Most Helpful Concepts

There have been many things we have all learned from Professor Perez as well as our books this semester. Although most people think that public speaking is an easy subject or easy class, there are many concepts that need to be learned in order to become an excellent speaker. Although I took other public speaking classes in the past, I feel that I have learned more in this one than the other two. I have many helpful concepts to talk about but I will limit it the most important or main one. The outline, as I mentioned before, was very helpful as it prepared me for my entire speech process. As I composed the outline I was able to find a lot of information which I would include in my speech. After I completed it I was able to practice my speech several times which made it easy to be aware of my timing and it helped me to not be as nervous as I would have been without the practice. Lastly, I used excerpts of my outline in my actual speech which I inserted on my index cards. The use of the outline was very helpful and effective and since we had to have in dept outlines, I had all of the information I needed.

Self-Evaluation #3

I enjoyed this last speech as I was able to research and discuss a topic I was interested in and then attempt to persuade others to take action and change the current status. Also, because I received such great feedback on the previous speeches, I was able to incorporate those critiques into this third and final essay.

Because I received a lot of information to back up my argument and to convince others to take a stand, I was able to clearly address the purpose of my speech. I talked about the current problem, presented the audience with a number of solutions, and stressed just how important it is to exercise. Although I was a little shaky, I was confident in my speech and knew that after the audience heard my speech many would be convinced to get up and exercise. Because we had two other speeches prior to the last, I was very comfortable speaking in front of the class.

Although I did improve in this speech from the last two speeches, there were still a few things that I could have done better. In support and delivery I think I did a very good job however I could have made improvements in organization and preparation. When making the outline I did not follow full instructions so it was not organized in the way it should have been. In result, I had to work on my outline some more so that I would ensure that my delivery and purpose was clear. Therefore, my preparation time was cut short.

There are several things I did differently in this speech but I will list the most important ones. For the previous speeches I brought in something for the media as opposed to composing and presenting a powerpoint. Based on the feedback from my classmates it was evident that the powerpoint was a stronger piece of media as it helped the audience to follow along and they enjoyed the photos. Also, I practice my speech several times with my powerpoint (unlike the other speeches) so I was able to get down my timing. Those were the biggest changes I made in this speech from the other two.

I do not think I had any obvious distractions but there were a few minor ones that could have affected the audience’s attention. When I present in front of a group I have the tendency to sometimes shake a bit (out of nervousness) so I was shaking a little bit. To try to calm my nerves down I walked around the class a bit which made actually seem like I was trying to engage with my audience. So in turn, my nerves actually benefited my speech.

Although I did use a few note-cards I tried to make sure I made contact with my audience as much as possible. After watching my tape I saw that my note-card use was much less than the previous two speeches. If I were to rate my eye-contact on a scale from 1-10 I would give it an 8. It was good, but it was not great. I would only rate it a 9 or 10 if I did not use note-cards at all. Overall I think I achieved the purpose of my speech pretty good. If I were to grade the speech on a scale from A-F I would give it a B+ or A-. I think I proved that there was a problem and did a good job convincing the audience to take a stand. Also I gave within almost all of the guidelines of my speech requirement and most importantly I improved.

This speech was indeed better than my last. I was much more prepared, confident, organized, presentable, and I delivered the purpose very clearly. What I did in this speech, that I didn’t the last, was smoothly incorporated five sources which gave my speech some credibility. Also I know that this speech was better than the last because after reading my classmates feedback it was clear that they enjoyed my speech and that they were affected by it.

After reviewing all three speeches I noticed some errors and a lot of positives in all three speeches. In the first speech, I was happy with my confidence as it was my first speech, but I was unhappy with my citing of sources and my media display. In my second speech I was happy with my pitch and tone, as well as confidence, however my media display was still lacking. In the last speech I believe that I nearly mastered the concepts that I was lacking in the first two speeches which is why I am convinced that overall I did a much better job in my last speech making it the best of the three.

Future Endeavours

Hi All,

This class has been a big learning experience for me as I made errors but most importantly, learned from them. At first I was a little nervous to speak in front of the class because I do not normally speak in front of a large group. After learning all of the concepts in the wonderful book we bought, I feel that I almost mastered the art of public speaking. I learned how to get my audience's attention, I learned how and when to use visuals, I learned about projection, and so many more aspects that make up a great speaker. Of all of the things that I learned I will use the outline. Although I have written several outlines before, never have I written in so much detail and organization because it was not required in my others classes. And although I do not like writing drafts or outlines, I came to learn that this was the most helpful aspect in my speech preparation as well as during the speech. It kept me on track and was the key to my success in the class.

Favorite Speech

Hi Everybody,

As this class is drawing to an end, I have reflected on all of my speeches and the one that I liked best was this past persuasive speech. The reason why I liked it the most because I actually got to take a stand and convince my audience to take action. Unlike the previous speeches which were mainly informative and informational. I liked being able to help my audience out by informing them of the problem that most of them were not aware of, and persuading them to take a stand. Also I liked this because I feel that I improved my speaking and presenting skills which made this speech a lot better than the first two. 

Useful Chapter Information

Hey all!
I liked chapter 16 which was about special occasion and group speaking. This was helpful because in the future I am hoping to have several special occasion and group speeches. For example, my boyfriend is graduating after this semester is over and his family is throwing a huge banquet for him and I will be speaking. This chapter taught me to celebrate what someone has already done well and since he is a first generation college student, his parents are very proud of him. I have to make sure to be entertaining and lighthearted as make sure to focus on a theme.

Since many classes involve group speaking this chapter was helpful because it provided useful information on presenting in small groups. It talked about working together and practicing together to ensure that the presentation flows together and to feel more comfortable.

Speech Buddies

I thought homeschooling was a good topic to talk about because a lot of people have very different opinions on this. Also I can relate to this topic because one of my sisters did a
year of homeschooling. The first speaker was for homeschooling and she stressed the importance of children attending college. She was very persuasive and believed that since family is very influencial on their child's education, then homeschool is a very good option. I agree that homeschool will prepare you for college because when my sister did homeschool for a year her grades were very high but she complained about not getting the social aspect of school which is needed I believe. As far as the second speaker, he had some persuasive points in the sense that parents have a big enough job trying to raise you why would they add on teaching. They have jobs and other things to be responsible for which is why teachers should help fill in this void.

Personally, I think that homeschooling is an option that should be determined by the child. Every child is unique and some are fit for this type of schooling while others may perform better in a school. It all depends.

Recent Persuasive Discussion

Hey Class,

Recently I had a persuasive discussion with my two other soon-to-be roommates about our apartment living situation. When we arrived at a potential apartment, we were talking to the manager and questioning the pricings and several other questions. However, my other two roommates are inexperienced and are in a rush to just get approved for an apartment now since we will have to move out of the campus apartments soon.

The lady was telling us that we had to all sign one lease and that we could not sign individual leases. I found a problem with that because there are many active court cases right now in which college students are suing their roommates because something happened and the other roommates stopped paying the rest of their lease leaving the balance on the other roommate. I asked the lady if it was possiblity for us to all get individual leases however my potential roommates were telling me to let it go and that the lady already said no.

I kept pleading my case however, and I stressed the importance of individual leasing because if anything happens I want us to be accountable for only ourselves. Finally after using cause-and-effect reasoning I was finally able to get it through my roommates heads as well as the apartment supervisor. In result we were able to sign individual leases.