OPN Speakers Bureau Orientation & Training

Sample Speech Events

The best way to learn about speech building is to build a speech. So you are asked to pick one of the sample events below and use this scenario as we build a speech together.

Although these events are hypothetical, they are realistic situations that you may encounter as a member of the OPN Speakers Bureau.

EVENT 1: Ohio Nurses Association Board Meeting

The Ohio Nurses Association (ONA) has asked the OPN to make a presentation at their board meeting. OPN speakers will be only a small part of this half-day meeting, which will be held at the ONA headquarters. OPN speakers are asked to talk for no more than 10 minutes each.

The ONA asked us to talk about the therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana (MMJ). They’d like to hear from experts who can talk about the latest in MMJ research and legislative developments.

They are especially interested in hearing from patients about the benefits they receive from medical marijuana and/or the problems they have experienced due to its prohibition.

Speakers may support their speech with one or two medical marijuana flyers. About 15 board members are expected to attend.

EVENT 2: AIDS Leadership Conference

The Ohio AIDS Coalition (OAC) and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) are sponsoring a two-day Leadership Conference designed to help people who are living and working with the HIV/AIDS spectrum. They’ve invited the OPN to present a MMJ workshop that should last about an hour and a quarter.

They have requested our speakers discuss the past, present and future of MMJ as it relates to people with HIV/AIDS. They suggest that part of presentation be open to questions and answers from the audience.

More than 400 patients, social workers, health professionals and activists are expected to attend the conference. However, due to concurrent schedules, only some of those will attend the OPN’s presentation.

The two-day event will be held in hotel conference facilities. Throughout the event, OPN members will staff a display table that will be stocked with MMJ flyers and OPNews sign-up sheets.

EVENT 3: Legislative Hearing

The Judiciary Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives is holding hearings to determine whether a bill that would regulate MMJ in Ohio should be sent to the full House for a vote.

Organizers who support MMJ have asked the OPN to provide speakers who represent a variety of perspectives (patients, caregivers, health professionals, etc.). To help overcome marijuana’s counter-culture image, organizers are interested in speakers who project “Mainstream Americana.”

Organizers recommend we divide our best MMJ evidence so each speaker can talk about a specific topic. They also alert us, “Be prepared to control your emotions in the face of rotten pot shots.”

Each testifier will be allowed to speak for no more than 10 minutes. Testimony will be regulated by the Committee Chair, who is a member of the opposition.

Hearings will be held in a Capital Building hearing room. The audience will include up to eleven Representatives and a gallery full of interested spectators.

Testifiers should provide the eleven Reps with copies of a written statement of no more than 1 – 2 pages.

EVENT 4: Million Marijuana March

Organizers of a local Million Marijuana March (MMM) request OPN speakers for their event.

MMM organizers would especially like to hear from patients about the benefits they receive from MMJ and/or the legal run-ins they have experienced due to its prohibition.

Speakers can also talk about OPN’s mission, goals and accomplishments. Since the crowd of several hundred will be pro-marijuana, this speaking engagement will be a great opportunity to promote the OPN and recruit new members.

During the march and rally, OPN members will staff a display table at the park where the event is held. The table will be stocked with MMJ flyers and OPNews sign-up sheets.

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