Research your topic before writing

Do your initial research. If there's one rule to writing an informative speech it's this: Know your subject. Do your research with care and integrity, using reliable sources and taking notes as you go.

As you gather your research materials and begin reading, separate the material you'll specifically use in your speech - but also be open to learning more about your subject area that may not be directly related to your thesis. You may need to answer questions about your speech topic. Learning additional background material that you may not think is directly relevant can help you to answer these questions. For example, if your speech is on Native American hunting and someone asks about different Native American hunting traditions besides the local ones, you'll seem a lot more knowledgeable - and will in fact be a lot more knowledgeable - if you cast a wide net with your research.

3.Give an informative speech on “Women in the military”

As of February 9th, 2012, the United States Army has opened up six new military occupational specialties to female soldiers, which translates into over 14, 000 positions made available to women in the military. Historically, women have expanded from accounting for 9.8 percent of the total army in 1983 to 15.5 percent in 2009. Three areas of concern that continue to be considered are sexual assault, hazing and suicide prevention, and “280, 000 positions across the services remain closed to women due to the combat exclusion policy” (army.mil). But where did hindrances to women in combat start? After all, “women have served in the United States Army since 1775” (army.mil).

Since then, the United States has made major leaps forwards to eliminating the exclusion of women in the military. You may recall the female soldier as nursing the ill and wounded, laundering and mending clothing, cooking for troops in camp on campaign, but it wasn’t until the 20th Century that such duties actually existed among uniformed personnel within the Army. Since June 2009, “70 percent of the positions in the Army were open to women, and women serve in 93 percent of all Army occupations (active duty and reserve components)” (army.mil), and today, “women serve in 91 percent of all Army occupations and make up about 14 percent of the Active Army” (army.mil).

Notably in 1979, enlistment qualifications became the same for men and women. Since 1994, there had been a policy known as the Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule, including a “co-location” provision that barred female soldiers from direct combat on the frontlines, whereas “direct ground combat is engaging an enemy on the ground with individual or crew served weapons, while being exposed to hostile fire and to a high probability of direct physical contact with the hostile force’s personnel. Direct ground combat takes place well forward on the battlefield while locating and closing with the enemy to defeat them by fire, maneuver, or shock effect” (policy 1). The rule of which barred women from combat service is defined as “women shall be excluded from assignment to units below brigade level whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground” (policy 1). The website for the United States Army provides an expansive look at women in the military, and how their roles have transformed throughout the progression of history.

The progression of women in combat began during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), when their roles consisted of nurses, seamstresses and cooks for troops. During this era, women were not in uniform, however they followed the Army’s rules of conduct as well as “shared Soldiers’ hardships including inadequate housing and little compensation” (army.mil). There were some examples of women who fought alongside their husbands on the battlefield or otherwise disguised as men, and many women also served as spies.

The Civil War (1861-1865) brought about a more formalized, yet still traditional, role for women in combat. Serving as nurses, women had more direct contact with soldiers, and belonged to various larger support units for the war, including American Red Cross. Again, many women disguised themselves and enlisted to fight, as it was easy to pass through the recruiter’s station since little questions were asked.

With the First World War (1917-1918) and Interwar Years the call to arms registered 24 million men for the draft, whom of which “over 4.8 million served in the armed forces and nearly 2 million were deployed to the western front in France” (army.mil). This led women to fulfill the vacancies of men’s past roles at home, with over 20 percent of all workers in shops, factories and offices being women. Over 35, 000 women served in the military during this time, with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and served close to or at the front, living in bunkers and makeshift tents, belonging to the Army Nurse Corps. Known as Yeomanettes, the Navy employed thousands of women serving non-combat secretarial and clerical roles.

This led history to the Second World War, and resulting from women’s service in active duty throughout the progression of eras, women being recognized as soldiers continued to flourish. Women exclusion from combat service in the military had begun as an inherent aspect of the army, with women only allotted positions that fulfilled traditional roles, and being barred from combat on the frontlines. It wasn’t until 1975 that by an act of Congress were women accepted into military academies, Furthermore, as a 1987 testimony filed to the United States General Accounting Office (GOA) reviewed combat exclusion laws for women in the military, it was introduced that “modern technology and the strategies and tactics it enables, blur the boundaries of the “battlefield”” (Ferber 3). The testimony includes a listing of a variety of what specific roles women are restricted, and acts as a guideline to expand opportunities to women engagement in combat just as technology expands the battlefield. This continues to hold true with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan whereas there isn’t a definitive, centralized, target, nor a front or a rear to the battlefield.

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