Self Evaluation- Informative Speech

1) I believe I did achieve the purpose of my speech, although I could have achieved it better if I used more facts or statistics from my outline. A lot of it was general knowledge, since I knew so much about my topic already.
2) Although I didn't feel as nervous, I began to lose confidence as I stumbled over my words every other 30 seconds! I was really thrown off with my pen marks everywhere, that I almost stop caring how it sounded and how I preformed.
3) If I had to do it again, I would have prepared much, much more! My note cards were completely unorganized from last minute scrambling; things were crossed off and added in.  It was very hard to read them. Next time I will definitely practice much more than I had for this speech. It didn’t help that I had two speeches, so it was hard to balance practicing them both for the same night.
4) My goal for the next speech will be to practice in front of a small crowd at least 4 times. When I practiced mine alone, I thought it sounded pretty great, obviously! Also, when I was alone I didn’t have to make any eye contact with anyone.
5) I failed to deliver my speech with full potential and personality. I need to really work on how I deliver my next speech and use more enthusiasm. I thought I had some as I started off, but if I did, it died shortly after I started scrambling my words.
6) Since I did two speeches during this class, my first one seemed better to me. I have had that speech ready for quite some time and was more familiar with it. This informative speech however, needed a lot more last minute final touch ups. I was more comfortable giving it, probably because I already stood up in front of the class just an hour before, but otherwise it wasn't as practiced.
7) I didn't do anything distracting that I know of, which was good because during my culture speech I was chewing gum and didn't even realize. I usually try to hide a piece of gum in my mouth so it’s not so dry, but apparently I’m not sneaky and my nerves force me to chew it!
8) I would rate my eye contact at about a 4. I feel more comfortable reading off the card, and think it sounds more smoothly. I desperately wish I could be like the others and give my speech without any note cards! I did notice students saying uh or um a lot without their cards, and I know I would constantly be using like, uh and um. However if I would have had them more organized and practiced, I wouldn’t have had to look down so much and  it would have made a noticeable improvement with my eye contact.
9) I believe I got a satisfactory grade due to my performance. When reading the feedback, apparently my speech was poorly researched. While I do agree my topic wasn't as challenging as some others, I did put in a good amount of research into it. Thinking back I should have created the speech about the inventor of Facebook, instead of the site itself. But other than that, I believe my grade was appropriate and I am satisfied with it.
10) I didn't source any citations during my speech; in fact I had no idea you had to. I did cite the source in my outline although as (s#). S stood for source and the number was the specific citation in order of my works cite.
11) This speech was not better than my last, and it was purely due to a lack of practice and research.

Week 9 Post 3

From this week’s reading I found the types of visual media helpful, because the advantages and limitations were displayed as well. I will explain a couple that were more common. Digital slides can help blend information in the form of text, images, video and sound. The downfalls of digital slides are they can be distracting, overused, boring, and the speaker can often forget about the audience and read off the screen. Another type of visual aid that I found useful would be a video. It can be very personal, emotional, and can give many examples. A negative side to using a video would be that it interferes with the audience focus or speaking pace. Another type of digital media I thought was interesting was handouts. It can reinforce key points and help the audience follow along. I know when I'm in class and a teacher hands out papers, it is always helpful to follow along with them. A downside is the audience may get distracted with them and read ahead, and they are also wasteful.

Week 9 Post 2

When using visual aid during your presentation, there are a few general guidelines. To start off, "keep it simple". Try not to include too much information or text, because it will distract your audience away from your speech. They will either not pay attention, or try to read the slide and won't hear what you have to say. Another rule is, "emphasize only key ideas". It is important that your visual aid reflects clearly upon the main idea. Also, "show what you can't say". This refers to showing charts, pictures, or graphs that explain what you can't. It is also helpful to "use close-up photographs and other images", because they seem to evoke a more emotional response from your audience. One more rule would be to "keep the number of images you present manageable", because too many images will bore or make your audience tired. Also, "combine variety with coherence". In other words keep the theme, such as colors or fonts, the same for the entire visual aid. Lastly, "use large lettering" so the entire audience can read.

Week 9 Post 1

I can still recall very clearly a MADD, mothers against drunk drivers, presentation I attended during drivers training. There were many mothers desperate to change lives, but one speaker in particular, was a drunk driver herself. She told of her story when she was a teenager, and only drove a short distance from her friends after she had been drinking. It was hard for her to talk due to the injuries she sustained, but it seemed to impact everyone. As she told her story, she had a slide show of photographs from the accident. While they showed the traumatic experience, it was also very distracting. The eyes were no longer on her, but on the pictures that were presented. Even though it took attention off of her, it was still a very strong presentation. The photographs were needed and really showed people the significance of drinking and driving. Her story was very touching, and could not have been as strong with words alone. 

Week 8 Post 3

For Speech Buddy Videos for chapter 9 the topics were about introduction and conclusion paragraphs. It was pretty basic knowledge, and was covered in reading. Once again, it was explained that to have a good introduction you need to get the attention from the audience, state your purpose, state your thesis, and preview the main points. When you prepare a conclusion you need to review main points, reinforce your purpose, and provide closure. The conclusion is your last chance to state what you haven't already. The examples in the conclusion video were very good, but the last speaker I thought should have stated the example of the car accident in the introduction. It seemed more of a statement for building your purpose or thesis. In the chapter 13 videos, their presentations were both good. They both had great eye contact, and their slides weren't filled up with information. Sometimes when people present slides with too much information, I tend to quickly scan them because I don't know where to start. It's nice seeing speeches, but at the same time makes me nervous. They all seem so confident and like experts. Hopefully my next one will go smoothly!

Week 8 Post 2

In chapter 13, I discovered there were 5 types of informative speeches. There are speeches about objects and places, people and other living creatures, processes, events, and ideas and concepts. Speeches about objects and places will be about “any nonliving, material thing that the human senses can perceive” or “geographical locations”. Speeches about people and other living creatures will of course be about a specific person, animal, or creature. Speeches about events can be “personal or otherwise known about”, and “can take place in the past, present, or future”. Speeches about ideas and concepts are about thoughts, understandings, beliefs, notions or principles. Ideas and concepts can also be actualized over time. All of these different categories will affect the title, thesis, topic and specific purpose differently. My topic falls under the category or objects and places. Now that I have some examples, I have a better understanding how to conduct my outline and even need to change a few things.

Week 8 Post 1

            There are many different parts of writing an introduction and conclusion. Starting off with an introduction, it is vital you have an attention getter. If it starts off boring, no one will want to listen to your speech. Attention grabbers might include a fact, statistic, story or a joke. After that, you want to indicate your purpose and thesis along with establishing credibility. The last part to an introduction is previewing what you will be talking about in the following body paragraphs.

            In a conclusion, you need to recall all the main points of the speech, reinforce your purpose and provide closure. Making a dramatic statement, thanking the audience or ending with a quote are a few ideas to end your conclusion.

            When I write a paper, I tend to use a lot of personal stories and jokes. When I prepare a speech, I tend to stick with facts and statistics, so it doesn’t become personal. I don’t feel comfortable joking with an audience, because it might not go as planned or might be hard to understand. For this upcoming speech I am trying to figure out a statistic that everyone can relate to, but also make it personal. I haven’t yet figured out how to do that, but it will happen! And for the conclusion, I need help with reinforcing the main points in my speech. Any suggestions?