Speech #2 - Genre Outline

Genre: Waiting on a table at a restaurant.

(Informative/Persuasive)

Main Points

(Will be followed by slides)

These main points are the general moves servers make when interacting with their guests.

1. The Introduction (or greeting the table)
1. The server will start out by introducing himself/herself to the guests.
1. “My name is …  
2. Then they will make sure to let the guests know that they will be the server.
1. “ … and I will be your server this evening.
3. Good servers should be able to greet their tables within a minute or two, and because of this they usually will give their table a few minutes to decide on drinks.
1. “Can I get you water, or anything to start?”
4. If there is any happy hour going on now would be a good time to explain it. Point out there is a separate menu, etc.
5. “I will give you a minute to look at the menu.”

2. Getting Drink/Appetizer Orders
1. When getting the drink/appetizer orders they will ask for them separately to avoid confusion.
1. “Can I start you out with something to drink?”
2. Then the server may ask for IDs which requires a few extra moments.
3. Then they will ask about appetizers or small bites.
1. “Can I start you off with any apps?”
4. They may also indicate that now is your time to ask any questions about the menu.
1. “Do you have any questions about the menu?”
2. “These are our specials for the evening...”
5. They will then let you know they are going to put in the orders and be back in a bit.
1. “I am going to put these orders in and I will be back to take your order.”
3. Getting the Main Course Orders
1. Assuming the guests have their drinks/apps the server will then expect to take your main course order.
1. “Are we ready to order?”
2. Many guests will ask for their recommendations, in which case they give them.
3. Then they put your order into the chefs.
4. Check up
1. After you have your food the server will come over to check on the table.
1. “How is everything tasting?”
2. “Can I get you anything else? More drinks?”
2. You may not hear from your server for sometime after this.
5. Asking About Dessert
1. They will come back over and ask if you would like any dessert in which case they introduce the dessert menu.
6. Dropping the Check
1. When they notice the table is done they may come over and ask…
1. “Can I get you a box?”
2. At which point the guest may ask for the check. Once the check is dropped if it is a credit card the server will run it and bring it back, thank you
3. If you are paying with cash they may ask for change, and then thank you.

Conventions/Moves:

1. Being friendly and enthusiastic.
2. Being persuasive.
3. Being knowledgeable about the menu.
4. Dressing clean and presentable.
5. Using restaurant jargon.
6. Being able to hold a number of trays.
7. Remembering orders.
8. Recognizing special occasions.
9. Being organized.
10. Understanding the POS system
11. Being timely.
12. Remembering happy hour and specials.
13. Communication with other coworkers.
14. Being quick.
15. Not looking stressed when you are.
16. Not looking bored when you are.
17. Try to get a tip.
18. Connect with guests.
19. Try to sell more expensive items.
20. Not have tables linger.

Elavator Speech: Start, Stop, Continue.

I need to start:

• Explain how/why the audience should listen to me. I did not do a good job of introducing myself as the speaker. I should have given the audience more information on why I am speaking on the topic, which would give them more reason to listen and take in what I am saying. For example why should I be advocating eating meat? How has eating impacted my life? I need to establish my credibility.
• Aside from needing to establish my own credibility, I also needed to do a better job of giving background to my story. In my speech I did not do a good job of explaining why I was in the elevator with my friend at the specific restaurant. I feel like I need to take a few moments in my speech to contextualize and explain the general purpose of it.  
• Using body language and gestures in my speech. It makes the whole thing seem boring when I am just standing up there reading off of a note card. It doesn't sound natural and may make it hard for my audience to pay attention. Also using gestures may help me feel more engaged in my presentation.
• Watching the pace of my speech. I think at times I began talking a little bit too fast for the audience and because of this they may have become confused and lost interest in my speech.

I need to stop:

• Using a notecard in my actual presentation. I feel like during practice and while I am still in my earlier stages of my speech it is fine, but during the actual presentation in front of the class it may make it more difficult. I noticed that when I was looking off my note card I lost my place multiple times and that showed in my speech with a pause or an “umm”.
• Just listing off facts that I have memorized, this can make my speech sound computerized and not natural. This also hurt me when it came to the elevator speech because it did not seem like I was actually talking to my friend Alexa.
• Talking so fast, especially when the person held up the 1:30 sec marker. I feel like when I saw this cue, I got a little stressed out about time and therefore lost control of how fast I was talking.

I need to continue:

• The way I prepared for my speech. Although you can never make it perfect, by utilizing the communication lab, and a few friends I was able to practice my speech for speech day. No matter how much I practiced though I noticed that when you are up in front of the class, performing is going to be a challenge. Freezing and forgetting your place in your speech I noticed was a common mistake of mine.
• Making an organized outline that is easy for me to follow and memorize. I am usually really good at making outlines for papers, so making one for the speech was rather easy. It is crazy that no matter how clear and easy your outline is, it is still very easy to mess up in front of an audience.
• Making eye contact with the audience. I know I didn't use enough hand gestures and body language, but I felt like for the most part keeping eye contact with the audience was easy. I think that not using a note card will also help with keeping eye contact because you will have no reason to look down.
• Being passionate about my topics and the speeches. When as a speaker you are passionate, some of the passion may rub off on your audience. If both you and your audience are engaged in the presentation/speech then the experience will be much more enjoyable.
• Giving both sides of a specific topic. So in my speech I was trying to convince my friend to know longer be a vegetarian, and in order to do this I had to be convincing. When I am persuasive it is important I give both sides to particular issue, which is what I did in my speech. Once the audience is familiar with both sides, then it is your job to convince them to agree with your stance.
  Staying on time with my speech. This time my elevator speech was right on time. I had to speed up a little bit at the end but overall I think that I was pretty punctual.