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.