Self Evaluation #3

My last and final speech for this class was an actuative speech about reducing the use of grocery plastic bags. Overall I wanted to inform my audience about the negative effects of plastic bags in our society and as a whole I believe I was able to accomplish this.

Since this was my third speech overall it was better. First off I was much more confident and comfortable during the speech. During the speech the audience didn’t feel like strangers, as it did my first, but in fact classmates. I didn’t have to talk in front of room with people I didn’t know. I was very confident during my speech because I knew my topic well. Even though I felt as if I wasn’t prepared enough I felt that through my research I knew my topic.

From watching the video I learned a lot. During the duration of the speech I mentioned source citations about three times—once at the beginning, middle, and at the end. In my last speech about dining etiquette I learned that I looked and depended too much on the computer screen and the projector. During this speech that I just had I had learned not to do this and focus on my audience instead. While watching the video I really didn’t notice myself doing anything distracting which is an improvement from the last speech I said when I didn’t look enough at my audience. While watching over the video I also noticed that there were some slight differences between the informative speech and the actuative speech. During the actuative speech I looked more at the audience. Anotehr good thing I did was having a more effective powerpoint because I remember in the last speech there were too many text effects which overall distracted me from presenting my presentation. I really couldn’t think of anything majorly bad that I did during the actuative speech.

My speech I believe was very successful. I was able to achieve the purpose of my speech. During the speech I also believed that I maintained good contact with my audience and I didn’t depend on my notecards and powerpoint so much. For this speech I would rate my eye contact as a 9.5 on a scale of 1-10.

Overall this speech was better than my first and second speech. Even though I was short on time to study my speech thoroughly and to prepare and run through my speech I believe that this speech overall went really well. On a scale of A to F I would give myself an A-. I surely did improve from my last speeches but for some reason I just felt like I lacked the energy of some kind to get a strong A. For example, during some parts of the speech I was hesitant on what to say, or I kept repeating myself. Based on all three speeches I would definitely say this was my best speech. With each speech I did I drastically improved from the one before and fixed my previous mistakes. For example, in my informative speech when I looked too much at the screen and not the audience. If I had to do this speech over again I would probably just prepare more at saying my speech aloud.

Discussion 16.3: Concepts

Concept from the class that I thought was most helpful in preparing my speeches was learning about how to use media during a speech. As far back as middle school I remember using powerpoint as my main visual aid during the speech, however I never knew how I carried myself through the speech. By learning about how to use media during a speech I was able to produce better powerpoint presentations which would better go along with my presentation. By learning about media I also learned how to affectively use presentation media during a speech and how not to speak to the computer or projector image but to face the audience.

Discussion 16.2: Class Lessons

I got a lot and learned a lot from this class that will be helpful toward my future endeavors. First off I learned how to blog. This is an important form of communication in today’s day and age. Another thing I learned was learning to become a better speaker. For jobs held in today’s society communication is very important and learning to speak to other coworkers and supervisors is very important to get ahead in your job and also to be successful at doing your job. Another thing that I learned from this class is learning how to become a better speaker. Throughout the three presentations I had this year, increasingly each time I became better and better at my speeches.

Discussion 16.1: Favorite Speech

My favorite speech that I did was about Dining Etiquette. This was not my best speech I did for this class I believe however I did learn a lot of new information and how to conduct myself better in a speech. During this speech I learned several other things too—for example, how to conduct myself. During the speech I depended on my powerpoint or the laptop too much because it was a safe guard and also because I was not used to presenting with a powerpoint presentation. The dining etiquette speech was also my favorite because it was a topic that was very interesting and crucial to learn about. Every day, dining etiquette is used around the world so knowing about dining etiquette important.

Discussion 15.3: Persuasion in Life

At work the other day my boss was asking for suggestions for raffle items for an upcoming banquet we were going to have. A couple of other coworkers and I had to think of ideas and suggestions of prizes that people would enjoy. I suggested a few and I had to persuade my boss why the other staff members would like the prize. The staff members in the place I work for range from my age all the way to working adults. One of the suggestions I said was buying a board game like Apples to Apples or Cranium. During this persuasion act I used deductive reasoning because I relied on established formal logic. When thinking of ideas I tried thinking of prizes that a whole family would enjoy and based my decisions off of that.

Discussion 15.2: Chapter Concepts

An interesting concept that I learned in Chapter 15 was learning about pathos. This is the “use of emotional evidence and stimulation of feelings to influence and audience.” Pathos is basically speaking in a way that makes your speech appeal to the audiences’ emotions. Ways to use pathos is to use stories, examples, definitions, and testimonies during a speech. Pathos when used effectively can help listeners better be part of the speech and to understand the message that the speaker is trying to accomplish. In the book the authors talk about how humans are motivated by five types of needs. This is physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. When explaining and relating your topic to these needs a speaker can more likely accomplish their purpose.

Discussion 15.1: Speech Buddy

In the “Schooling Pro” video I learned more about home schooling and its pros. The most important pros that Dixie mentions are its flexibility and its ability to avoid audience and bring stronger relationships between family. In the video “Schooling: Con” Robert talks about the negatives of home schooling. He mentions how home isn’t as great as environment as a classroom for learning and also mentioned how parents weren’t as effective as teachers. In the videos I watched this week I also learned how to identify the elements of arguments which are thesis, claim, evidence, and reasoning. In all the videos the speakers talk about or use evidence to justify their position by using strong supporting material.

Discussion 14.3: Chapter 14 Concept

In Chapter 14 the topic I found stood out to me was persuading different audiences. In the book the authors talked about 5 different kinds of audiences. These include negative, positive, divided, uninformed, and apathetic. To approach a negative audience one has to be sure to remain credible throughout the whole speech because the audience member most likely has an opposed view on the topic from the presenter. It would be easier to speak to a positive audience because they most likely would know what you are talking about and hold a view similar to the presenters. Divided audiences are a little easier to persuade because they have split views on a topic. Uninformed audiences are people that are not familiar with the topic and so it would be the presenter’s job to motivate the audience. The apathetic audience knows the topic but is not interested in it. A good way to approach this kind of this audience is to mention in your speech how the topic impacts them. I think my audience for the next speech will be divided on my next speech topic so I am going to be using the tips given in this chapter to approach this kind of audience.

Discussion 14.2: Persuasion

These days persuasion is everywhere. There are experts and people who work to try to create an image of a product so people will buy it, wear it, use it, etc. Persuasion ranges greatly and can be seen nearly everywhere. They can be found at work, school, magazines, billboards, advertisements, people, etc. In my life persuasion affects me. When going to the mall sale signs make me want to buy things. When buying certain products many advertisements persuade me to buy a particular brand. When communicating with friends they often persuade me to think a certain way or they persuade me to do something. To become a more critical consumer we have to be aware of our surroundings. Make sure that we have done our research on something before we dive into doing or buying something. We need to be aware of our choices.

Discussion 14.1: Next Speech

In my next speech I will be using Monroe’s Speech outline. In the Three main points for my Actuative speech I will cover the main points of my topic including the need, satisfaction, and visualization. Since my next speech is about reducing grocery bag usage I will talk about the need of getting rid of grocery bags. During my next main point I will talk about the satisfaction of using other alternatives instead of grocery bags. In my last main point I will talk about the visualization of our world if we continue to use Grocery Bags. To be able to persuade my audience towards my point of view I will use statistics and various media to demonstrate the negative effects of grocery bag usage in our environment.

Discussion 13.3: Flickr

The Flickr discussion regarding sexist language was very interesting and a lot of things were brought to my attention. In the Flickr discussion I learned that people get offended easily when using sexist language and by calling people derogatory terms and names that are sexist even though it was not meant to be serious. A lot of people take sexist language words seriously even though the person saying it may not even mean it. During the overall Flickr discussion people discussed the “sexist language” that many people use. In the textbook the authors talk about how people take sexist language very personally.

Discussion 13.2: Speech Buddy Videos

The videos this week were very helpful. I learned a lot of things that could be put to use during my next speech. I leaned about engaging the audience with proper language so that they feel like you are speaking to them and that you have a connection between yourself and the audience. I also learned a great deal about effective and ineffective vocal delivery. I learned that voice is a key component to any speech and learning to use the right voicing is important to entertaining your audience. When you talk important voicing techniques include pitch, rate, variety, articulation, volume, and pronunciation.

Discussion 13.1: Chapter Concept

In Chapter 12 of the textbook it talked about four types of delivery methods. So far all our speeches have been extemporaneous so learning about the four delivery methods of speech was very interesting to me. The four types of delivery methods are impromptu, extemporaneous, manuscript, and memorized. Impromptu type speeches are presentations done with little or no preparation. I find impromptu type speech very hard because you do not have time to prepare much of your thoughts. Impromptu speeches are basically on the spot. The next type of speech is extemporaneous speaking which is done for a lot of speeches. This type of speech involves a speaker to research, organize, rehearse, and deliver a speech. Manuscript speaking is the next type of speech. In this type of speech a speaker reads a written script word for word. Even though this might sound easy since a speaker is reading text word for word it may be harder for that speaker to maintain eye contact with the audience. The last type of speech type is memorized speaking. In memorized speaking the speaker commits a speech to memory.

Self-Evaluation #2

My informal speech was about dining etiquette. I think I achieved the purpose of the speech very well. My purpose of the speech was to inform my audience about proper dining etiquette rules and manners that an individual should follow. Although not a perfect presentation I believe that I taught my audience the general basics about dining etiquette.

Throughout the speech I felt much more confident than I was in my first speech. One factor was that I knew the audience more this time around. This made me feel more comfortable and confident during the speech. During the speech I wasn’t as nervous as I was the first time. I was confident I knew the information well for my presentation but my fallback was that I put my attention on my notes and powerpoint for security. During the speech I mentioned about 3 source citations. I mentioned my sources more toward the beginning of the speech rather than at the end. In the beginning of the speech I was more confident and knew the information better and near the end of the speech while watching over my video I noticed that I was rushing more to get my presentation done. During the speech the only thing I did distracting was facing my back towards the audience instead of against them. During the whole presentation I looked at my visual too much rather than at my audience.

If I had to do the speech over again I would make changes in my preparation, and delivery. In my preparation, next time I would try to practice the whole presentation instead of just practicing parts of the presentation so that I am more aware of my time. During this presentation I did go over about 1.5 minutes so going over the speech and practicing time management would surely be a change. In my delivery I would try to limit my visual more. In my powerpoint I had a lot of words and pictures that I couldn’t explain thoroughly. I had put too much wordy information on my slides which I will try to limit next time. One specific different thing from my last speech that I did in the recent speech was having a visual that was technology based. For my cultural artifact speech I just brought in my artifact and for this speech I prepared a powerpoint presentation. A bad thing that I did differently this time around was not completely going over my speech like I did during the first presentation. Not practicing the whole presentation all at once made me feel pressed for time and in the end I went over my time limit.

I have many goals for my next speech. To improve the content in my next speech I plan to use more pertinent sources. So far the information in my speeches has relied a lot on the internet so I plan to use sources such as newspapers, magazines, and journals. To improve the delivery in my next speech I plan to prepare and practice my speech beforehand. I also plan to present my speech in front of a few people so I can ask for feedback and improvements before I present to the actual class.

Based on my performance I would give myself a B on my presentation. During the presentation I had a powerpoint as my visual. The drawback of the powerpoint though was that I was relying on the computer screen or projection screen for information which resulted in less eye contact to the audience. Given this fact I would rate my eye contact as a 6-7 out of 10 because instead of looking at the computer I should have been paying attention to my audience more. Another fallback about my presentation was that my speech was a little bit too long. To me it just felt like I was trying to fit a lot of information into a 5-6 minute speech. Overall I felt as if this speech was better than my last speech. During this speech I was more confident and I had more reliable sources.

Discussion 12.2: Chapter 11 Concept

Chapter 11 of our textbook informs us about integrating presentation media. In Chapter 11 the concept I found most useful was a tip about using presentation media. The tip in Chapter 11 is to speak to your audience and not the media. When people use media as part of their presentation they often get the tendency to look at it and not focus on the audience while talking. The book mentions how we must keep our focus on the audience and not be tempted to look at our media. In my last presentation I used a powerpoint and while watching over my video I noticed that I was looking at my media more than I was looking at the audience. The concept in Chapter 11 informed me to avoid looking at the presentation media and focus more on the audience.

Discussion 12.1: Re-Presenting my Speech

This past weekend I represented my speech about dining etiquette to my friends and family. I presented my speech to my friends, Clarice and Kris, as well as my mom, dad, and brother. This speech had a different feel to it since I was able to prepare more and I was also able to fix some past mistakes on my other presentation. Before giving this speech, I took time to practice more and also fix my powerpoint. During the speech I made during class I noticed that I was consistently looking at note cards, the computer, or the powerpoint projection. By presenting my speech to a different audience I was able to be more confident in what I was saying therefore relying less on my materials. During my past presentation I also noticed that my powerpoint was a little wordy and long so before I presented my speech to my family and friends I made sure to revise it. By revising my powerpoint and going over what I was saying I was also able to fit my presentation in the five to six minute timeframe which I failed to do during the actual graded presentation. Overall by presenting my speech again to a different audience I was able to improve. I was more confident in what I was saying. I was able to more effectively manage my time. And I was able to make my powerpoint more effective. After receiving feedback from my audience I was able to improve my speech. I noticed that my audience remained more entertained while I was talking since I was giving them more eye contact. This exercise was useful and it taught me that practice was critically important to be able to make any speech or presentation effective.

Discussion 9.3: Intro and Conclusion

According to the book there are many necessary components that go into an introduction and a conclusion. In an introduction you need a purpose, thesis, main points, and credibility. In a conclusion you need to review your main points, reinforce your purpose, and provide a closure to your speech. In my informative speech I am going to use these ideas to make a more entertaining and organized speech. In the first speech for this class I noticed that the people who added the proper components for an introduction and conclusion overall had a more focused, credible, entertaining, and organized speech.

Discussion 9.2: Chapter Concepts

A concept in Chapter 13 that I found interesting was about gatewatching. Gatewatching, according to the textbook, “involves monitoring news sources to analyze and assess the information those sources produce.” Gatewatching allows audience members and listeners to assess the credibility, correctness, and accuracy of information. When in a public speaking class the audience can use gatewatching to assess the credibility and accuracy of information given by a speaker. In any speech it is important to have credible information and not give misleading information. By learning about the term gatewatching I will learn to better assess the information that speakers speak about and I will also assess the credibility of my future speeches. Overall using gatewatching can greatly affect the quality of a speech.

Discussion 9.1: Speech Buddies

While watching the five videos for this week I learned a lot. In video 9.1 I learned that it is importatnt to have an effective introduction. Having an effective introduction gets the audiences attention, establishes a purpose and thesis, and establishes main points.Ways to have an introduction is to use humor, facts, and stories in your introduction. In video 9.2 I learned that it is important to have an effective conclusion. To do this one must review the main points, reinforce the purpose, and provide closure. By simply having an effecttive conclusion an individuals speech can improve greatly. In video 13.1A Evan presented his informative speech about techno music. He did a lot of great things during his presentation. He uses a quote near the beginning to grasp the attention of his audience and also to introduce his future points. He also uses a lot of facts and uses a powerpoint to express his main points and subpoints in words and pictures. In video 13.1B Janine talks about the Kodak camera. During her presentation she uses the camera itself which I thought was very effective. Janine also maintained very good eye contact with the audience by only using notecards when she quoted someone. In video 13.1 Use it I thought that the speech Katherine gave about Kosher salt was less effective overall. During the speech she significantly relies on her notes too much resulting in less effective eye contact with the audience. Katherine also talked to fast which took away from the overall effect of her speech. However Katherine did use many visuals which made the presentation more interesting. Through all the videos there were a lot of things that I can use in my next speech. Definitely I can use the tips that Evan mentioned to have a more effective introduction and conclusion. In my next speech I will also utilize the powerpoint presentation like Janine and Evan did in their informative speeches.

Discussion 8.3: Facts and Statistics

Facts and statistics are most effective in the beginning or middle of the speech. If used in the beginning of the speech the facts and statistics can serve as a background for later information that you may tell the audience or even for later examples. When used in the middle of the speech you can use the fact and statistic as an argument about something you are trying to prove. Facts and statistics are not as effective at the end of the speech. During the conclusion of the speech you should be summarizing your speech and not giving the audience new information about your subject.

Discussion Week 8.2: Speech buddies

Video 7.1 focused on supporting materials and its credibility as well as advantages and disadvantages of each. There were many types of supporting materials talked about in the video. The speaker talked about narratives, examples, testimonies, facts and statistics. From the video I learned what kind of supporting materials would be appropriate to use in different speeches. In video 8.1 I learned more about the patterns of organization and the different types. These include spatial, topical, narrative, cause and effect, problem solving, and chronological. From the video I learned that patterns of organization are important to organize the main points of a speech more productively. In the video I also learned the importance of transitions and how they help transition speakers from one idea to the next idea.

Discussion Week 8.1: Reading Concept

The aspect of the chapter reading that struck out to me the most was the part about “Using Popular Media Sources as Illustrations and Examples.” As speakers we are always trying to find ways to entertain the audience so adding popular media is a wonderful way to achieve the entertaining aspect of a speech and to also to grasp the audience’s attention. Popular media sources embedded into a presentation can include video clips, still photos, audio clips. During presentations I always find that when a person adds popular media to their presentation or when they simply make power point slides, that it is easier to understand that speakers main goal and purpose and also to be interested in the individuals topic or speech.

Self-Evaluation for Cultural Artifact Speech

The cultural artifact speech I did was about the Bandurria, a Philippine musical instrument. Overall I think I achieved the purpose of my speech pretty well. I was able to communicate to my audience what thy Bandurria was and the importance of the instrument in my culture. During the speech I would have to say that I was a bit nervous. Going into a room where not everyone was familiar to me made me feel a bit apprehensive towards presenting in front of my audience. However, I did pull through it with as much confidence as I had. I could have been a little more confident toward my subject matter though. While watching my video on my presentation I noticed that I looked a lot at my note cards and even paused to try to regain my thoughts. For the next speech I deliver I want to improve my confidence by not relying on my note cards that much and to make sure all my ideas flow. To improve the content of my next speech I wish to cite my sources in which I got my information in order to gain credibility, and validity.

After watching my video there was many things I noticed about my delivery. The most notable was looking down too much. Even though I knew all the information on my note cards and in the outline I looked down excessively. Sometimes I even paused to regain my thoughts and think about what the next thing I had to say was. I also noticed that I could have added a little more dynamics to my presentation or the way in which I presented the material. I don’t think that I did anything distracting in my video tape however more importantly I didn’t do things that would make my presentation more interesting to the audience. For example more eye contact. I would rate my eye contact for this presentation as a 6 on a scale of 1-10. Even though I managed to look at my audience I still looked down a lot to make sure the information I was telling my audience was correct. After watching my video of my speech I also noticed how many source citations I mentioned during the course of my speech. During my speech I managed to do an oral citation once. I did have other sources to cite on my note cards but what held me back from mentioning them in my speech was trying to keep under the time limit.

Overall I think I did a good job on the cultural artifact speech. As an introductory speech for a public speaking class I felt as if my speech was a good starting point to continue to grow as a public speaker. On a scale from A to F I would give myself a B based on what I noticed from the video tape. Overall I did a good job following an organizational pattern and overall informing my audience about my cultural artifact however I was lacking in several areas such as dynamics, eye contact, and citations. I also was lacking in confidence especially in the introduction and conclusion of my speech where I should have been prepared more for that aspect of my presentation. If I had to do this speech process over again I would make several changes. In my preparation namely I would go over my speech several times out loud to make sure I was comfortable saying it out loud. In my delivery of my speech I would particularly focus on maintaining eye contact with my audience and having more dynamics to my presentation.

Discussion Week 5.3: Chapter 5 Concept

A concept in Chapter 5 that I found useful was the part about Adapting to the Setting. In the Section of Chapter 5 discussing Adapting to the Setting the authors describe the location, the occasion, and the time. In adapting to the setting it is important to be familiar with the location. Knowing what kind of space that you will be presenting your speech in will make you more confident when your speaking since you will know what kind of presentation would be necessary and also you will be familiar with the surrounding technologies and space. The occasion is also important in Adapting to the setting. In the chapter it discusses the difference between a voluntary audience and a captive audience. Knowing the reasons for which the audience is listening to the speech is important to try to adapt to the occasion and the audience. The last thing discussed in this section was time. Time is important for topics of the speech and also time influences the audience a lot. I think time is an important factor. For me it is hard to pay attention in morning classes because I just woke up and in the afternoon I feel like I need to take a nap.

Discussion Week 5.2: Speech Buddies

In the Drinking Video Matthew, I believe, had a good attention getter. He also chose a topic that relates to college students. You can tell that he did his research by all the facts and statistics he said. He had a good introduction and he sums up the main points in the conclusion. From his speech I learned that visual representations are important like how he used the overhead to demonstrate numbers and display information.

In the Light Pollution introduction by Courtney she seemed a little nervous and I noticed that most of her attention was on the podium and not her audience. To be able to affectively speak well I believe that eye contact to the audience is important. However Courtney did have a good introduction in that she summarized the main points in her introduction.

From watching the videos I learned that visual aids are affective and that it is important to maintain eye contact with the audience. I also learned that having an effective introduction and conclusion is important.

Discussion Week 5.1: Audience Analysis and Adaptation

Audience analysis and audience adaptation is important in the speech development process. By utilizing these tools as a speaker we can better adapt to our audience. By using audience analysis we can figure out who the audience will be, what kinds of things appeal to them, and what things are important to them. Audience adaptation is important to keep the audience interested and also so an individual can adapt a speech to the audience. After completing audience analysis it will be easier to find a way to entertain the audience and also to inform them or talk to them about something. I will use audience analysis in my speech by adapting and entertaining my audience. By knowing my audience more I will be able to carry out my message more successfully by knowing what interest them.

Discussion Week 4.3: Chapter 6 Concept

In Chapter 6 I thought the whole part about websites in the section accessing internet resources was very interesting. Usually when searching for topics or material I would just go straight to Yahoo.com or Google.com— basically the generic sites that everyone knows about. The book however informed me about different kinds of search engines and directories that can be very useful. The first type of engine was the metasearch engine. According to the book this is a search tool that compiles the results from other search engines providing for individuals breath rather than depth of a topic. Search engines like Google and Yahoo simply hunts through documents to find the pages associated with keywords. Web directories organize WebPages hierarchically by category. I believe the different types of engines can have different purposes and each can be beneficial to different aspects of researching.

Discussion Week 4.2: Speech buddies

In the videos there was a lot of helpful information about managing the research process. The most helpful thing that I learned during the video was to go to the college campus library. The speaker of the film said that that this is a very beneficial place to go for valuable research especially if you want different kinds of sources. The library is also a great place to do both research and ask for help researching a topic because there will always be librarians willing to help. By going to the library we can have a great amount of research resources besides just using the internet. In the library there are a lot of resources to use including loads and loads of books, media, newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias, etc. For my preparation process for my speeches in this course I plan to go to the library to do much of my research.

Discussion Week 4.1: Research Interviews

My experience with conducting research interviews:
During Junior High and College I have had a good amount of experience conducting research interviews. For an eighth grade research paper we had to learn more about a profession/ job that we were interested in learning more about. I decided to learn about the disk jockeys on the radio. This was one of the most rewarding academic experiences for me. For this project I was able to visit the Live 105.3 studio and interview Jared, a popular Disk Jockey on this alternative rock station. Along with conducting the interview I had a full tour of the studio in San Francisco where I was able to see how everything worked. For this project I also was able to visit 89.3 KOHL, a local college radio station, and interview the main person in charge. For the second project I interviewed a teacher’s aide about a teacher/student formed band at the school. In college I had experience interviewing two professors with a fellow classmate for my MUSE class called play and creativity.

Things that went well:
There were many things that went well. For each interview I did research beforehand and prepared and organized the questions that I was going to ask. The interviews overall went smoothly from beginning to end since I had secondary questions in case the interview started losing momentum. I also was able to conduct the interview within a reasonable time limit which is important especially when the person being interviewed has different agendas to attend to.

Things that needed improvement:
The most needed improvement was learning how to control my nerves and to be confident in my interview. In any kind of situation where I do not know the person well or just met I just need to be confident in conducting myself.

Here’s some advice:
1) During an interview it is important to bring a voice recorder. These instruments are a great resource to making your interview go smoothly. Just make sure to ask permission before your interview if you can use it. Also test your recorder out before using it during the actual interview.
2) My second advice to everyone is to make sure you know a little about the person and what they specialize in or do. This is important if you want to formalize questions that will greatly be beneficial to the interview and spark the interest of the person you are interviewing.
3) The last advice is to thank the individual before and after the interview for their time.

P.S. I am so sorry that this post is so long but I hope that it's beneficial.

Discussion Week 3.3: Chapter 2 Concept

Visualization is a strategy to build confidence during a speech, discussed in Chapter 2. Visualization is when you imagine a communication event positively and successfully by thinking about your speech and how it would go step-by-step or sequentially. Since I am usually scared and nervous about how the outcome of my speech will be or how affective the message of my speech will come across to my audience I believe that this strategy would be affective for me to use. It will be affective because instead of worrying about my speech I can just become more confident in what message I am trying to tell my audience. In past years throughout my presentations in high school, junior high, and elementary school I have never really known how to build confidence during my speeches. I would say speeches not for the affect of it to the audience or myself but to just “get it over with.” I want this to change and each time I make a speech I want to say it with confidence.

Discussion Week 3.2: Public Speaking Apprehensiveness

Whenever I have to make a speech I get really nervous, no matter how much or how long I prepare for it. Public speaking, especially in front of an audience, scares me sometimes. I always wonder how people will react to my speech. I am also self conscious about what I say wondering if something I said was weird, awkward, or just didn’t make sense. I also get apprehensive when looking out to the audience. When I am presenting a speech individually all I see when I look at my audience is people staring at me as if every action that I said or did was being watched and critiqued upon. In Chapter 2 of the textbook it talks about the sources of speech anxiety. Surely my anxiety comes from my uncertainty about my speaking abilities, my role as a speaker, my ideas, and also the audience’s response.

Discussion Week 3.1: Speech buddies

In the three videos I learned some tips and strategies for managing speech anxiety and for getting over the fear of public speaking. To manage speech anxiety Janine suggest us to use visualization, relabeling, and relaxation. Of the three strategies I think visualization would be the most helpful for me. For visualization Janine suggest us to go to a quiet private place and use senses to feel how the presentation will go and to focus on what will go right. In the 2.2 video Janine and Anthony suggest many strategies they use to get over the fear of public speaking. They mentioned many helpful suggestions, some which I can surely apply to my future presentations and speech preparation process. I like the idea of practicing more on having a strong introduction and conclusion; I also want to visualize my speech going well.

Public Speaking/ Brief Bio

Hello everyone! My name is KiwiMango. I am currently a freshman majoring in Business Administration/MIS. I also plan to minor in photography. I live on campus and I am enjoying the whole experience of dorm life (although I do take occasional trips home on the weekend). In my spare time I enjoy playing the piano, guitar, and learning new instruments. I also enjoy watching movies, hanging out with my friends, and playing various sports. I like various genres of music and I like to explore undiscovered or little known bands.

Public speaking has been mandatory in my life starting in elementary school. In elementary school I remember presenting book reports and various projects. In high school a lot of my public speaking roles were done in groups however I had some experience speaking individually. The longest presentation I ever presented in front of a class was 15 minutes about a famous person that inspired us in our lives as part of my 11^th grade semester long project. I have also had some experience helping lead faith formation classes to my peers.

Public speaking has never been a strong point for me in my life. I am always scared to speak in front of large audiences afraid I would mess up or stumble on my words. Gradually I am getting over this fear. My main goal for this class is to be comfortable when speaking to an audience. When presenting, I often get to the point where everything becomes a blur and I start to loose focus and forget what I’m saying. In large groups I also want to be able to speak my mind freely. Overall I just want to be confident with my public speaking abilities and am hoping that this class will help me to reach this goal.

Introduction

Hello everyone! Welcome to the beginning to a new semester. I am looking forward to another semester of learning and meeting new people.