Improve Your Oral Reports (1968)

[Music] Bill's got a problem nothing serious just a homework assignment he has to prepare a 5-minute oral report but what subject will he talk about there are so many things that interest him baseball nature photography and stamp [Music] collecting stamp collecting h [Music] bill has a fine stamp collection but before he makes up his mind he'll check the list of points his teacher gave the [Music] class let's see choose a subject you can get information on Bill has that a subject of interest to you yes of interest to the class yes he thinks so limited enough for the time you have have yes Bill feels that stamp collecting is not too broad he can talk about his foreign [Music] stamps and about his American stamps of which he has many different [Music] kinds so that settled and the report isn't due until Monday but it's due Monday Bill I know pretty good huh yeah real good have you done your report yet not much to do I'm going to talk on stamp collecting and I know about about that but you still have to practice it don't you well okay I'll go through it you check me out do you have an outline you know how Mr Lawson is about outlines uh I don't need one you'll see what's wrong um nothing uh I'll start start now well um I like to collect stamps and um well I have many of them um this this album has stamps from many countries I mean companies that uh advertise in the paper uh I also get a great number of stamps from my uncle who is an uh importer bill doesn't seem sure of himself and he doesn't seem get stamps I mean a letter from them he sends me the stamps like these Carl's not impressed um I certainly intend to keep on collecting stamps it's the kind of hobby that you never get tired of you can keep collecting well you can keep collecting all your life now bill is in the last portion of his report I had some United States stamps aren't these interesting I hope you can see them they're statehood issues I have quite a few of these and then I got some I I have some stamps on American um authors oh no these are American composers I have a series on American authors too as you can see it's a very nice series very pretty and well very nice I think it's fun collecting stamps I think you'll think it's fun too and interesting that wasn't very good was it Carl I do know a lot about stamp collecting but it's hard to explain maybe you're trying to do too much much you've got foreign stamps and American stamps and you mention States and famous people I mean what am I supposed to get out of it maybe I can just talk about my United States collection that still covers too much you're supposed to have a central idea remember how about what I learned from my United States collection that sounds better write it down and I think you probably need an outline Carl is Right an outline as their teacher suggested will help Bill organize ideas in his topic Carl is wondering what books is Bill using for his report Bill does own a few books on stamp collecting but Carl's suggestion is good he ought to get more material from the library Carl's advice has been helpful the next day Bill begins his research in the card catalog of the library the cards help him find a number of books on stamp collecting the library also has magazines with current information on stamps there is so much that bill is going to narrow his topic down to learning American history from stamps later at home bill has completed a new outline he's also copied it on 3x5 cards learning American history from stamps his introduction is the story of the first United States stamps his central idea is that his collection has been useful in three ways bill has become more familiar with the achievements of famous Americans he's learned more about the histories of the states and he has a better appreciation of American ideals these three points make up the body of the report Bill's conclusion is a challenging suggestion to form a stamp club toward the end of the week bill rehearses again with Carl playing the audience my topic is learning American history from stamps the history of American stamps goes back to 1847 when the first stamps were issued by the United States Post Office the first stamps honored Franklin and Washington well what's the matter Carl well you started just fine but I don't think the whole class will be able to see the stamps and holding the album is awkward too don't you have a better way to show the stamps bill has an idea he'll show the stamps with his projector the idea is fine everyone will see the stamps Carl will operate the projector while Bill gives his report the big day is here bill will give his report next bill seems quite confident now remember how he started out when he first gave his report to Carl um I like to collect stamps and uh well I have many of them um now listen to Bill's introduction my topic is learning American history from stance the history of American stance goes back to 1847 when the first stamps were issued by the United States Post Office the first stamps honored Franklin and Washington since 1847 many other famous American men and events have been commemorated by stamps Franklin and Washington May remind us of other Statesmen and presidents uction is direct and leads to the body of his report as he follows his outline with the achievements of other Americans you may not be familiar with this man he's one of the American composers I learned about from my composer series of stamps I became interested in some of these the class is alert and attentive they sense Bill's interest and excitement part of American History too I found out more about their music and how can help you appreciate our country and its people my stamps have also helped me learn more about the history of our 50 States this stamp was issued in 1950 it commemorates the admission of California as a state in 1850 many stamps are issued on anniversaries of important dates of History Bill is moving right along on his history theme my remember his first attempt um I told you that I had some United States stamps aren't these interesting now bill is well prepared and confident is the date it was admitted to the union the 100th anniversary of that date is called the Centennial this is the Minnesota centennial stamp 1858 to 1958 adding the Centennial to my collection help me learn a little more about that state these next two are for our newest States Alaska and Hawaii admitted in 1959 bill is moving into the last point of the body of the report but I also learned along with great men and great events in our history there are also great ideas I learned some of the ideas from another group of STS the series is sometimes called the American Credo series on each stamp is a quotation from a famous American these are Washington's words and these are Lincoln the Patriots also include Jefferson Patrick Henry Benjamin Franklin and Francis Scott Key bill has almost reached his conclusion remember the first time he concluded his report I think stamp collecting is fun I think you'll think it's fun too and interesting now let's listen to Bill's new conclusion so I learned that these men shared the ideals on which our country was founded learning about American history is only one way that has made my stamp collecting more useful and interesting I hope some of you will find it interesting enough to join the new stamp club I'm organizing nice job Bill yes bill has done a good job his conclusion offered an invitation to the whole class as for the entire report do you see how choosing the right topic limiting the topic researching it outlining it and rehearsing it have paid off for Bill