Essay Sample about Brittany Piper Speech

There are many ways to formulate, prepare, and deliver a speech. Brittany Piper is a motivational speaker and activist for sexaul assault awareness. She came to the UNK campus on the night of November 30th to give a speech about rape culture and sharing her story. During her speech, Brittany is very informed about what she was talking about by breaking down every part of her topic, she kept the audience engaged, and her speech was very organized and well-prepared. Brittany used personally experiences, definitions and explanations in depth about what she wants her audience to understand, and application of how our society as a whole promotes and prevents negative culture of the knowledge of sexual assault. 

To begin her speech, Brittany opened with a couple fun facts about herself to connect a little with her audience before she actually started the content of her speech. It is very important that she made that connection, especially along this topic because rape culture tends to be sensitive and uncomfortable, so forming that relationship with your audience and letting them know it is a safe environment is very crucial. As she started talking about her topic she asked her audience, “If you know someone who has experiences sexual assault stand up” and “sit back down if that person did not report the incident”. This is a good example of keeping your audience engaged, which Brittany did very well throughout her entire speech. Not only did Brittany keep her audience engaged, but she also spoke and presented in a way that her audience would best understand. 

Visuals are often very important factors of informative speeches, and Brittany did use slideshow full of pictures and visuals to support her topic. Brittany broke down what rape is, what culture is, and how they correlate. First, rape is nonconsensual sex and consent is “voluntary and mutual, can be withdrawn at any time, and respecting boundaries”. She additionally gives seven tips to better understand consent and the gray areas of consent in different situations. Further, culture is “the characteristics and knowledge of a group of people” and “culture is learned through stories which teach us lessons, hape our views, and compel us to act”. Next, Brittany spoke about how both rape and culture correlated and shapes our society. She went on to explain how music, movies, tv shows, and video games form the culture in society. She used multiple examples that she knew her audience would understand or know, to apply these concepts into real life.

To continue her speech, Brittany played a video, without any context, that explained a story about a brutal rape 10 years ago. After the video, she asks the audience to reflect and share their thoughts. Then she explains to the audience that this story was her, which naturally caused an overwhelming silence of sympathy throughout the crowd. She goes on to share her personal story and the stories that were portrayed on social media. Subsequently, to start wrapping up her speech, Brittany gave solutions, resources, and examples about how to prevent and help spread awareness of sexual assault. For example, being proactive instead of reactive is ultimately the key. Also, being able to empathize with a person instead of sympathizing is crucial. Brittany explained this by saying, “ empathy is not taking over and allowing a person to do whatever they need '' and “giving praise and encouragement” instead of ignoring them and neglecting their emotions and reactions. She concludes by briefly reiterating her main points about what is rape, culture, and consent, how they all correlate, and how it is applied in our society.

The context and delivery of her speech was very organized and executed very well, but Brittany also had very powerful parts of her speech that were just as important, including how she carried herself and physically represented her speech. Throughout her entire speech, she kept good eye contact throughout the entire room. Along with eye contact, Brittany had a constant volume and tone of voice. She did not speak too fast or too slow in order for the audience to fully understand and absorb what she was speaking about. Brittany was very confident about what she was talking about and she was confident about herself in general by moving around and keeping good posture. Confidence tends to produce a sense of comfort for the audience because this shows them that their speaker really does know what they are talking about. Overall, Brittany’s speech was very well delivered. 

Speeches can often be presented in a variety of different ways, shapes, and forms, and Brittnay Piper gave her speech over a very sensitive topic and still was able to help her audience stay engaged and comfortable. Through many examples and stories, Brittany informed people about rape culture in a way that conformed to her audience. She not only informed her target audience, but she gave resources and ways to prevent and raise awareness of sexual assault in society. Brittany had a very structured speech that ultimately was delivered very well.