Outlines

The concept that I thought was the most helpful was the outline that we were asked to create and submit for corrections and comments. I thought that this was hepful because it forced me to actually write out my speech ahead of time so that I could not wait until the last minute. I also thought the outlines were really helpful because we were able to get feedback on them. This helped me a lot because whenever I submitted an outline I found out if I was on the right track or not. The comments the teacher gave me were always helpful and reassuring. I thought that during the third outline when we were allowed to make corrections and get more points it was a great idea and incentive. I thought that this should have been the case for all of out outlines but oh well. Overall I think the outlines were a great idea and the structure in which we were supposed to compose them was always clear and easy.

Self Evaluation #3

I chose to give my persuasive speech on why people should choose to participate in regular physical activity. This topic was important to me because it is something I feel strongly about, since I have been an athlete all my life. I think that I achieved the purpose of my speech because I do not think many people disagreed with me afterwards. I used different forms of logic to persuade the audience as well as inductive and deductive reasoning. I proved and backed up the points I made with relevant and surprising statistics. I also offered suggestions that the audience could take and use in order to participate in their daily or weekly physical activity. While I was presenting my speech I felt very calm and comfortable. This is because the topic was something that I knew well and felt strongly about. I felt that in a way it was my responsibility to convince my audience that they should participate more thoroughly in physical activity. Therefore, as I was reviewing my tape I could see the good points I made and how I sounded passionate about my topic. I was nervous at first, by as I got through my introduction my nerves went away and I was a fully confident speaker.
If I had to do it all over again I would make very few changes. When it comes to preparation I feel that I always could have done more. I could have practiced my speech a few more times. I felt that because I made adjustments to me speech on the day before I was a little shaky but in the end it all turned out alright. I felt that I was not underprepared at all, because I did practice my speech several times and edited it accordingly. However, what I didn’t do was practice it in front of different audiences and this is something that could have been fixed. When it comes to support I was lacking when I submitted my outline. However, I took advantage of the opportunity to improve my speech (and outline) and inserted the correct amount of sources, providing me with enough support when it came time to present. I included the minimal amount of sources, which was four, and I could have gone beyond that to make my speech more credible. On the topic of organization I thought that my speech was well organized and thought out. As I wrote earlier, I made changes at the last minute and this could have been avoided if I had gotten my organization right the first time. However, I made the necessary changes and therefore came out with a speech I was really happy with. The content of my speech was strong and accurate. I feel that I could have included more facts and statistics in order to give my audience a better idea of how drastically physical activity can benefit them, but it was not necessary. It would have helped but I didn’t include more because I was worried about going over when it came to time.
There were specific changes from my last speech to this speech. This speech has a much more powerful attention getter and I think I engaged the audience from the start. During my last speech my attention getter was a little duller and not as interesting. Also, during this speech I made much more eye contact and looked more calm and comfortable than I did during my informative speech. However during my informative speech I feel that the content of my speech was better. It sounded much better researched and well written. Although I like the performance I gave during my persuasive speech, I feel the overall content of my informative speech sounded more credible. During my persuasive speech I do not feel like I distracted the audience very much at all. My body language was good. This was not the case in my informative speech. I did not glance at my note cards or move my body as much during my persuasive speech, like I did in my informative speech. However, I did touch my hair twice during my persuasive speech and this could have been a slight distraction to the audience. However, overall I think that this speech, the persuasive speech, was better that my informative speech. I came off as a much more confident speaker and I provided the audience with the information and reasoning why they should participate in more physical activity.
I would give myself an A on the speech. This is because I carried out my topic and the information well. I supported what I was saying very strongly and I provided the audience of what they could do to take action. I followed the criteria set before me and did not allow my nerves to get to me. I also cited four sources throughout my speech, and this was the requirement. I fulfilled all the guidelines that I needed to complete and therefore I think I would have given myself and A.
Of all three speeches I gave I think that I performed the best in this one. During my other two previous speeches I felt I was very nervous and this affected my performance greatly. During this speech I was nervous during the introduction then I did not let my nerves get the best of me. I performed confidently and did a good job throughout my speech. I thought that this speech was well researched, as were the other two, but during this one I felt I was the most passionate because I was really trying to persuade my audience to follow what I was saying and take action.

What I Learned

During my time in this class I think I learn a lot abpout public speaking and some of the things I can do to become a better speaker. I thought I learned the most from the last speech we did, the persuasive speech, because I learned different techniques how to persuade someone to change their view on a topic. I really liked the topics I chose for all three of my speeches, so I learned also that if you choose a topic that you like you are more likely to do well on the speech. I also learned a lot from the readings in the books and the reading of other people's blogs. In the future I think that this class really benefitted my abilty to speak confidently in front of others. I think that in the future as long as I plan ahead and create an outline, like in did in Comm20, I will be able to succeed whenever I am faced with a speech.

My Favorite Speech

My favorite speech was the demonstration speech when I taught the class how to shoot a basketball. It was my favorite for a variety of reasons. First is because I got to teach the class something I was passionate about, since I love the game of basketball. Second, it was interesting for me because as I did my research I learned more about a topic that I was truly interested in And finally it was my favorite because it was really fun. I had a good time writing and presenting my speech and it didn't really seem like work at all. I enjoyed this speech also because as I demonstrated I felt a lot less nervous because I was actively presenting and moving around throughout my speech.

Discussion

A recent discussion when I tried to persuade others, was when I was in my literature class. I was trying to prove a point about a book we were reading. I was trying to convince them that the failed relationships the main character experienced affected all of the relationships she encountered throughout the rest of her life. The book was "The God of Small Things" and in it the main character goes through a failed marriage and a strained relationship with her parents and children. The reasoning I used was giving examples from the text. I pointed out several quotes prove my case. The reviwed andfollowed with what I was saying and evenutally the majority agreed with me.

The Sea of Persuasion

I'm am immersed in a sea of persuasion as my friend's try to convince me to stay up late and study (when all I really want to do is go to bed), my mom and dad try to encourage me to save money, and internet pop-ups try to get me to buy their products. When I listen to speeches they are usually trying to persuade me to do something that will make my life "better." The media is constantly trying to persuade me to dress a certain way and buy certain products as television commercials seem to be on all the time. To become a more critical comsumer of persuasive messages I can evaluate the information I am getting by thinking about what the seller is getting out of it. For example, think about why they want me to make the product and how reliable and valid of a source they actually are.

speech progress

The progress of my speech has been slow because I have been very busy lately but I am finally getting a start on it. I am researching why people should play sports. It is a topic I completely agree with so I am hoping the research will not be too difficult. M?y main points will be the social aspect and environment sports provide, as well as the good physical exercise a person gets as they participate in sports. I do not know how I will end my speech but I think I will begin with my personal experience with sports. I plan on persuading my audience by relating the importance of sports into their lives and make them realize that they have time for it; then, show the benefits of sports and how they can "implement" them into their life (as explained in Monroe's Motivated Sequence).

Flickr

When I was reading the discussion on flickr I found there were lots of interesting points made. I feel that language in perceived in amny different ways and when it comes down to it, a word is juts a word. I agreed with what "rippie" said when they stated that it comes down to "how one uses the word." Its all about context. As I learned about connotations and denotations in the text I realized that many people can take offense to words just because of how they personally perceive the word. There was an already an argument (controlled but still apparent) on flickr in this conversation we just read (about "webglish.") Personally I think that when it comes to the topic of what word to use to refer to male or female, there will always be an argument and no one will ever be completly satisfied.

Guidelines for using language in your speech

In this section of Chapter 10 I learned a lot of helpful things when it comesto the laguage I use when I am delivering my speech. One important thing I learned was not to get too attached to my words. I learned that using the "perfect" word will not make my speech. Instead, making sure that I get my point across is what is really important. Sometimes when I am trying to shape my speech I try to find the right words to use when really I should be focusing on the bigger picture, and this secrtion really helped me with that. Another thing I learned was to be concise. This means not to be too wordy or make any sentence or process explanation longer than it needs to be. Basically, it means that I need to get to the point. During my last two speeches meeting the time length was a problem because I was worried I would go over. This is because I was too wordy and put in information that could have been shortened or excluded all together. This was a very helpful tip for me because it addressed one of my major problems.

Day of the Dead Presentation

A public speaking even that I went to was a presentation put on to educate people about Dia De Los Muertos (which means the day of the dead), at De Anza College. The media they used was a PowerPoint presentation and I thought the method was very effective. The presenters, which were a male and a female, put on the show for about 50 people. They used the slides to illustrate examples of decorations people make for the special event, which popular primarily in the Latin culture. Also there was a lot of information about the holiday on the slides so that if you couldn’t hear what they were saying, because it was a large room, you could just read the slides instead. The only distraction I saw was that sometimes there was too much writing on the slides. As I mentioned before, the writing on the slides was helpful at times, but other times I was able to fully hear and understand what they were saying and then the slides kept me from fully focusing on the speakers. There was a lot of information! The speakers could have improved their media but possibly putting the information in a outline format, or in bullet points instead of writing out each individual sentence. This is the only thing that I thought needed improvement. Overall it was a very successful presentation and I really learned a lot because it was such an interesting topic.

Self Evaluation #2

Self-Evaluation Assignment #2

The purpose of my speech was to inform the audience about the Titanic. I thought I did a very good job of achieving my purpose because I let them know about the exterior of the ship, interior of the ship and two of the main possible theories of why the ship sank. During my speech I was very nervous. However, while I was watching my tape, and as I was presenting, I knew that I projected my voice very well. I was a little shaky but overall I felt confident because I really knew my topic. Although I did refer to my note cards a lot, I think that was only because I was so nervous. I knew my speech well so I felt very comfortable while presenting; I was just extremely nervous about talking in front of everyone.
If I had to “do it all over again” I would make changes to all four categories: preparation, support, organization and delivery. When it comes to preparation I feel that there is always room for improvement. I could have practiced a few more times and in front of more people. I went through my speech over ten times, but I still feel that more practice would have made me feel more at ease. A major mistake I made, that I will definitely fix for next time, is that I only got feedback from two people. When it comes to support, I would only make one minor change and that is to find my sources earlier. I felt that I had great support in my speech but I put off my research until the last minute and this caused a lot of unneeded stress. The organization of my speech turned out well, however I had to tweak my speech tons of times to get it just right. This was also stressful because I was making changes up until the night before we delivered our speeches. So, again, fixing my time management would be my only issue. I used the spatial organization format and my speech was in good order and I felt that it flowed well. When it comes to the delivery of my speech I would have made several changes. This is because at times I was talking too fast, and I’m not sure if the audience heard all of the information I was trying to get across. Also, I made good eye contact with the audience but it could have been better. I said “oh” and “um” more than I did in my first speech, but I blame a lot of that on the nervousness as well.
One goal I have for improving the content of my next speech is that I was there to incorporate a better attention getter to capture the audience’s attention and hold it. I thought that overall, the topic I chose was interesting and the facts I presented were interesting as well but I did not have a good attention getter. I felt the audience was interested but not from the very start. One goal I have for the delivery of my next speech is to deliver completely confidently and comfortable without showing I am too nervous. I also do not want to look like I am relying on my note cards too heavily. Finally, I would like to cut out all of the “um’s” and “oh’s” and try to present without any awkward pauses.
There were a few different things I did, good and bad, from my last speech to this one. Good improvements were that I made much more eye contact with the audience this time. Although I saw that I looked at my note cards more in my second speech, the glances were much shorter and I think this looked better when I took less frequent, longer glances in my first speech. Also, I made a huge mistake in my first speech when I turned my back on the audience while using my visuals. I didn’t make this mistake during my second speech. However, this time I did have a technical difficulty with my PowerPoint (I forgot to click one of the slides, while I was talking about it) but I easily corrected it and didn’t let it mess me up while I was presenting. Bad thing I did during this speech, different from my first speech, were that I paused a lot more and I said “um” and “oh” a lot. These were the only really bad things I noticed while reviewing my tape.
Some distracting things I did were frequently glancing at my note cards and again, saying “um” and “oh” unnecessarily. I feel that this was an improvement from my last speech because during my last speech I used my hands a lot when I didn’t need to. I felt my hand gestures, and turning my back during my first speech were much more distracting that what I did during my second speech. So, yes I feel I did improve when it comes to distractions.
On a scale from 1-10 would give myself an 8 because as I said, I looked at my note cards and although it was not too distracting it was unnecessary some of the time. On the grading scale, I would give myself and A- because I thought I delivered a strong, effective speech. I thought that there were some improvements that should have been made but overall I achieved my purpose. For example, I let the audience know a lot about the passengers on the ship, the exterior of the ship and in the interior of the ship. I thought that my PowerPoint was a great tool for my speech. The pictures enforced the descriptions I was telling the audience about. Seeing my PowerPoint allowed my audience to get a much better idea of what I was talking about and it made my speech all the more successful.
Over the course of my speech I mentioned 4 citations. This was the required amount and the amount that I planned one presenting to my audience. Yes, I feel my speech was better than my last speech. This is because I feel that I included more interesting facts and captured the audience’s attention more thoroughly. I was more nervous during this speech but I feel like I was able to control my nervousness better than I did during my first speech. I made mistakes in both speeches however, I feel that gradually I am becoming a stronger and more confident public speaker. This speech was also a lot stronger than my last one because my citations were much clearer and I incorporated them better than I did in my previous speech. I felt that the audience saw me as a more credible speaker. Hopefully, my final speech will be my most successful delivery yet!!

Video Response

While I was watching the speech buddy videos I learned a lot. I learned some helpful things while watching 9.1 and 9.2. I really liked the two videos, especially because 9.2 helped me when it came to conclusions. It gave me some good advice how to properly end a speech. Although reading the chapter earlier in the week gave me examples of how to end a speech, actually seeing someone do it really made an impact on me. Video 9.1 was helpful when it comes to introductions because it covered all the points we are supposed to and it showed me how I can do this. It gave a good example of how to capture the audience’s attention from the start. Both informative speeches (13.1A and 13.1B) were successful and both speakers provided me with good examples. The worst of the videos, to me, was the “use it” video because the speaker was not as confident as the others. She looked down at her notes a lot but she did do an okay job. Hopefully, during my speech I will be confident and be able to have a powerful introduction and conclusion. I really hope I can capture and maintain everyone’s attention from the very start!

Closure

Before reading the chapter I was not really sure how to end my speech properly. I have never been very good at conclusions when it came to public speaking so this chapter really helped me. When I read the section titled "provide closure" I finally learned the right way to end my speech. The three options the chapter presented that I thought were the most helpful were (1) refer to sbsequent events,(2)refer to your introduction (3) make a dramatic statement. I think that I am going to use (2) because it goes well wiht my topic. Or because my topic (the Titanic) is so well known and there are many facts and figures I can use (3) and end with a surprising statistic or fact. OR possibly I can use (1) and report the current findings with the cause of the sinking of the Titanic. Obviously, thanks to this chapter, I now have options.

Intros and Conclusions

According to the book there is a lot that needs to go into both your introduction and your conclusion. In the introduction a person needs to let hte audience know what their purpose and thesis is, esatblish credibility with the audience, and finally preview the main points that they will cover. As I have recently begun research and the outline of my speech I know most of this what I will do for these categories, but not completly. I know that my purpose will be to inform the audience about the Titanic and my hypothesis will have something to do with theories about why it sank. My main points will discuss the history of the ship, facts and myths about the great ship and more about why it eventually sank. For the conclusion, according to our textbook, we need to review the main points we covered in our speech, restate what our purpose was, and provide the audience with some form of closure. As I have not gotten to my conclusion yet in my outline, I'm not too sure what it will look like. But I will definitely be going over the points I preview in my intro (why it sank, history and facts and myths).

Organizing Your Main Points

I thought the section in Chapter 8 about the different ways to organize your main points was very interesting and helpful. Whenever I am preparing for a speech I have usually used chronological order, because it is the easiet and I know how to use it. But while I was reading the chapter I found that narrative organization was really imteresting. My topic for the next speech is the history of the Titanic. A lot of people have heard of the Titanic, or seen the movie, so I think it may be cool to organize my speech in the narrative form. Cause and effect also caught my attention for the topic of the Titanic. For example what cause the Titnic to sink could be explained using this method of organization.

Facts and Statistics

I think that facts and statistics are most effective n a speech when they are used to shock and surprise the audience, and while they are spread out over the entire speech. Many speeches that raise awareness and teach the audience things that they did not know before are the ones that I have found to be the most successful. This is because then, the audience can walk away knowing something interesting they did not know before. I have also learned that facts and statistics are not as effective when they are listed consecutively. This doesn't really give the audience time to get full grasp of the information. Instead, you are just throwing numbers and facts at them and they will probably not get much from it or remember anything the speech addressed.

Self Evaluation

The purpose of my speech was to teach my audience how to shoot a basketball. Overall, I think I did a really good job at achieving what I set out to do. I demonstrate the correct way to shoot a basketball step-by-step and I really think that the audience learned from me. During the speech I was extremely nervous. I was not confident when I began but by the time I was reaching my conclusion I felt that I was confident and satisfied. I was glad that it was over but I was also not freaking out or anything.
If I had to give my speech all over again I would not change too much. When it comes to preparation I felt that I was very prepared. I practiced my speech a little over ten times in front of a few different audiences. These audiences included my roommates, friends and family members. When it comes to support I would have researched the topic a little more and gained some more support. This is one factor I definitely feel I could improve on. The organization of my speech was good I think. I thought I presented myself and my topic in an easily understandable manner. My delivery was okay I think. I thought I did okay when I presented, and when I watched the tape afterwards I still felt the same. It was nowhere near perfect but it was alright. I had some awkward pauses and I would have definitely fixed those and I also turned my back on the audience at one point and I felt that was a big mistake (even though it was only for a second).
A goal I have for improving the content of my next speech is that I would like to better incorporate my sources. During the demonstration speech I felt I did a poor job at this. Next time I would like to include my sources, so that they flow with my speech, and cite them so that my audience can hear and understand them. A goal that I have for improving the delivery of my next speech is that I plan on not pausing so much. I thought that I had a lot of awkward pauses and I know that I can improve in that area greatly.
The first thing that I noticed about the delivery of my speech was that I tripped over my words a few times, very noticeably, and that this is one thing I can really improve on for my next speech. I also noticed that I turned my back on the audience during the delivery of the speech. This is really bad in my mind. This is something I really didn’t mean to do and I would never do again. I really think that the only reason I did this was because I was extremely nervous. During all of the times I practiced my speech I never turned my back on the audience, and this is why I was so surprised that I did it during my speech.
The most distracting thing that I think I did during the speech was when I turned my back on the audience. I also was doing a few hand gestures with my note cards while I was talking. I would raise them in the air at times and that was really distracting to me so I’m sure that this was distracting to my audience as well. I would rate my eye contact level a 8. This is because while I was delivering the speech I felt that I was looking at the audience the majority of the time. I did refer to my note cards a lot but as I saw on the tape, I only glanced at them; I did not read off of them. I was looking at the audience the entire time I was demonstrating the way to correctly shoot a basketball. This is especially why I gave myself such a high score.
I only cited two sources. I had originally planned on citing four sources but I cut out two during the end because I was getting nervous that I wasn’t making the time. I saw the paper telling me that I had 4 minutes left so I rushed through my last point and conclusion, which included my last two sources.
Overall, I would give myself an A-. I thought I gave a very good speech and had a strong delivery, despite a few mishaps. As a whole, I felt that I did a good job because I really showed the audience how to shoot a basketball. I think I deserve such a good grade because I broke down the procedure to my audience and I feel that I achieved my purpose. I did not deliver my speech perfectly but I did a good job. My eye contact was good, my confidence grew throughout the speech, I presented my PowerPoint well, and I did not read off my note cards.

Video Response

During Matthew’s speech, I thought he did a good job. You could tell that he was really nervous throughout the speech but he got through it while delivering a lot of interesting and meaningful information. I liked how he had used the overhead and made the facts stand out to the audience. His introduction was also interesting. He really adapted his speech to the audience but giving facts particularly to “the under 21” group of people, that make up of most classrooms.

For Courtney’s introduction I thought that she talked really fast, but she still did a good job. She was also nervous, but I can’t blame her because I talk really fast when I’m nervous too. She outlined her speech for her audience and told them exactly what she was going to talk about. I liked that part about her speech a lot! Her introduction was not too strong but it was informative and it appealed to the audience because she talked about things they knew something about (about how they talked about littering).

Audience Analysis and Adaption

2). Discuss the importance of audience analysis and audience adaptation in the speech development process. Also, discuss how YOU plan on using audience analysis in your speech.

Audience analysis is important because it can really help a nervous speaker when delivering a speech, and I am most definitely a nervous speaker. When you use audience analysis you get to know your audience a lot better and think of how to make them positively react to you. Since my speech is on basketball, and I'm sure everyone has seen a basketball game (on tv or at the local park) I plan on talking about the basics of the sport. With audience adaption, it is important because if you are able to find out any information about who your audience is, you should use it to keep them interested and engaged. I have mentioned basketball in several of my blogs, previously, and when my classmates commented they sounded interested in basketball too. So I'm really excited about that!! I am going to use the comments they gave me to develop my speech and keep them interested in my topic! =)

Audience Research Questionnaires

One topic from the reading that I found interesting was the development of an audience research questionnaire. I have had to make a questionnaire before while I was in high school. This was a project for my government class about the differences between democrats and republicans. We had to poll forty people on their opinions and we decided to use both open ended and closed ended questions, so we combined the two. I learned more about the characteristics of both open ended and close ended questions while reading this chapter. Personally I prefer to use open ended questions because they tell me more about the person who is answering.

Research Interviews

At my high school, during my senior year we had to do a project called senior exhibition. For the project we had to present a 30 minute presentation and have 10 sources of information, 3 of them being interviews. This is my only experience with research interviews. My topic for the project was international adoption. I interviewed two people who were internationally adopted and one social worker who had found many homes for children who needed to be adopted. I thought all of my interviews went extremely well because I was well prepared for them. I asked a range of questions, both open and very specific, that I had written down before hand and practiced asking. Improvement was needed in my phrasing of the questions; on one or two questions the person I was interviewing was a little confused. I recommend that you come well prepared and calm to the interview. Also, that you present yourself in a professional, well-dressed manner. Good Luck!

My Speech Progress

The preparation for my speech has been going well. I decided to demonstrate how to properly shoot a basketball. Basketball is a topic I am very familiar with and that is why I chose to demonstrate shooting. Since basketball is such a popular sport, there are many people who teach different ways to shoot correctly. So, this has made researching a little more difficult. However, I remember the way I learned to shoot so whenever I find someone whose method is similar to mine, I will most likely stick with them. The main points of my speech will be the simple steps that need to be taken in order to shoot the right way. I will also probably give some background on basketball, and possibly some of it's great players. I plan on bringing a basketball to class so that I can actually demonstrate what I am talking about.

Visualization

While I was reading Chapter 2 I thought that the concept of visualization was really interesting. I have always used visualization whenever I play sports. I use it, for example, when I am shooting freethrows: I imagine the shot going in, just over the rim, and then the audience applauding for me. Or in soccer, I play out (in my head) performing a move successfully right before I actually do it. But, I thought it was really interesting that I could use the visualization technique while making speeches as well. In the book, it describes the visualization steps I should go through in order to "control my feelings" and so that I don't get too nervous. I was actually kind of excited when I saw the visualization technique because I already know how to use it. Hopefully imagining or visualizaing myself "walking to the front of the room, presenting, listening to my applause, and answering their questions" will help me successfully perform when in front of a real crowd!

What makes you apprehensive about public speaking?

Public speaking has always been a major fear of mine. I am someone who usually studies and prepares a lot for assignments; but for some reason whenever I get in front of a crowd, I tend to forget everything I was planning to say! Sometimes it can feel so frustrating and nerve-racking for me to speak in front of other people, even though . My main reason for being so apprehensive is because I'm scared I am going to mess up, or pronounce something wrong, and everyone will notice. Although I am not normally a shy person, I do have my moments when I am not the most confident woman in the world. But sometimes, when I am talking about something I am passionate about (like my family, friends, and basketball) I tend to feel a lot better, more relaxed, and do a better job because I'm talking about someone or something I love and know a lot about.