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.