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.