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Demonstration
Talk
Speech No. 3 in the
Toastmasters "Speaking to Inform" Manual
Date presented: 23rd May, 2000
The objectives of this
speech were:
- To prepare a demonstration speech to clearly explain a
process, product or activity.
- conduct the demonstration as part of a speech delivered
without notes.
Time 10 to 12 minutes.
How to Make a Chicken Squawk
(Before the speech, I placed
a small Easter Chicken in each person's place at the table.)
I'd like you to pick up the
little chicken in front of you and cradle it gently in your hand.
Can you remember doing that as a child? Have you seen the look of
wonder and joy on a child's face as he
holds a chicken for the first time?
Have you seen his parent's
hover anxiously, saying, "Be very gentle now - don't hurt it!"
And yet, chickens are often
viewed by adults as a commodity and allowed to be kept in the cruelest
conditions in battery farms. All for the sake of the mighty dollar.
I'm going to show you how to
make a simple toy to entertain your children or grandchildren. While
they
are playing with it, you can explain to them that the suffering of
these creatures must not be allowed
to continue into their generation.
You will need a disposable
plastic cup, some small pieces of felt, a piece of fine string or
knitting
cotton -say about 60 centimetres long, a small piece of spongecloth
like Wettex, a darning needle, black
marking pen, scissors and glue - Oh, and a small amount of magic
formula. (show small plastic
container)
We are going to turn this cup
into a chicken. This is going to be a happy chicken, because it is not
kept in a tiny cramped cage like the battery hens. Have you ever heard
the pandemonium in a battery hen
house? The squawking is deafening as thousands of hens shriek in fear
and frustration.
But lets cut out the felt
shapes first. They're rather small for you to see easily, so I've cut
some
larger shapes from paper just to show you what they look like. You will
need two identical pieces shaped
like wings. From another piece, cut a longish little diamond shape for
the beak and a square piece for
the comb on the chicken's head. While you at it, cut a small
rectangular piece from the spongecloth.
Now we are ready. Take the wing shapes and cut a few slits along the
outer edge to give the impression
of feathers. Glue them about halfway down on either side of the cup. A
happy chicken has room to spread
her wings. I once had a pet bantam hen. She used to flap her way up our
stairs, hop up onto my dressing
table and look into the mirror as she preened her feathers.
A battery-farmed chicken is
not able to spread her wings; she is not able to exercise. The law
allows
her approximately 450square centimetres of space, roughly two thirds of
the area of a sheet of A4 paper.
And only just enough height for her to stand. This causes a lot of
stress. The chickens become
aggressive and peck at one another.
My bantam hen used run freely
around the yard, pecking at little bugs in the grass.
Now take the little diamond
shaped piece, fold it over in half, and crease it as sharply as you
can, so
that it stays folded and looks like a chicken's beak. She'll need her
beak to eat and drink properly and
to preen her feathers.
Glue the bottom half of the
beak between and slightly above the wings. At the front, that is - if
you
glue it on the back, it will look like something else. Battery hens are
debeaked with a hot machine
blade. Did you know that between the horn and bone of the beak is a
thick layer of highly sensitive
tissue, something like the 'quick' of the human nail. The hot knife
cuts through this sensitive tissue,
and causes severe pain, which might last for the rest of her short
life.
A happy healthy chicken has a
bright red comb. Take the square piece of felt, fold it over in half
and
cut slits along the edge, but not all the way through. Open it up and
tie one end of the string tightly
around the centre.
To be happy and healthy,
every living creature is entitled to the five freedoms:
Freedom from thirst, hunger
and malnutrition
Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from pain, injury and disease
Freedom to express normal behaviour
Freedom from fear and distress
All of these are denied to a
battery chicken.
Thread the other end of the
string through the darning needle and push the needle through the
outside
top of the plastic cup. If the cup is too hard to push through, you can
soften it by pouring hot water
into it and letting it stand for a few minutes. I've already made a
small hole in this one.
Glue the comb to the top of the cup and let the string hang down
through the middle. The life of a
chicken hangs on a fine thread. Take the needle off the end of the
string.
Remember the little piece of
spongecloth? Fold it over lengthwise and tie it on the end of the
string.
A battery hen only lives for
about 12 months - that's about a third of her natural life span. But
for
her that is 12 months too long. After that she becomes a spent hen. She
is slaughtered and will probably
end up in catfood or as flavouring in your soup.
Our chicken is almost
finished, but it needs eyes. Use the black marking pen to draw eyes on
the front, just above the wings. This chicken is looking hopeful,
because more people are becoming aware of the plight of battery hens
and are willing to pay a little more to ensure the eggs they buy are
from free-range chickens.
Remember, every time you buy
eggs, you are casting your vote. If you just keep buying the cheapest
eggs,
you are voting that the daily suffering of 11 million hens will
continue.
But every time you buy
free-range eggs, you are sending the message that this cruel practice
has to be
stopped.
And that's enough to make a
chicken squawk. But this time she is squawking for joy. But wait - she
just
needs a drop of the magic formula. This is the most precious substance
on earth, but fortunately it is
still readily available in our part of the world. You can get some from
your own kitchen tap.
Just dip the piece of spongecloth on the end of the string into the
secret formula. Squeeze it out.
Now, hold up the chicken in one hand, and use the other hand to wrap
the spongecloth around the string
close to the cup. Grasp the string firmly with it, and slide the cloth
down the string in little jerky
movements.
(The chicken will make a
"clucking" noise).
We all know what it means
when a happy chicken makes that sound!
(Hold up egg - it's an
empty shell, but they don't know that)
Do you like eggs?
Here ............. catch!
(Throw egg into
audience.)
COMMENTS
This speech went over really well, and several people
said they would buy free range eggs from
now on.
(See my May Newsletter for more about
the speech and the
meeting)
MAMALADE
More information on Battery
Hens at:
http://worldanimal.net/welfareprob.html
http://pages.bolt.com/me/webster180285/batteryhens.html
http://enterprise.powerup.com.au/~alibqld/chickens.htm
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