high school level. Hopefully by combining all of the above strategies the speech would be strong and convince at least one student to go to college.