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.

Chapter 14 Useful Information

I was please that we read chapter 14 this week because it is on persuasive speaking and that is exactly what I needed to read since our speech is coming up soon. The whole chapter was filled with useful and important information however, I will narrow it down the the concepts that I liked the most. This chapter explains how to set up your topic so that you can best persuade your audience. For example you can set it up as a question (ex: should consumers buy products made in the United States?). What I also liked was "Monroe's Motivated Sequence" which is composed of five steps that require speakers to identify and respond to what will motivate the audience to pay attention. The five steps include gaining the audiences attention, establishing the need for something, satisfying the problem, helps audience members visualize an outcome and moves audience to action. If I don't do anything else I am definitely going to apply Monroe's Sequence to my next speech.

Next Speech

Hi Everybody,
The main points of my next speech include: why should you exercise, what are the potential advantages and disadvantages, and how to exercise. I plan on beginning my speech with a shocking statistic that will one get the audience's attention, and two persuade them that there needs to be a change. I plan on ending the speech by reviewing my main points and emphasizing the severity or importance of exercising. I am going to persuade my audience towards my point of view by giving factual information from credible sources that will make it easy to persuade my audience to consider my point of view. Also by explaining the advantages as well as the disadvantages it will help my audience see that I am not being bias and that I am giving all of the sides, not just the good ones. However, I feel that the positives tremendously outweigh the negatives so I am convinced that my audience will take in the information I give and hopefully apply it to their lives.

Immersed in a Sea of Persuasion

Hey Class! This is a great topic to discuss because everybody can relate. Persuasion is one of the most influential factors in decision making. In my personal life I have been persuaded by my peers, family, and sales representatives into making a decision like what to buy, what to wear, where to go, what to do, and etc. Most of the time when I was younger it was easy to persuade me because I looked up to anyone that was an adult and believed that they would give me the best and most honest advice. However as I got older, I began to realize many people are manipulative and have secret agendas in which they try to get another person to do something. Not to say all persuasion is BAD, but now I am very inquisitive and am not easily persuaded (unless it is credible and factual).

Through public speaking and mass media contexts a lot of information is presented. Most of the time the speaker fails to discuss potential negatives of the product of whatever is being represented which makes it easier for me to reject. I know nothing is perfect so unless I hear the cons I am not persuaded. However I am not close-minded so I give everyone the chance to present something to me and I will not say they are right or wrong.

To become a more critical consumer I can try to lighten my idea that "everyone has a secret agenda or is trying to get over" because that is not true. Also I think I can continue to be inquisitive because the more questions you ask to the less indeterminable you will be.

Speech Buddy Videos Response

After watching the videos, I feel that I know a lot about how to speak to an audience. I learned that it is very important to speak in a way that your audience will feel included, and understand everything you have to say especially the important concepts. A way to help your audience to feel included is to use pronouns such as "you" "I" and "us" which are words that do not exclude anyone. Because delivery is key, it is important to focus on its components which include: volume, rate, pitch, variety, pronunciation, and articulation. If you practice each of these, you will surely keep you audience interested and understanding the important concepts of you speech. Also, I learned to be conscious of your physical delivery which includes: eye contact, gestures and body language. People can easily be distracted so make sure to practice each of these things in a way that is not distracting but to enhance your speech.

Flickr

Hello All!
After viewing the comments on Flickr I was pretty interested and somewhat surprised at some of the comments that were being made about "sexist language". Although most people do not think that calling a woman a "girl” or a man a "boy" can be offensive, I can think of some situations where those terms can be pretty disrespectful. For example, if there is an older man or woman and you introduce them to someone else by saying "hi this girl/boy is (and then state their name". The older person will be offended because it will seem as though you do not respect them.

Also I can see if someone calls a girl a "tom-boy" that can be sort of sexist because that means you automatically assume that girls are supposed to dress a certain way and are not supposed to be into sports or other activities that would be considered "boy-ish".

On the other hand, I believe that terms do not necessarily have to be defined as "sexist language" because it all depends on the person’s intentions. So in conclusion I would be careful when using words that can sound "sexist" to ensure that others do not get offended.

Ch. 12 Useful/Interesting Concepts

Hello Class!

In chapter 12, I liked the section on impromptu speaking because it is speaking with little or no preparation which is how everyone converses everyday. "Learning how to express yourself on the spot without relying on research, extensive preparation, or notes will help you do well in your public speaking class and in less structured speaking situations beyond the classroom." (pg 229) I think this concept can come in handy when giving speeches because that way a few parts can be more relaxed as opposed to sounding scripted.

Some tips for managing your voice during your speech include include: speak loudly enough, vary your rate pitch and volume, avoid vocalized pauses and articulate your words clearly and pronounce them correctly. All these tips come in handy because i notice from my last speeches I sometime had a problem variating my rate pitch and volume so I am going to pay attention to the rest of these so that I can better my delivery.

Chapter 11

Hello All!
One concept that I found interesting were the different types of visual aids and media presentations. There is almost no limit to a visual aid since technology is so advanced, some examples include: white boards, chalk boards, over head slides, video clips, sound clips, and etc. Also when using PowerPoint (since that is one of the most effective visual aids) you can add video clips, music, clip art, or other digital images that are easy to insert and help keep the audience engaged and can help create relevance to your topic. The chapter also taught me to be well organized on each slide and to not write out all your points completely as it gets distracting for one the audience to look up and start reading it. So for my next speech I plan to use a video clip on my PowerPoint and to only put a few bullet points on each slide so that I can have a reference to what I am saying and so that the audience can easily follow along.

Self-Evaluation #2

I believe that I improved a lot from my last speech to my “The History of Make-Up Speech.” Because I reviewed the feedback from both my colleagues and well as professor Perez, I was able to utilize those constructive criticisms into my next speech. Also, after reading the book I was able to see what patterns are good to use in the outline structure of the informative speech. After really self-evaluating myself I noticed a lot of good things I did as well as not-so-good. Nonetheless I learned from my mistakes from the last speech which made this one, in my opinion, a lot better and more improved.

I think I achieved the purpose of me speech very well as several times I stated what the purpose was and I feel that I my topics summed it up as well. During the speech I was very confident and comfortable because I felt relaxed and knowledgeable about the topic since I did a lot of research on it. If I had to do it over again, I would improve on my preparation and organization. Although I was prepared to give my speech, I need to improve on preparing with everything needed such as the visual aid, and bringing a video tape! As far as organization I will improve on my time-management because I went over the limit by a few minutes so I am going to be more organized next speech.

I think the content of my speech was pretty good, but I can improve on the emphasis of the key points so that the important concepts are apparent. To improve on the delivery of the speech, I can slow down a bit as I tend to talk fast sometimes which can make the speech sound rushed and distract the audience from the points. From my last speech I think I improved on my delivery and stating my sources. Unfortunately I still spoke a little too fast at some points so I am going to be more conscious of that in my next speech and make the needed changes. It was probably distracting when I looked at my note-cards and I did use a few “umms” here and there. However I do think I looked at my note-cards a lot less than I did the first time so that is definitely and improvement.

On a scale from 1-10 I would rate my eye-contact a 7.5. I think I did a good job looking at the audience but with more practice I could have been less dependant on my note-cards. On a scale from A-F I think I deserve a B- because I think overall I did a good job and I showed several improvements from my last speech which I got a C+ on. Those improvements include but are not limited to: delivery, and research. I mentioned four different sources in my speech. This speech was a lot better than my last speech as I had a better overall delivery and preparation than the last speech.

Speech to my Family

Because I went back home this weekend, I presented my "The History of Make-Up" speech to my family. Luckily for me I have a BIG family which consists of 8 people total including myself. But because one of my sisters and one of my brothers were not home, I presented to the rest of my family which includes my Dad, Mom, sister Leah, sister Gina, and brother Dante. Because I only presented my speech in front of Professor Perez I had limited yet helpful feedback. I noticed that from her feedback that my citations were clear; however they were not incorporated smoothly as I just simply stated them at the beginning of each transition. I used that feedback and instead of simply stating where I got each fact from, I combined the sources into the sentences. For example: "According to the Bible, around 840 BC was the first recorded usage of make-up." Instead of "I found my information of the origin of make-up at WebMD."

Also, Professor Perez noted that at times I did speech fast which did not allow me to put emphasis on certain topics. I did catch myself doing that at times, so I made sure to slow down a bit when speaking in front of my family that way they could grasp the essential points. Overall I do believe that I improved on this speech in front of my family because of the feedback I got. I was able to see what I could improve on and apply that changes to my speech in front of my family in which they thought was "very good."

If I had to do the speech all over again, I would create and present a power point presentation because I think that would be a much better visual aid than the one I previously used. Also, I would be more time conscious as I exceeded the allotted time by a couple of minutes. After receiving feedback I was very much so able to improve my speech because I was able to get another perspective on what could be improved which made it easy for me to apply those constructive criticisms the second time around when presenting in front of my family. This exercise was very helpful because I used the feedback that was given to me which made it easy for me to see that I am really capable of presenting a powerful speech.

Speech Buddies

There were different things that I learned in each of the five videos but I will talk about the main points that stood out to me. Although the purpose of these videos were to demonstrate introductions and conclusions, which also I read in the book, it was nice to actually watch the five examples. I liked video 13.1A where Evan did his speech on techno music because his introduction was strong and it grabbed my attention also he was clear in his preview of his main points. Also he used a power point, which is one of the best visuals to help the audience to follow along. Although there were a few other videos I will talk about one more that I will use to help me in my next speech. The video about the Kodak camera was very good because she had great eye contact, which I am going to work on and she rarely looked at her note cards. Also I liked that she used the camera itself as the visual because it is different than using the typical power point that everyone does so this will catch the audience’s attention as well.

Components of Introduction and Conclusion

Hello all! Chapter 9 explains in detail how to develop and complete both the introduction and conclusion. According to page 230 "in the introduction of your speech you gain your audience's attention, explain what you want to accomplish in your speech, establish yourself as an expert on the topic, and tell your audience what you are going to talk about." Your primary effect is what you initially say and when your audience is most attentive. Therefore, the primary effect should be very powerful. In the introduction your attention getter must as well be strong because it makes the audience interested in your speech. After the attention grabber indicate your purpose and thesis. Next you will establish credibility which makes your audience feel that you know your topic. Lastly, review your main points so that your audience is aware of what you will be talking about.

According to page 239 "The conclusion to your speech reviews the main points, reinforces the speech's general specific purposes, and provide closure so your audience knows your speech is over."

Interesting Concepts Ch's 9 and 13

Hello Class!
As we all know, this book has been very helpful in the preparation for our speeches, so I would like to pick out some concepts from Chapters 9 and 13 that were interesting to me. Chapter 9 basically showed the way to begin and end our speeches. I liked the section about creativity because although I am a pretty creative person, I sometimes forget to utilize my abilities to stand out when it comes to giving a speech. This section helped me to rememeber that standing out (attention grabber) is an effective way to gain the audiences attention. Also I liked the section about credibility because it stating sources is another good way to keep audience engaged and believe what you are saying. Chapter 13 had many interesting topics as it prepared us for our upcoming speech on informative speaking but I will only state a few. I liked the section about informative speaking being accurate because often times when people give informative speeches they forget that there opinion should not be implemented. The speech should be factual. Also, the many different patterns of informative speeches are good to look at and I am probably going to try to use the Narrative pattern (pg. 340) on my next speech.

Discussion Week 8 topic 2

In this chapter, I thought there were several helpful topics to incorporate in the aid of public speaking. Basiclly this chapter was about the organization and outlining of the speech. One of my favorite patterns of speech is the cause and effect pattern. This pattern is "the idea of one action leading to or bring about another." The reason I like this pattern is because I think this is the most easy way to inform an audience about something because it is an easy pattern to follow. Although we have learned about transitions between main points, again it was brought up in this chapter and I think it is very helpful to keep listeners aware of what you are talking about and it makes them look forward or become more attentive to your next topic. Overall this chapter was helpful in the fact that I know how to effectively organize my speech which will make it easier for me to talk in front of my audience.

Week 8 Discussion Question 1

I believe that it is most beneficial to incorporate statistics at the beginning of an essay as a way of an attention grabber. For example if one were talking giving an informative speech on obesity, a good attention grabber would be, "according to (state the source) two-thirds of the United States population is suffering the deadly disease of obestity." I think that is a good way to start off the speech because not only are you being inquistive ("did you know") but you are adding in statistics that are not confusing and are creatively added to grab the audiences attention. The least beneficial time to start using statistics would be in the middle of the speech. Bring up the statistics mid-speech can make the audience lose attention to the topic because they can become confused by trying to remember all the numbers or facts.

Self Evaluation #1

       Since reviewing the video of my speech performance, there are many things I noticed that needed improvement and I now have goals set to improve for my next speech.

       After reviewing my video I believe that on a scale of 1-10 (1 being the lowest) I should receive between a 7 and 7.5 on achieving the purpose of my speech. Although I think I made some good points that were targeted towards my purpose, my delivery and clarity of purpose needed some improvement. Also when giving my speech I was somewhat comfortable but my confidence drifted a little each time I looked at the facial expressions of the audience. It seemed like they possibly weren’t interested in the topic and that could have been because I did not have a PowerPoint prepared.

       If I had to do it all over again I would have definitely made some changes in my preparation and delivery. I did not start on my outline until a few days before it was due and also I did not practice my speech as much as I was supposed to. If I had the opportunity to do it over I would definitely start my outline earlier and practice multiple times a day. Delivery-wise, I would have looked up more at my audience and talked with more passion rather than making it appear as if I am just going through the motion. The goal I have for improving my content in my next speech is to have a better visual more than likely a PowerPoint presentation.
     

      My delivery could have been a lot better so in my next speech my goal is to look at the audience more and memorize most of my speech that way I will not be looking at the index cards, as much and I will be able to smoothly speak on my information. After watching the video the first thing I noticed about my delivery was that it was mediocre; however if I really want to leave an impact on my audience and be sure that they gained something from my speech, next time I am going to memorize my speech and possibly make it interactive.
       

       On the tape I noticed that I kept saying “uhh” and “umm” which was probably distracting to my audience. Also, I looked at my index cards, a few times too many which could have also been a distraction from my speech. From a scale from 1-10 I think my eye contact was some where between a 7.5-7.9. I looked at the index cards a bit much however I still think my eye contact was a lot better than I initially thought before watching the video.

       My citing of sources need to improve in my next speech however in this one I cited two sources. That is not good because there were two other sources that needed to be cited and would have made my speech a bit more credible. On a scale of A-F I believe I should receive a “C+” or “B-“. I believe I should have gotten that because I think I was pretty clear on my main points and I did give good details about each point. For example when I would go from one topic to the next, I stated what I would be transitioning into. But because I needed improvement in distractions, preparation and delivery, I think a low “B” or high “C” would definitely do my speech justice.
      

       Although my speech was no where near perfect, I believe it was a fair/good speech and I now realize that I can improve on several things that will make my speech outstanding next time. I definitely am going to put the time and effort needed to perfect the next one.

Speech Buddies

After watching the two videos "Drinking" and "Light Pollution", I noticed some positive as well as negative aspects in both.

In the drinking video, Matthew talks about the dangers of drinking and driving and he gives statistics showing the accident rates of drinking. He also used an overheard, which I think is perfect for visual because in case people get lost are confused, they can always refer to the notes. Matthew did a great job presenting his purpose, which was to teach people about drinking responsibly to avoid tragedies and accidents.

The light pollution video was kind of boring. Although she explained what she was talking about which was light pollution and how we are affected by it, nothing really caught my attention.

Basically from these videos I learned to have good visual aids and to look attentive and not nervous.

Helpful Chapter Information

This chapter was mainly the key to successful speaking. Although there were many helpful concepts in this chapter I am only going to talk about a few. I really liked the many different topics about the audience because it shows that the audience is very important and it is not all about you! The main thing I liked in the audience sections was the section connecting to a diverse audience because most audiences these days are diverse so I found that paragraph to be extremely helpful. In fact our class is probably diverse as well so I will be able to use this on the class. Also something that stood out in this chapter was trustworthiness. An audience is more attentive to a speaker that seems credible and this chapter explained that trustworthiness is key. I agree with that because if someone speaking was constantly contradicting themselves, I know for a fact I would be turned off from the message and automatically assume the speaker is not credible. This chapter was very helpful and I plan on using most if not all of the concepts that were mentioned.

Audience Analysis and Audience Adaption

It is very important to analyze and adapt to the audience you are speaking in front of because these are the people that can benefit from your information. To analyze your audience is to study the audience you are speaking to and plan accordingly. You're probably thinking what do you mean plan accordingly? There are several ways of planning based of a variety of aspects of the audience. A few of those aspects include race, gender, culture, and age. Although there are other ways to target you audience these are the top four that I think if properly targeted, you will gain your audience's attention and keep it. For example if you were speaking in front of a group of kindergardeners, you would make sure to keep there attention and talk about things that are fun as well as have a lot of props that way you can keep them engaged. Because I am going to be speaking in front of people that are around my age, I know that I can speak at a higher level since we are all educated and also I will use a lot of methods of attention grabbing because I know people especially at this age tend to get bored and uninterested very quickly.

Useful Chapter Information

There is a lot of useful information in this chapter but I will narrow it down to the research section. I liked in the introduction of the chapter how research was introduced as exploring new territory and using the right navigation tools. I know most people rely on the internet now-a-days for information that might not even be obtainable. This chapter was very good in the fact that it has a lot of information on how to prepare a research topic. I liked the Prepare Gather Gather Gather and Evaluate because to me it puts emphasis on how important it is to gather information from different resources. I liked how this chapter also broke down the Sources into Primary and Secondary because that really specified the differences of the sources. Although this chapter also talked about conducting the speech the information on research and pre-speech preparation really helped me because that is usually the part where I struggle the most.

Chapter 6 Video

The two main topics I got out of the videos were research and speech tips. I learned that there are so many different types of ways to research a topic on the web rather than your typical search engines such as google and lycos. Also, there are ways to search information based on questions you have. That is very helpful because asking questions is a lot more specific than just simply typing in a phrase and hoping to get the right results. I loved how in the video Gastropods, the speaker started out with a dream and then went right along into the speech. I think that it is important to have a unique opener that will draw your reader in because a big objective of speaking is to keep your audience engaged. I have already thought of a great opener for our first speech and hope that it will grab my class' attention.

Discussion Week 4.1 Research Interviews

Conducting research interviews can be a lot of work however a lot of vital information can be obtained that way. When I was in high school I had to interview a relative that was alive during the time of oppression. Because most of my relatives live in Michigan, I had no close relatives to talk to that were alive during that time. In fact the only people that are still alive and were living in those harsh conditions are my great grandparents. Because they live so far, I conducted a phone interview which was actually very successful. The first thing I did was make an outline of what information I needed, and then brainstormed some questions targeted to the information. Also I included some small talk that would have my great grandfather more engaged in the conversation; since we are not very close relatives I wanted him to feel as comfortable as possible. I think the best aspects of the research interview process is to ask questions that are on target and to make the interviewee feel as comfortable as possible that way all the information can be easily obtained.

Introduction

Hello Everyone!

I am a sophomore from Sacramento, CA and this is my 2nd year at San Jose State University. I decided to attend this school because I absolutely love the campus and heard great things about it. I am enrolled in Comm 20 because it fulfils a GE requirement and also I enjoy public speaking. The reason I am taking it online is because I have a busy work and class schedule and this fits in perfectly as I have taken a loved online classes prior to this one.

I have taken a different public speaking course here and also enjoyed it (Comm 40). I do not have fears of public speaking however sometimes I tend to lose my train of thought when speaking in front a group of people so I'm hoping to improve in that area as this class progresses. I look forward to reading everyones work!

(=