Finance and Accounting Math Problem on Cooperate Finance

Finance and Accounting on Cooperate Finance - Math Problem Example Contribution from the parents would be invested at 6% annually for a period of 3 years. However the remaining amount will be raised from Aunt Hilda’s gift. So, at the moment, the future value of the contribution from the parents would be calculated and then this future value from the parents would be deducted from $10,000 to find the future value of the amount that would be raised from the Aunt Hilda. Once this amount is identified, the present value of Aunt Hilda gift will be calculated to identify the amount required from her. Parents would contribute $5,000 and that will be invested for 3 years at 6%. Therefore the future value of $5000 after 3 years would be FV = $5000 (1+ 6%) ^ 3 FV = 5,955 As the total value after 3 years required would be $10,000. So, after three years amount required for the trip except from the contribution of the parents would be $10,000 - $5,955 = $4045 $4,045 would be the amount that would be needed after 3 years. So, this is the future value of th e gift of Aunt Hilda. As this amount would be invested for three years at 10% therefore the present value of this amount would be: PV = 4,045 / (1 + 10%) ^ 3 PV = $3,039 Therefore, $3,039 would be taken from Aunt Hilda as gift. Question #2 Quark industries has four potential projects and the summary and expected cash flows of these projects have been shown below: Project M Project N Project O Project P Year 0 -2,000,000 -2,000,000 -2,000,000 -2,000,000 Year 1 500,000 600,000 1,000,000 300,000 Year 2 500,000 600,000 800,000 300,000 Year 3 500,000 600,000 800,000 300,000 Year 4 500,000 600,000 400,000 300,000 Year 5 500,000 600,000 200,000 300,000 Rate 6% 9% 15% 22% The above table shows the cash flows of each of these projects. In order to determine which project should be accepted, Net Present Value will be used. Net Present value discounts the future cash flows of the project and identifies its work in present (McLaney, 2009). After using the NPV following values have been identifi ed of each of the project: Project M Project N Project O Project P Rate 6% 9% 15% 22% NPV $100,171.60 $306,230.05 $285,765.03 ($935,170.55) Ranking 3 1 2 The above table shows that the project N would be the most feasible one for Quark industries. Ranking has been made that is showing that the Quark industries should invest first in Project N and then in Project O and then in Project M. The company should not invest in Project P as it has a negative NPV. References McLaney, E. (2009). Business Finance: Theory and Practice, New Jersey, Pearson Education Ross, S., Westerfield, R. and Jordan, B. (2009). Fundamentals Of Corporate Finance Standard Edition, New York,

Letter Of Counsling Essay Example for Free

Letter Of Counsling Essay 1. Investigation has disclosed that you have failed to pay several bills within the last 3 months. This has become such a problem that your cell phone service was threatened to be shut off, insurance revoked, and car repossessed. 2. You are hereby counseled. By failing to pay your just debts, you have failed to meet the standards found in the Air Force Instruction 36-2906. As an Air Force member, you are expected and required to manage your financial affairs in a proper manner. Your conduct has shown a lack of financial responsibility that is expected of Air Force servicemen and women. Further punishment will be applied if you continue to fail to meet this standard. 3. The following information required by the Privacy Act is provided for your information. AUTHORITY: 10 U.S.C. 8013. PURPOSE: To obtain any comments you desire to submit (on a voluntary basis) for consideration concerning this action. ROUTINE USES: Provides you an opportunity to submit comments or documents for consideration. If provided, the comments and documents you submit become a part of the action. DISCLOSURE: Your written acknowledgment of receipt and signature are mandatory. Any other comment or document you provide is voluntary. 4. You will acknowledge receipt of this letter immediately by signing the acknowledgement below. Within three (3) duty days from the day you received this letter, you will sign the 1st IND below. Any comments or documents you wish to be considered concerning this letter must be submitted at that time.

What Is The Blue Ocean Strategy Commerce Essay

What Is The Blue Ocean Strategy Commerce Essay Blue ocean strategy makes companies to come out of ocean of bloody competition by creating market space which is uncontested and that makes the completion irrelevant. Since, dividing up existing demand and benchmarking the competitors, Blue Ocean strategy is regarding grow demand and break away from the competition. The business universe can be thought as a composition of two kinds of oceans the first is the red ocean and second one is the blue ocean. Red ocean includes all the industries which exist today and it is about the known market space. But on the other side Blue Ocean can be considered as industries which are not in existing today and it is called unknown market space. The industries boundaries are defined and well accepted in the red oceans. In the red oceans the rules of competitive games are well defined. The companies try to take away the greater share of the existing demand. Because there is a cut throat competition that makes the red ocean bloody and products become c ommodities. Blue oceans and Red oceans Blue Ocean can be considered as a fact of the demand creation, untapped market space and greater opportunities of highly profitable growth. Some industries can be created well beyond of the existing industries. But most of the blue oceans are created from the within the red oceans by expanding the industry boundaries which are existing. Since, rules of the game are to be set so competition becomes irrelevant in the blue oceans. Red oceans will always be taken as a matter of business life. When supply exceeds the demand in more industries then the competition for contracting demand will not result in to sustain high performance. Companies will have to go beyond the competition. They will have to create blue oceans to make more profit and growth opportunities. The most focus of strategy work has been on the competition based red ocean strategies in the recent times. But it provided the fairly good understanding about skill of how to compete in competitive environment from analyzing the economic structure of the existing industry. It also helped in making a choice between strategic positions of differentiation or low cost or focus, to benchmark the competition. Strategy followed over the time period This term blue oceans may be new but their existence is not new at all. These are an important feature of business life, past and present. If we look back 100 years and ask ourselves, How many of todays industries were not existing then? Probably the answer can be seen as many industries as basic as petrochemicals, music recording, automobiles, aviation, management consulting and health care, were unheard of or had just started to evolve at that time. If we look back only 30 years then again we see, a multibillion-dollar industries came out like cell phones, mutual funds, biotechnology, gas-fired electricity plants, express package delivery, minivans discount retail, , snowboards, home videos, coffee bars and many more. If we take and try to see just three decades ago, not one of those industries was existing in a significant way. Now we see forward twenty years or perhaps fifty years and ask ourselves how many now unknown industries will likely exist then. If we go by seeing the history as a tool to predict the future, then again the answer is many of them. Some aspects considered to follow this strategy This is the reality that industries never become constant. Industries continuously keep evolving. The some operations related to industries improve, markets get expanded, and players enter and exit as the time passes. This is the fact that history gives us lessons that we have a great underestimated capability and capacity to create new industries and re-create the existing ones. The services sector which were under the old system, for example, now have been expanded into seven business sectors ranging from information to health care and social assistance. As given that these systems are designed for standardization and continuity, such a replacement shows how important the expansion of blue oceans has been. As we have noticed that the overriding focus of strategic thinking has been on competition based red ocean strategies. Creating blue ocean impact It can be quantified the impact of creating blue oceans on a firms growth in terms of both revenues and profits based on the studied data. It has been found that 86% of the new launches were extensions in the line that can be said as incremental improvements within the red ocean of known market space and those accounted for mere 62% of total revenues and mere 39% of total profits. The rest 14% of the launches were targeted at creating blue oceans and they created 38% of total revenues and 61% of total profits. Forces behind the blue ocean strategy The several driving forces are working behind a rising trend to create blue oceans. The advancements in technology have significantly has improved productivity of industry and made suppliers to produce the maximum possible array of products and services. This resulted in increment in the numbers of industries and supply exceeded demand. This followed trend toward globalization accelerated the situation. The trade barriers between nations and regions are becoming lenient and as the information regarding products and prices become instantly, easily and globally available, the niche markets and chances for monopoly continuously keep disappearing. Although supply is keep on rising as global competition increasing, and it is not providing clear evidence that of an increment in demand worldwide, and statistics or data even pointing towards to declining populations in many developed markets. This has been resulted in increased commoditization of products and services, intensified price wars , and contracting profit margins. Blue ocean help in creating brand For the major services and products categories, brands are normally becoming somewhat similar, and since they are appearing more similar people usually select those products based on price. The customers no longer say and firmly ask, as they insisted in the past, that their laundry detergent be Tide. Because of the overcrowded industries, differentiating brands are appearing harder in both economic downturns and upturns. This shows that the business surrounding environment in which various strategy and management practices of the 20th century evolved that time is now disappearing. Since, red oceans are becoming consistently bloody, management will have to be more concerned with blue oceans. Strategy helps in separating winners from losers The thing that makes the winners separate from losers in creating blue oceans was their strategy. Moreover, the companies running in the red oceans went by a approach which is conventional and going to beat the competition by building a safer condition and position within the industry existed. Those firm or creators of blue oceans, amazingly, did not take the competition as their benchmark. But they implemented a unique and different strategic logic that can be considered as value innovation. Value innovation important for this strategy This Value innovation can be taken as one of the important concerns in blue ocean strategy. It is called value innovation since in place of focusing on cope with the competition, the firms try to make the competition irrelevant by creating and achieving value for buyers( customers) and the company, so looking up new market space which is uncontested. This value innovation focuses equal importance on value and innovation. The values without innovation try to focus on value creation on the incremental scale, something which improves value but is not enough to make you sustain in the marketplace. Innovation without value will be technology-driven, market pioneering, or futuristic, most of the times shooting beyond what buyers or customers are ready to accept and pay for. It is essential to have better understanding that shows distinction between value innovation as opposed to innovation in technology and market pioneering. It makes clear that what separates winners from the losers in cr eating blue oceans is neither bleeding edge technology nor market entry timing. It has been seen that sometimes it exists but most of the time it does not. The value innovation takes place only when the companies bring innovation with cost positions, utility and price. The value innovation is a new and different way of thinking about and executing the strategy that results into the creation of a blue ocean and a come away from the competition. It is generally believed that firms or companies can either create intensified value to customers at a comparatively higher cost or can create reasonable value at a lower cost. Here it can be said that strategy is seen as selecting a choice between differentiation and low cost. But those that want to create blue oceans follow differentiation and low cost simultaneously. Other strategies related to blue ocean strategy The creation of blue oceans is about bringing costs down while simultaneously taking value up for buyers. This shows that how a leap in value for both the company and its buyers is achieved. Since, buyer value is created from the utility and price that the companies offer to buyers and because the value to the company is created from price and its cost structure, value innovation can be achieved only when the whole system of the firm or companys price, utility and cost activities is properly and effectively matched. This represents the whole-system approach that makes the creation of blue oceans a sustainable and effective strategy. Blue ocean strategy includes the range of a companys functional and operational tasks or activities. On the other side innovations such as production innovations can be get at the subsystem level without affecting the firms overall strategy. The value innovation is not only innovation but it is more than innovation. It describes strategy that integrates t he entire or whole system of a firms activities and tasks. Conclusion Blue ocean strategy describes that it is all about to reconstruct boundaries of market to break away from the competition and create blue oceans. This highlights the search risk that many companies struggle with. The primary challenge is to successfully and effectively identify, out of the haystack of possibilities that exist, commercially compelling blue ocean opportunities.

President Bill Clinton Essay -- William Jefferson Clinton Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While it’s practically impossible to write a research paper without referring to the scandalous side of President Bill Clinton, this research will also spotlight how excellent Bill Clinton was as a president and present interesting facts about his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On August 19, 1946, William Jefferson Blythe IV began his life in Hope, Arkansas. His mother was still mourning over the loss of her beloved husband who died only three months earlier in a tragic car accident. Four years later, in hopes of a better life, Virginia remarried to Roger Clinton. But as a raging alcoholic, Roger became violent with Bill and his mother. At age 14, young William had enough of the abuse. He finally stood up to his stepfather and the cruelty ceased. After gaining the respect of his father figure, Bill decided to take the last name of Clinton.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Clinton’s high school years were just as all teenagers desire. He was a popular guy with lots of friends and even then: a drive for success. Bill’s devotion to playing saxophone led him to consider a life as a professional musician. But after the opportunity to meet president JFK at the White House Rose Garden during his senior year, Bill’s previous musician dreams did a 180.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If it hasn’t already been assumed, Clinton decided this early in life that he would dedicate himself to a life of campaign and politics. He also knew that if he wanted to succeed, he must go about it the correct way. Bill graduated with honors from Yale in 1973 and received his degree in law. The next step was getting into the field of politics in Arkansas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For those of you who have ever tried to enter the political race, it is obvious as to what Clinton was in for. He was devastated after being defeated in 1974 for Congress Campaign for Arkansas’ 3rd district. But the powers of devastation were no match for Clinton’s persistence. Merely three years later, Bill Clinton was elated to be elected Arkansas Attorney General in 1976. This gave him just the confidence boost he needed. In ’78, Clinton was sitting high as governor of Arkansas. At 32 years old, Clinton became the nation’s youngest governor. He failed to be re-elected for a second term, but buckled down to become governor once more four years later. He easily went on to win re-election three more times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the midst of all this political excitement, Bill was falling deeply in love. H... ...ountries. It is possible for him to make up to $300,000 per speech. Once he straightened all of that out, Mr. Clinton allowed himself to focus on more enjoyable things. For example, he loves to travel, and does so often to see his daughter Chelsea at Oxford University. And naturally, he loves to golf: the most enjoyed sport of middle aged men, surely. It is also not rare to see Bill with a few of his buddies. Jack Nicholson, Kevin Spacey, and Anthony Hopkins are among his acquaintances. Along with his leisurely activities, he runs an active legal office in Harlem. Politics still play a major role in his life. He recently stated that â€Å"I hope within five years to be in public service full time.† Drawing a conclusion is not a difficult task, as most people feel similarly about President Clinton. Sure, he was probably the United States’ most immoral president ever, but there’s no denying he was an outstanding president. Bill took care of foreign affairs with ease, carefully examined things before making rash decisions, and was very goal oriented. He is even ranked 5th in terms of his economic management. He must have been popular considering that he was elected to a second term.

Executing Strategies in a Global Environment Essay

Federal Express, known today as FedEx was developed by Fred Smith in 1973. Mr. Smith saw need for customer to receive packages sooner than 1-3 business days; this was the norm for express mail 40 years ago (Hill & Jones, 2013). Federal Express changed the structure of air cargo industry and improves on the overnight delivery service (Hill & Jones, 2013). In this paper, it will analyze value creation frontier of FedEx, determine which four building blocks will give competitive advantage to maintain profitability, its efficiency, and examine the overall competition the global industry (Hill & Jones, 2013). Analysis of Company’s Value Creation Frontier FedEx accomplished it value creation frontier with innovation. The founder saw that there was a need for faster and more reliable express delivery service. FedEx competitors offered 1-3 day deliveries shipments, but didn’t take into consideration residential customers or businesses that would need their shipments sooner. Mr. Smith saw this need, but it couldn’t be accomplished by sharing air space on commercial flights. On commercial flights passengers were first and the space that was left was divided amongst the competitors. For his vision to be achieved he needed his own fleet of cargo jets (Hill & Jones, 2013). Federal Express founder started with the higher end of competitive advantage which is differentiation. Mr. Smith invested $91 million dollars of venture capital plus $4 million dollar of inheritance funds, which he used to purchase an aircraft company in Little Rock, Arkansas. He started using the aircraft to deliver envelopes and small packages overnight within the United States (Ecommerce, n.d.). Mr. Smith didn’t give the official name Federal Express until 1973. He brought the operation closer to home, which was Memphis, Tennessee. The business was operating out of Memphis International Airport. By this time the company owned 14 Dassault Falcon Airplanes and he employed 400 workers (Ecommerce, n.d.). The next step for Federal Express was innovation. Mr. Smith launched a direct mail advertising promotion to increase the exposure of the company. With the government loosening the airline regulations, it made it permissible for federal Express to use bigger aircrafts such as Boeing 727s and take advantage of more flexible flight schedules (Ecommerce, n.d.). In 1979 Federal Express started using a centralized computer system  to track packages, routes, weather, vehicles, and employees. A short time after, a digitally assisted dispatch system was put in place for clients to electronically request pickups (Ecommerce, n.d.). For quality and excellence Federal Express understood the client’s expectation and started tailoring their service to fit those needs. For example; the bigger clients, they started housing merchandise to make shipments upon request. Federal Express held 43 percent of the delivery transportation market, in contrast to its rival UPS in the 1990’s (Ecommerce, n.d.). In order for Federal Express to maintain above average profitability, they should concentrate on two phases; which are efficiency and quality. Federal Express has five pillars for increasing profitability which are; making personnel functions and processes more efficient, update their air fleet, convert U.S. domestic network, increase international profits, and enlarge service offerings (Annual report, 2013). The focus for Federal Express is the customer. The customers’ requests are very important to the company’s strategy to operate focused systems which function independently, compete collectively, and are managed collaboratively. Because Federal Express unique model allows them to fine tune networks without compromising service to customers, their solution continue to be superior and they can act in response to marketplace changes quickly and efficiently (Annual reports, 2013). Maintaining Edge Rivals Product Differentiation Product differentiation is the development of designing products or services to satisfy the needs of the customers. Companies maintain a competitive edge over their rivals when it creates, makes, and sell products in the same industry (Hill & Jones, 2013). Federal Express has developed an express delivery service that is better than its rivals. Their service caters not only to big and small businesses, but also residential clients. Packages are getting to their destination faster, not just in the United States, but internationally. The ability to digitally track your package from first phase to the last phase of delivery give clients’ confidence that FedEx understand their needs and it builds trust (Hill & Jones, 2013). Capacity  Control Even though non-price competition helps established industries avoid cutthroat price cutting that reduces company and industry levels of profitability, price competition does occasionally occur when excess capacity exists in an industry (Hill & Jones, 2013). When a company like Federal Express cut prices rival companies will do the same thing out of fear the price cutter will be able to sell its complete inventory, while rivals will be left with surplus of goods. In so doing, this will lead to developing price wars (Hill & Jones, 2013). Federal Express would have to develop a strategy that would help them avoid this type of problem and stay ahead of its rivals. In most cases companies have two tactical choices; each can independently try to preempt its rivals and take hold of the initiative, or the companies must jointly find indirect means of coordinating with each other so that they are all aware of the shared effects of their actions (Hill & Jones, 2013). Business Model Efficiency Assessment Federal Express unique strategy works seamlessly and simultaneously on three levels. FedEx compete collectively by standing as one brand worldwide and speaking with one voice (http://www.about.van.fedex.com). The company operates independently by focusing on their independent networks to meet distinct customers’ needs and manage collaboratively by working together to sustain loyal relations with their employees, customers, and investors (http://www.about.van.fedex.com). Each division of FedEx has created its unique niche; yet work together as a whole. FedEx Corporation provides customers and businesses worldwide a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce, and business services. FedEx express invented express distribution and remains the industries global leader, providing rapid, reliable, and time-definite delivery to more than 220 countries and territories connecting markets that comprise more than 90 percent of the world’s gross domestic products within one to three business days (Investors, n.d.). There is still FedEx; ground, freight, and services. The different divisions have been established independently meeting the needs in today businesses, but work together in this vital industry to be  one voice (Investors, n.d.). FedEx also continues to stay ahead by quickly adapting to the changes in technology to provide better, faster service. This will cause clients to continually use their service and believe in their reliability. Impact of Global on New Business Strategy Federal Express is a well ran operation, which doesn’t need any change to the method of how it conducts business. The only suggestion that can be made is to improve on existing business strategy. FedEx is efficient on functions and processes of staff, having an efficient air fleet, and dominate in U.S. and international services. Just by strengthen of these strategies FedEx can be more profitable over a three year period (Investor, n.d.). Enacting numerous initiatives to improve their staffing efficiency and work processes, Federal Express would accomplish the streamlining of key processes to reduce the time and resources it would require (Investor, n.d.). Prioritizing important actions and remove or defer functions that have or become redundant due to technological, operational or market driven changes. Lately, generate greater efficiencies in the global sourcing program (Investor, n.d.). By FedEx up grading older aircraft with newer planes, there would be more cost-effective and fuel-efficient aircraft, the 757 and 767 programs will create a next-generation air fleet that to a large extent reduce their operating cost (Investors, n.d.). For example, based on a 750 nautical mile round trip, our trip costs will improve by: up to 20% for the B757 versus A310-200 and up to 30% for the B767 versus MD10-30 (Investors, n.d.). Applying new technology and processes will advance flight and crew scheduling. Adapting to pickup and delivery operations to maximize on road productivity will cause for quicker and reliable service (Investors, n.d.). Merging of facilities and stations will be more cost effective. Refining aircraft maintenance processes will improve fuel efficiency for their aircraft and vehicle fleet. Improvements like these can be done with no compromising the exceptional service quality their customers have come to expect (Investors, n.d.). With Federal Express expanding on their business; they capture growth from all parts of the global cargo market, including priority, economy, ocean and air forwarding, and critical inventory logistics focusing on (Investors, n.d.): Growing FedEx  International Priority and expanding FedEx international Transitioning FedEx International Economy shipments to third party line on certain lanes. Increasing freight forwarding and supply chain capabilities for new vertical like healthcare. Leveraging European expansion for greater densities and lower costs. With FedEx concentrating on delivering the solutions for the right customers at the right price, they will continue to strive for the right solutions in the market place. By so doing they may hold on to the majority of their annual rate increases, utilize the revenue management committee to optimize yield, market share, and profitability growth (Investors, n.d.). May have to drop less profitable accounts, and then develop on small to m edium customer base. Also leveraging residential revenue opportunities for their delivery managers, over time should allow for an even more dominate business (Investors, n.d.). Conclusion Federal Express has changed the face of the air cargo industry and overnight nights delivery service (Hill & Jones, 2013). The business model that FedEx put together for their company relied on the right strategy and the right people to implement the vision and the mission for the success of this company. When a business follows the strategy, makes adjustments as needed, is willing to take risk, and invest in technology; you have a formula for success.

11 Reactions Essay

9/11 Reactions Essay 9/11 Reactions Essay Visual Analysis Phonchanok Pitayasarid Baker College Firefighters put their lives on a line every single day. They took an oath of taking a chance that might cut short their lives when they placed themselves in harm’s way in the public’s service. In figure 11.7 on page 451 in the Composition book shows firefighters in the World Trade Center Wreckage. Doing what they do make them a hero. They shows â€Å"courage, self-sacrifice, and also vulnerability of the human effort in the face of such colossal destruction† (Composition, 2012, p.451). On September 11, 2001 the horrific tragedy happened in the United States. 19 militants associated with Islamic extremist hijacked four airlines and carried out suicide attacks against targets in United States. Two planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a filed in Pennsylvania. The attackers were Islamic terrorist from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. The horror in New York took a catastrophic turn for the worse when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. Close to 3,000 people died in the World Trade Center, including a staggering 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers who were struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the office workers that were trapped on

How to Write a Speech in Criminal Justice †Complete and Detailed Instructions for You

How to Write a Speech in Criminal Justice – Complete and Detailed Instructions for You Writing speeches is an important albeit rarely discussed aspect of criminal justice courses. If you study this discipline, it means that you have at least some likelihood of addressing the court of law at some point in future. Therefore, you should get at least basic understanding of what it means, and what is expected of you. Preparing your own speeches and delivering them in front of an audience perform exactly this function – it gives you practical experience of proving your point to an audience that probably has strong convictions of its own. Even if you know the subject well and have no problems with writing assignments on it, speechwriting is likely to offer you some difficulties. The thing is, it is different from most other academic texts because it occupies a position somewhere between the written and the spoken word. Although you write your speech down, you should always keep it in mind that it is meant to be spoken, not read. Therefore, you should structure it so that you can effortlessly deliver it and your audience can easily understand what you say. In this guide, you will find everything you need to know before you start writing a speech of your own. It may be hard to begin with, but if you follow these guidelines, you will soon succeed. How to Write a Speech in Criminal Justice: Choosing a Rewarding Topic You may have to give a speech as a part of a case study, and in this case, you will get a ready-made topic. However, usually professors give students a fair amount of freedom. The right choice of topic can make a lot of difference for the overall success of your speech. 1. Draw from Your Experience The primary purpose of a speech is to click with your audience, and the best way to do it is to tell them about something nobody but you can tell. If you have any personal experience of dealing with the justice system, or have a friend or relative who had such an encounter, you can put it in the foundation of your story. 2. Choose Something of Personal Interest Again, there is a lot of difference between talking about something you are passionate about and delivering a speech just to check a box. Think of a topic related to criminal justice and develop it further. 3. Take a Look at Recent News What mass media certainly have no shortage of are reports of crimes and all things crime-related. Go through the current news and see if you can find a relevant topic of immediate interest. 4. Brainstorm If you already have a broadly defined topic, narrow it down and specify it further. Brainstorming can help you in it. There are many popular brainstorming techniques, such as: Freewriting. Set a timer and start writing down all the ideas related to the subject that come into your head. Do not try to shape them into definite topics and do not care if they are good, bad or silly. Set quantity over quality and do not stop until the timer runs out; Word association. Write down your broad topic and think what other words or concepts you associate with it. Sometimes the best speech topics come from unusual pairing of subjects; Mind mapping. Write down your main topic at the center of a page and start writing associated words, ideas, subtopics and subcategories all around it, connecting them to the hub. Then repeat the same with them and see the tree of your associations grow in all directions. As it takes a visual form, you will better understand how to connect seemingly unrelated subcategories and come up with an interesting topic. 5. Know What Topics to Avoid Not all topics are suitable for delivering a speech. Your success depends to a large degree on your knowledge of which of them to avoid: Overly complex topics. If you deliver a speech in front of class, it is by definition a short one – after all, your professor wants to give each of his/her students a chance to talk. Most likely, you will have very limited time to cover the topic. If you cannot get your point across without detailed explanations, charts and diagrams, better choose something simpler; Controversial issues. Unless talking on a debatable topic is the part of your assignment, avoid talking about anything too contentious, like gun control or racial profiling. Especially if you do not know your professor’s stance on things – although he/she is supposed to be objective, you never know what can put you in his/her bad books; Clichà ©d and self-evident subjects. If the topic of your speech can be boiled down to a platitude like ‘Society has to do something about drugs’, ‘Domestic violence is bad’, ‘Penitentiary system is inefficient when it comes to reforming criminals’, ask yourself, would you personally be interested in listening about it? If not, choose something different. Here are some examples to use as a reference: Why Our Victim Support Programs Should Be Reorganized; Hate Crimes: Why Current Legislature Does not Properly Address the Problem; Why Statistics of Domestic Violence Have Little to Do with Reality and What We Have to Do to Make a Difference; Cybercrime: New Challenges for the Justice System in the New Era; Wrongful Convictions: Is There Any Way to Undo Their Results? Gangs and Gang Crime: Why We Need a Different Approach in Dealing with it. How to Write a Speech in Criminal Justice: Preparations to Writing A speech is a relatively short text, and you are likely to spend more time doing preparatory work and polishing the text than doing the writing per se. Do not scrimp on effort at this stage. 1. Research the Topic Even if you think you know enough about the subject matter, spend some time digging further. Make sure you have the latest and the most relevant information. Check if the sources you use are up to date and credible. Be very selective with the sources you use, especially if you mention them in the speech – you have little time to spend on potentially inaccurate information. 2. Write Your Thesis Statement A thesis statement is the main idea of your speech expressed in a single short sentence. Make sure that it: Is declarative; Uses specific wording and avoids vagueness and ambiguity; Considers the audience you address and the occasion; Is a complete sentence; Expresses a single idea. If your thesis statement does not meet all these requirements, you have to narrow it down further. 3. Write an Outline An outline is something between a plan and a barebones version of your speech. Due to the small size of your average speech, an outline is not going to be much smaller than the final product, so pay special attention to the structure and connections between sections. Decide how you want the speech to go, jot down the sections you will use and their contents. A typical speech structure is as follows (although you can get creative and do things differently): Introduction. You introduce the problem and grasp the audience’s attention. You can do it in a variety of ways: by starting with an interesting story (especially if it is seemingly unrelated to the subject, and you then suddenly make your point clear with a single witty remark), by introducing a thought-provoking fact or statistic or making a shocking statement; Main objective. It is your thesis statement followed by the mention of your experience to give credibility to what you will say afterwards; Main part. Here you try to get your main message through. Single out a few points supporting your idea and introduce them one by one, along with the evidence to back them up. Do not mix them up or go back and forth from one to another. Make the structure logical and prepare the way you connect these points beforehand; Conclusion. A closing statement that sums up what has been said before and ends the speech on a powerful note. 4. Prepare Strong Content This is what will make your speech persuasive and memorable, its strong points around which you will build the rest. These can be: Relevant personal experiences; Quotations; Factual and statistical evidence; Carefully prepared key statements. Write down where you will use them and intersperse them across the speech for maximum effect. How to Write a Speech in Criminal Justice: The Most Important Writing Tips 1. Calculate the Word Count Professors normally tell you how long you will have to talk, not how many words your speech should be. Try to convert the length of a speech into word count. There are online tools that do this, but the speech tempo differs from person to person, and you should not take their results at face value. Better take a text, read it aloud at your normal speed and measure the time using a stopwatch. 2. Write Conversationally You will have to deliver the speech, so consider it from the get-go. Make sure it rolls easily off your tongue and the audience has no trouble following it. Use relatively short and simple sentence without multiple clauses. Avoid using legalese whenever possible – your audience is supposed to understand it, but simpler is usually better. 3. Be Exact and Specific Criminal justice is a discipline that deals with sensitive subjects and requires complete adherence to facts. Consider this when choosing your words, expressions and supporting evidence. Back your points with facts and statistics whenever possible and avoid using vague phrases and appeals to emotions. 4. Avoid Pronouns In written text, the reader can always go back and see what a pronoun refers to if he/she does not understand it. In a speech, it is impossible, and you risk confusing your audience if you use pronouns too liberally. It is alright to introduce them occasionally, but make sure you refer to things by their names whenever possible. 5. Repeat Important Words Repetition is a powerful method of getting your point across. Choose a word you want to emphasize and repeat it several times throughout the speech, focusing the audience’s attention on it (e.g., by always following it with a pause). For example, if you talk about societal dangers of false convictions, you can choose the word â€Å"innocence† and introduce it emphatically at crucial points of your speech. 6. Simplify wherever Possible Your job is to drive your point home, and the fewer and simpler words you use to do it, the better. After you finish your speech, reread it and cut any superfluous words and expressions. How to Write a Speech in Criminal Justice: What to Do After the Speech Is Done After you have finished writing your speech, there is plenty more work to do. 1. Review the Speech Read your speech multiple times, both to yourself and out loud. Texts often feel very different when spoken than when read, and you may suddenly discover that a passage that seemed to be perfectly normal is not as good as you thought it to be. Check if sections connect logically and if the speech maintains a stable pacing throughout. See if you backed up all your points equally. If you find anything lacking, make corrections. 2. Decide whether to Use Visual Aids Speeches are often accompanied with slides and other visual aids, and they can become an integral part of your delivery. However, some people believe that using them breaks up their connection with the audience and disrupts their focus. Decide whether using them fits your delivery style and which tools, if any, you are going to use. 3. Make Notes Jot down the most important points of your speech so that you can refresh it in your memory just by looking at these notes. You are not supposed to read your speech, but taking glances at the notes is alright. 4. Practice Practice delivering your speech. See if you manage to fit it into the allotted amount of time and cut/add if necessary. Have somebody listen to you delivering it and ask for his/her opinion. 5. Memorize the Opening and the Conclusion You do not have to memorize your entire speech – in fact, trying to do so will make you too dependent on your text, and if you forget something you can lose your train of thought altogether. So, it is better to make the main part flexible. However, the opening and the conclusion are very important for the overall impression, and ad hoc changes to them can prove undesirable. We hope this guide has clarified the most difficult aspects of writing a speech in criminal justice, and now you will be able to write one without a hitch!