This is a spoken monologue in the first person — you are the fan. Speak for about a minute and a half, and keep to the five points in the order the box gives them, so the group can compare four talks fairly.
- Consistent voice. Use “I” throughout, and give the fan a personality that matches the object — the ceiling fan can be steady and a little grand, the handheld one quick and restless.
- Real, checkable detail in the description: material, size, how many blades or ribs, how you are powered, what you cost, where you hang or sit.
- An honest weakness. This is the point most students skip. Every fan has one — and naming it is what makes the talk interesting.
- A “unique” point that no other fan in the group can claim. Decide it in advance so that the four talks do not overlap.
- Delivery: look up from your notes, vary your pace, and end on the unique point rather than trailing off.
Sample answer: the Hand fan
“Namaste. I am the hand fan — the pankha. I am the oldest of us four by a very long way: my ancestors are painted on the walls of the Ajanta caves, from the second century of the Common Era, and my name comes from pankh, the feather of a bird. I am about the size of a dinner plate, woven from split bamboo strips over a bamboo frame, with a red cotton border stitched round my edge, and a handle you can hold in one hand. I weigh less than a slice of bread.
What do I like about myself? I never need electricity. When the power fails on an August night and the ceiling fan hangs there dead, the whole family remembers me. I make no noise, I cost less than a bus ticket, and when I am worn out I go back into the soil, because everything in me grew in a field. I also carry my home on my face — a girl in Kerala can tell at a glance that I was made in Assam.
My weakness? I am lazy only because I have to be carried. I cool one person, and only for as long as an arm is willing to move me. On a still, hot afternoon my owner’s wrist tires before the heat does. And I am fragile — I fray at the border, and a monsoon leak can ruin me in a night.
What makes me unique is this: I am the only fan here that is a work of art. Nobody has ever hung a table fan on a wall as decoration or offered one to a deity in a temple. My mirror work, my zardozi, my beads and my moonj plaiting were made by a pair of human hands, and each of those hands belongs to a place. The other three of you move air. I move air and carry a culture. Thank you.”