Speech Evaluation # 3

Overall, I believe I achieved my purpose quite well for this speech. I emphasized the points that I really wanted to touch on and also used my powerpoint slides to create more of an interest in my speech. I was a bit nervous in the beginning, I guess that’s natural, but as the speech went on I got over it and just really wanted to get all the information out. I felt pretty confident while doing my speech, even though I did have some difficulty practicing it because this one definitely had more information involved. But in general, I was pretty confident because I had done lots of research for my speech and went in knowing my topic pretty well. If I had to do it over again and make some changes, I wish we had more time to prepare for the speech (like having the outlines due sooner), I would have practiced my speech in front of some friends so I could get feedback of some of the “do’s and don’ts”, I actually wish I had time to show the class a documentary that I watched and was on an episode of Oprah about the portrayal of beauty around the world. Seeing that documentary really moved me, also gave me a lot to work with in doing research for my speech. Lastly, my delivery I hoped I wasn’t so nervous. Being nervous is natural, and me telling myself to not be so nervous helped a little, but it was still there. Some specific things that were different from my prior speeches was: this was the first time I used powerpoint as a visual aid (good), I think it really helped me emphasize my points better by showing graphic pictures of women in the media and it gave attention to my speech more. I think that in my last speech I had a pretty good delivery, I wasn’t as nervous as I was the 3rd time around. I also tended to rely on my note cards a lot in this speech though which, was a bad thing. I didn’t do anything distracting in my speech other than relying on my note cards (if you want to call that annoying? Well maybe to some people). I do think that this was definitely an improvement from my last speech; I had all my information well organized, my ideas in this speech were more thourough, and I had more complex ideas. If I could rate myself on a scale of 1-10 I would probably rate myself an 8, there’s always room for improvement. Based on performance, on a scale from an A to an F, I would give myself an A-, which is what I received. It wasn’t perfect, but there was definitely improvement from my last speech. My preparation could have been better as I believe I stated previously above.
I think this speech was better in some aspects than my last speech, because of my ideas that I incorporated in and also the variety of sources that I utilized. I mentioned a total of 5 source citations thoughout the entire course of my speech. So based on my review of all three of my speeches I think that this last speech was my best. I broke outside of my shell and discussed a topic that really had value to me which I wanted to share with the rest of the class. I think this would be a great topic to write a paper on :).

Week of Dec 7-10

What are you going are you going to take from this class that you think will be helpful in future endeavors?

I will be taking a lot from this class. This is my last semester at SJSU and I waited until the last possible moment to take this class! Because that's how much I like public speaking LOL. This was actually my first online course and I really enjoyed it. Through my speeches in this class I've gained confidence in speaking in public and I've also gotten more comfortable doing it. This has been one of my main problems that I have wanted to fix/get rid of and through this class I beleive that I'm not necessarily there yet, but I'm almost there :) There were some important tips in the book that I am going to take with my in the future; like not being so nervous when doing speeches, analyzing your audience and making sure that your speech is appropriate for your specific audience type. Overall, this was a great course and I wish I would have tooken it sooner!

Week of Dec 7-10

Which speech was your favorite and why?

My favorite speech out of all 3 had to be probably my last speech, even though I had some difficulties trying to prepare for it. I think that my topic (how women are portrayed in the media and why the media should embrace women's natural beauty and not hinder on trying to fix it) was a really important topic that is REAL, it is happening before our eyes as we speak. While I was doing research for my topic I actually learned a lot and I hopefully one day would like to become an advocate to embrace womens natural beauty, maybe start a program similar to what Dove has done...who know's :) But I do feel passionately about issues like this because there can be some serious problems that may come up, if these issues are not addressed. Such as eating disorders, increasing numbers of plastic surgeries, self-esteem and self-confidence issues, and even suicide. I didn't get a chance to address all these in my speech because of time, but they are all pretty important. Overall, this was my favorite because of the issues involved with it.

Week of Dec 7-10

What concept or concepts from the class that you thought was the most helpful in preparing your speeches?

Some of the concepts from the class that have helped me best in preparing for my speeches were the feed back from the turned in outlines, the topics in the books which were easy to find and understand (such as outline examples, types of outlines, and general information on speech formation). The speech buddy videos also helped me quite a bit because they re-emphasized the points in the book and also made things more clear. I liked the fact that they were relatively short, becuase I know I don't want to be sitting in front of the computer watching a video where it's longer than 10 minutes! :) For the most part, I've definitely learned a lot from this class and will take what I've learned and apply it to my future endeavours.

Week of Nov 16-22

Speech Buddy: Review the following Interactive Videos 15.1, “Schooling: Pro” and “Schooling: Con” on the Interactive Video Website. Respond to the ideas in the videos. What did you learn that could be helpful in your speech? What types of appeals were used? How did the speaker connect with the audience?

The elements of argument from the book and also stated in the videos are: thesis, claim, evidence (examples or statistics), and reasoning (various types of reasoning). In the video of the girl giving the speech about "How we should not feed the wildlife" she used causal type reasoning. She gave an example of what happened when the wildlife animals were fed and then told the cause of that. I noticed that many of the speeches in the videos began with quotes, statements of fact, and/or statictics; and from there they went onto their thesis statements. The speakers connected with the audience by relating the topics to them and also making general statements that the audience can relate to.

Nov 16-22

A recent discussion where I tried to persuade others into accepting my point of view was about global warming and how it not only affects climate change, but how it affects atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to increase, which leads to higher global temperatures and change in humans normal activities. I was explaining to them that global warming is a FACT and is changing our lives gradually. My friends disagreed with me saying that it is just something that is irregular that has happened to be happening for some years now. The types of reasoning I used were cause-and-effect and conditional reasoning with this discussion. My reasoning actually worked and I gave my friends a better understanding of my points of view after the discussion.

Week of Nov 9-15

My research progress has been pretty steady. I haven't gotten too yet because of other things that have been going on. My topic is on the media and how it affects young girls and their perceptions of how to be, to look, and act in society. I am going to persuade my audience towards my point of view by the question of value method and then go into my main points from there. I plan on beginning my speech by presenting the audience with general facts about society and go from there. And I will end my speech by having some type of call to action towards my point of view (not sure which one to use yet).

Week of Nov 9-15

I think we are immersed in a sea of persuasion each time we wake up in the morning. We are surrounded by messages of persuasion all over the place tv ads, magazines, books, billboards, and also on campus with speakers on various topics. On an average day we receive thousands of messages not knowingly. Random things like people passing out fliers to you, discussions with friends, lectures from professors and public speakers, and also radio and tv. To become a more critical comsumer of persuasive messages is to become more informed and educate yourself on issues that you may feel passionate about and also just be aware of your surroundings.

Week of Nov 9-15

Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

A concept that I found in the reading that is useful is the point of questions of value. Questions of value asks for a subjective evaluation of something's worth, significance, quality, or condition. From the book, questions of value are qualititative judgements about something's significance. My speech will go somewhat along the same lines of this, asking people what they think true beauty is in their eyes. Since we live in such an individualistic society, with questions like such I will hopefully get opinions and beliefs from everyone. Since everyone has such a unique background, the way people react to the question is going to be very interesting.

Week of Nov 2-8...#2

How do you respond to their comments in light of what your textbook says?

I would have to agree with what "my little eye I spy with" had to say. I do think it is a bit offensive and sexist of referring to grown women as "girls", and also the same for referring to men as "boys". Of course people do tend to play around and use these words loosely, but on a site such as flickr, they should address that and make the appropriate changes. The problem is that there are so many words in the English language that can be used in many different ways, some ways are appropriate and some are offensive and often sexist. There is no real way to regulate this, but I think it's just that fact that people should be more informed about the use of certain words and the ways they are used.

Week of Nov 2-8...#1 Speech Buddy Video's

A couple good points that I found useful in the Speech Buddy video's were the use of vocal delivery and how it should vary. Also, the use of words to engage your audience to make them feel apart of your speech. I think vocal delivery in speeches and presentations because the audience can tell if you are exicted about the topic, or if you are not feeling comfortable, and also being nervous. I tend to notice that when I am nervous during my speeches that my voice goes monotone, which is boring to listen to and not interesting for the audience. I think some ways to help vary your vocal delivery are to practice in front of people so they can critique you and also try to record yourself as you deliver.

Week of October 26-Nov 1...#3

I like the idea of the use of handouts during a presentation or a speech. Chapter 11 covers this briefly. During a couple of the speeches that we had a few people used handouts and I thought that it was very useful for the speech and also added credibility. The handouts contain good and useful information that we can always reference back to in case we have any future projects or assignments on that specified topic. I think passing handouts out before or after your speech is best, if it is done during the speech it tends to be a bit of a distraction and also takes time away from the speech.

Week of October 26 - November 1..#1

I found the speech buddy videos to be helpful and very useful for my next speech. The use of digital media in speeches have made them more interesting to me to listen to and also emphasizes the points clearer. The use of powerpoint is simply not just to restate your speech so that your audience can read along as you speak, it is a way to show something that you cannot really express in words. Slides should be uncluttered, organized, and clear to read for the audience; especially in the back. I will definitely use the points made in the speech buddy videos for my persuasive speech and also take it for future presentations.

Week of October 26 - November 1...#2

I recently watched a movie called the "Inconvenient Truth" a movie in which Al Gore explains global warming and it's causes, effects, and also explains facts about climate change. In this movie he is doing a presentation in front of an audience using a back drop screen (which is about as wide as the screen at the movie theater's) and he has a number of visual aids to emphasize his points clearly and precisely. I think without the use of this media, the presentation wouldn't have been as effective that it was. It also showed a lot and made his points clearer. The only way I could think of the use of this media being distractive was the enormous size of it, but other than that that was pretty much it. I don't think any improvements were needed here in this presentation, it was very well organized and thought out. Great movie if you haven't already seen it! :)

Self-evaluation of Speech 2

I believe I achieved my purpose pretty well, although there is always room for improvement. Overall, I think I did a better job on this speech than on the first one. I was more calm this time and I felt more comfortable because I knew what to expect as far as the audience and the environment. I was still a little nervous though, but I guess that’s normal. I felt very comfortable and confident during this speech, compared to the first. My first speech was pretty disappointing to me because I let my nerves get the best of me, but I thought I handled it well this time. If I were to look back and do the whole speech over there are some things I would change: I wish I would have had my slide show pictures so I could really emphasize my points more clearer to the audience because pictures are worth 1000 words especially for my speech topic (Hurricane Katrina), but unfortunately there were some technical difficulties with that. Also I would have added more to my conclusion to sort of have a clincher with the audience; that’s one of the things that I had the most trouble on. Lastly, I wanted to have better flow of my speech, because to me it seemed a bit choppy when I was doing my presentation.

I would say the main difference from this speech and my last speech was my level of comfort. During my first speech I was REALLY nervous and with that it tended to made me leave important points out so I could just hurry up and get done. Another thing that was different from my first and second speeches was my level of preparedness, I made sure I practiced A LOT more than recommended! Along with that that eased my tension levels, so I wasn’t as nervous as the previous time. The only distracting things that I caught myself doing was when I tended to get tripped up, I got nervous and began to say “um” and I did this in my last speech, but I did it more then. This definitely was an improvement from my last speech though. I would rate my eye contact level at probably an 7.5-8, mainly because I did tend to look at my note cards a lot during my speech and also when I got a little nervous.

During the course of my speech I stated 4 source citations, ranging from informative newsletters, the internet, books, and also databases. Overall, on a scale from A to F, I believe I deserved the grade that I received B. I did leave out my visual aids which could have been a big improvement in the delivery of my speech and also made it more interesting to my audience. I also think that I should have had more development in my attention getter and my conclusion. All in all, I believe that this speech was definitely better than my first. I felt more comfortable in delivering the message to the audience and I was not as nervous as I was during the first speech.

For my next speech I plan on having a couple goals set for myself as far as (1) improving content in my speech; I plan on doing extensive research on various materials and sources of my topic, so I can have a well rounded speech from many points of view and not just limited to a couple. Next,(2)improving my speech delivery; I would like to, once again not use my note cards as much as a crutch and also for my next speech I would like to find a topic that I am passionate about so I can really emphasize my points, thoughts, and feelings to persuade others towards my topic.

#1...Week of Oct 12-18th

Speech Buddy: Review the following interactive videos - - - 9.1, 9.2, 13.1A, 13.1B and "USE IT" 13.1 on the Interactive Video website. What did you learn that could be helpful in your speech?

I found these Speech Buddy videos helpful in many ways that I can add to my speech. Some helpful things that I have found useful from the videos was the emphasis of the importance of introductions and conclusions. Introductions are a very important part of the speech building process and I think it is where you have most of the audiences full attention. I noticed that in some of the intro's they had quotes, stories about personal experiences about their topic to show purpose, and also well defined mapping out of the entire speech. I really liked the girl who did the speech on Kodak, her speech was very well thought out, it flowed very nicely, and she did a nice job of mapping out the body of her speech.
In developing the conclusion portion of the videos I found that leaving the audience with a positive feeling of the purpose of the speech is very important and also to provide closure to the audience. Some things that I will take and utilize in my speech from these videos are to possibly relate the topic to the audience and show how it is relevant to everyone in our society, maybe add a personal experience to add to my purpose of the speech, and also asking the audience questions. Maybe adding some kind of visual aid may also help the credibility of my speech too!

#2...What components, according to your book go into your Introduction and Conclusion? How are you going to use these ideas in your Informative Speech

The components of an introduction of a speech, according to the text, are basically to gain the audiences attention, explain what you want to accomplish in our speech, establish yourself as an expert on the topic, and tell the audience what you will be talking about (p. 230). The conclusion, according to the text, is a review of the main points that you went through in the body of your speech, reinforcement of the purpose of the speech, and lastly to provide closure to the speech (p. 239).

My topic is a pretty serious topic and I've been thinking about tweaking it a little bit, so we'll see. I will use the components of an intro in my speech to really grasp the audiences' attention and I want to establish credibility through the use of my research that has been done on my topic and also through the in-text citations. I was also thinking about using some type of visual aid, so the audience can actually and possibly feel the seriousness of the topic. In my conclusion, I will briefly go through the main points that I discussed and also provide closure to the audience. With these components added, hopefully I will have a nice flow in my speech :)

Week of Oct. 5-11...# 2

When do you find facts and statistics are most effective in a speech? When are facts and statistics not as effective?

I usually find when facts and statistics are most effective in speeches are when people use them as a back up for supporting evidence of the specific topic. I think they really do help give the speech a little boost and makes it more interesting because having that evidence gives the speech more credibility. I usually find when facts and statistics are not as effective is when they tend to be from a source that is not a credible one such as wikipedia, the use of statictics that are outdated or have no kind of connection to the topic, and when they are completely irrelevant to the subject topic as a whole.

Self Evaluation of Speech 1

I think my demo speech could have gone much better. Speaking in front of the class can be very nerve racking :) I practiced and prepared all week and really thought I was ready, and when I got in front of the class my nerves got the best of me! I honestly have been struggling with this for a while and really want to get rid of this habit. It makes me a bit upset because I really wanted to introduce my topic in a fun and exciting way to the class, unfortunately I believe I have fallen short of that.

During my speech I left some important points out (in-text references and a bit more of my personal experience), and I also tended to use my note cards as a crutch. I didn't even need to use them because I pretty much had my speech memorized, but my nerves got the best of me. I also said "um" a lot, which is weird because I usually don't say "um" often and I tended to have long pauses in my speech. Overall, I think I did ok I just wish I was a little more relaxed and interacted with the class more.

Some improvements to make for next time are to make better flow of the material in my speech, try not to let my nerves get to me and relax, and don't use notecards as a crutch.

Wk 4- Discuss the importance of audience analysis and audience adaptation in the speech development process. Also, discuss how YOU plan on using this

As I've read in the text, audience analysis is very important. The more you know the demographic that you are presenting your topic to, the easier it will be to prepare and present to them. If someone goes into a speech without any kind of audience analysis or prior research, there will be a disconnect with the audience and the speaker. After the audience analysis has been done, adapting to your audience should be next. For example, if you plan on presenting facts to your audience it should be easily understood and comprehensible. So the speaker may have to make certain adjustments to adapt to the audience.
So far I've used audience analysis for my speech by getting to know some people in this class just by reading blogs and comments, this gives me a general idea of how I will prepare my speech. The class is very diverse and with my topic I hope to expand people's knowledge of my culture that is not widely known about. I hope that will be able to demonstrate this to the best of my ability and not bore anyone in the process :).

Speech Buddy: Review Drinking and Light Pollution videos on the Interactive Video website in accordance with Chapter 5. Respond to each video.

Light pollution speech...
I thought that this girl had a well organized and well thought out introduction of the topic. She sort of mapped out her speech and told us where she was going by introducing her main subjects and tying those into how it related to her topic. She did seem a little nervous though by the use of her hand gestures and how she had her hands on her hips.

Drinking speech...
I think this guy had a good speech. It was well thought out and organized. His tone supported the seriousness of the topic. I thought he had a good attention grabber in the very beginning by pretending to vomit from excessive drinking. He had good use of stats that supported his topic very well. Overall, I think that this was a good speech that was very well organized and all the facts supported his topic, which tied everything together.

What I learned...
It definitely takes practice to have a well thought out speech that flows well. Also, I think that having a good intro with a defined thesis statement helps the audience follow where you are going with the speech. Lastly, having good facts to back up your statement does help you reconfirm what you are trying to deliver to the audience.

Week 4--Pick one concept from the assigned reading (Chapter 5) that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

The one concept from the reading that I found interesting in chapter 5 was section of 'gathering demographic data'. I had no clue that this was actually done in speaking, just in business as far as marketing products and/or services to people or businesses. This I found was quite interesting, because we can gather demographic information about the audience and actually tailor our speeches towards them. Which we probably have seen with all the political debates that have been going on in the recent months. I think it is a little more comfortable when you are giving a speech to an audience that you are familiar with and actually have some type of interaction with on a daily or weekly basis. So this concept shed some light to me and hopefully I will be able to demonstrate this in my speech :)

Week 3--Update the class on your speech preparation progress. What topic have you chosen? What have you been researching? What are you main points in

So the topic that I have choosen to present on is a drink called otai (sp?) that my mom's side of the family brought here from the South Pacific, Tonga to be exact. It's usually made during the hot months because its a very cool refreshing drink, and alcohol can even be added to it for a little kick! :) My main points of the speech are going to be, introducing the subject to everyone and where it originated from, let people know the different variations of the drink that people tend to make, and I will go into how to make it. For my visual aids I will bring in the ingredients to make it and some cups so everyone can try it if they would like!

Week 3--What experience do you have with conducting research interviews? What went well? What needed improvement?

I honestly have never conducted a research interview during my years here at SJSU suprisingly. I would guess the way about conducting it would be similar to a qualitative interview, where you would interview a respondant and basically record and understand the subjest matter. I believe this is a more of an in depth interview with a respondant seeking to get quality responses from the interviewee. The person conducting the interview is a very skilled interviewer and has a set number of questions that they have prepared for the interview and may get off course due to individuals different personality types.

Apprehensive about public speaking....

I can honestly say that I am very apprehensive about public speaking. I am currently a senior and this is my last semester at SJSU and I've waited until the last minute to take this class. My first speaking class (Comm40) was when I was a sophomore and it was a total disaster. I've done numerous presentations with groups and also individually, but I think my main problem is getting over the nervousness and speaking with confidence. I really do want to become a great public speaker and I truly hope this class will help me in any way.