Informative Speech Grading Rubric Objective/Criteria Performance Indicators Effectively Accomplished Partially Accomplished Not Accomplished Opens with Impact Effective use of attention-getting Attention-getting strategy used but No attention-getting strategy was strategy (quote, statistic, question, did not seem to adequately capture evident (0) story, etc.) to capture listeners’ audience attention and/or lead to attention and to introduce topic (5) desired outcome (3) Thesis Statement Speaker clearly formulated and Thesis was clearly implied but not No thesis statement; main points stated thesis statement to identify explicitly stated (3) are not clearly identified and topic and encompass main points audience is unsure of the direction of presentation (5) of the message (0) Connection with Audience Thoughtful audience analysis Topic seems somewhat relevant to Topic seems irrelevant to audience reflected through choice of topic audience; vague reference to needs and interests; no attempt and supporting evidence (5) audience needs and/or interests (3) made to connect topic to audience (1) Organization & Subject Knowledge Main points are clearly General structure/organization Lack of structure; ideas not distinguished from supporting adequate but some blurring coherent and transitions are forced details; depth of content reflects between main and supporting or blurred; difficult to identify knowledge and understanding of details; logical flow but no clear beginning, middle, end; no support topic; main points adequately transitions; further explanations for ideas; little knowledge gained substantiated with timely, relevant needed to support content (20) by audience (10) and sufficient support (25) Credibility Sources of information are clearly Most sources are identified but fail Failed to identify sources; no identified and establish credibility to effectively establish credibility attempt to establish credibility (0) (10) (5) Delivery: Eye Contact Consistently and effectively used Conspicuous use of notes; seemed Read speech from avoids eye eye contact to establish rapport disengaged from audience for contact; only occasional sporadic with audience; inconspicuous use noticeable periods of time (5) glances (1) of notes and effective scanning (10) Delivery: Body Language Expressive, dynamic and natural Stiff or unnatural use of nonverbal Body language reflects a use of gestures, posture and facial behaviors; body language reflects reluctance to interact with expressions; body language some discomfort; limited use of audience; distracting movement or reflects comfort (10) gestures to reinforce verbal other behaviors (1) message (5)
Informative Speech Grading Rubric Objective/Criteria Performance Indicators Effectively Accomplished Partially Accomplished Not Accomplished Opens with Impact Effective use of attention-getting strategy (quote, statistic, question, story, etc.) to capture listeners’ attention and to introduce topic (5) Attention-getting strategy used but did not seem to adequately capture audience attention and/or lead to desired outcome (3) No attention-getting strategy was evident (0) Thesis Statement Speaker clearly formulated and stated thesis statement to identify topic and encompass main points of presentation (5) Thesis was clearly implied but not explicitly stated (3) No thesis statement; main points are not clearly identified and audience is unsure of the direction of the message (0) Connection with Audience Thoughtful audience analysis reflected through choice of topic and supporting evidence (5) Topic seems somewhat relevant to audience; vague reference to audience needs and/or interests (3) Topic seems irrelevant to audience needs and interests; no attempt made to connect topic to audience (1) Organization & Subject Knowledge Main points are clearly distinguished from supporting details; depth of content reflects knowledge and understanding of topic; main points adequately substantiated with timely, relevant and sufficient support (25) General structure/organization adequate but some blurring between main and supporting details; logical flow but no clear transitions; further explanations needed to support content (20) Lack of structure; ideas not coherent and transitions are forced or blurred; difficult to identify beginning, middle, end; no support for ideas; little knowledge gained by audience (10) Credibility Sources of information are clearly identified and establish credibility (10) Most sources are identified but fail to effectively establish credibility (5) Failed to identify sources; no attempt to establish credibility (0) Delivery: Eye Contact Consistently and effectively used eye contact to establish rapport with audience; inconspicuous use of notes and effective scanning (10) Conspicuous use of notes; seemed disengaged from audience for noticeable periods of time (5) Read speech from avoids eye contact; only occasional sporadic glances (1) Delivery: Body Language Expressive, dynamic and natural use of gestures, posture and facial expressions; body language reflects comfort (10) Stiff or unnatural use of nonverbal behaviors; body language reflects some discomfort; limited use of gestures to reinforce verbal message (5) Body language reflects a reluctance to interact with audience; distracting movement or other behaviors (1)
informative_speech_grading_rubric_2.docx