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Informative Speech

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Informative Speech: How to Decide on a College Major Benjamin Ownby
I. Introduction
A. According to the National Center for Education Statistics in a 2013 study, college students changed their major an average of three times.
B. Trying to determine a college major is difficult for us.
C. Last Spring, I was struggling to decide whether I should continue pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering or change majors to MIS, an interesting major I had recently discovered. I continued to have trouble making this decision, until I came across some useful information and tools.
D. I want to share with you about a process that can be helpful in determining a major. The process includes determining possible college majors of interest, collecting data …show more content…

5. After gathering all relevant information, it is time to start comparing the majors based off the data.
C. The last phase in determining a college major is using a decision-making tool, such as a Pugh Matrix, to compare the possible majors.
1. According to Dr. Burge, who is known in industry for his expertise in system design and decision making, the Pugh Matrix was created by Stuart Pugh a very influential Professor of Design at Strathclyde University in Scotland
2. Although the Pugh Matrix was originally created to help in choosing from a number of possible designs, it can be used as a general tool in comparing alternatives.
3. In the Spring of last year when I was trying to decide between two majors, I used a Pugh Matrix
4. I am now going to show how this tool can be used to determine a major. (Use PPT Visual Aid)
a. Start by listing out factors to be considered such as job outlook, job stress level, cost of earning degree, median pay, and so on. In this example factors are listed as generic criteria.
b. Then, rank the variables based on importance on a scale from one to five.
c. Assign a Base Major and list the other majors next to it.
d. List S for all the variables under the Base Major because scoring is based off how this compares to alternatives.
e. List S when an Alternative Major and the Base Major meet

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