Tuesday, October 28, 2008
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.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
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!!
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!!
Friday, October 17, 2008
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!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
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.
Monday, October 13, 2008
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).
Thursday, October 9, 2008
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.
Monday, October 6, 2008
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.
Friday, October 3, 2008
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.
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.
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