Self Evaluation

Overall, I am very proud of this speech. I believe that I achieved the goal of this speech very well. I feel that my examples and support were very strong and persuasive. Also, this feeling is backed up by the pieces of paper that the other students filled out on speech day. For the most part, my peers gave me sevens to nines, meaning that they felt my speech was pretty persuasive. However, I did receive a few lower sixes, but the majority of the slips were higher. I might have felt good about my persuasion, but I was not feeling good on speech day. I was very nervous. Mostly, this was due to the fact that I was ill prepared, again unfortunately. To be completely honest, I did most of my practicing the day of the speech. Not having practiced much, like the book says, I was very anxious and nervous. I was confident in my facts and that I knew the subject matter. My main concern was my delivery and that I make my speech coherent and sound somewhat practiced. Like the rest of my speeches, I would have practiced more and prepared myself better. Other than that I would not have changed much of anything. I liked my support and felt that was persuasive. My organization was effective so I would not have changed anything else. As far as my delivery, I would try to be more confident and take fewer pauses and know all of the information without looking at my cards.
What was different from my last speech was my confidence level. In my last speech I was much more confident and knew my subject matter much better. The last speech was my favorite and a subject that I enjoyed very much. Also, I swayed back and forth more in this speech than I did in my last speech. Other than those two things, the speeches are very similar. This swaying was one of my distracting things. I would sway back and forth and shift my weight every time I looked at my note cards. Also, my hand gestures were a little distracting. I believe I did this less in my last speech. This was probably due to the comfort level I had with the last speech. For this speech, I was more focused on getting my support in line as compared to focusing on the finer things in the last speech.
I felt that my eye contact was pretty good. I would give it a seven out of ten. It was not much different from the other speeches. I did rely on my note cards somewhat to keep myself in the right spot. I believe that I received the proper grade for my performance, which is a solid B. I did a good job on the speech but there was plenty of room for improvement such as more confidence and remembering to say all of my citations. My eye contact had some room to improve. However, it was strong overall. Even though this speech was strong I feel that the second speech, the informative speech, was better than this one. I felt more confident and knew the material much better. Also, in the last speech, I paid more attention to the smaller details which really help make a speech look and sound good. Throughout my speech, I counted four source citations. This was less than I was supposed to say, but I skipped a couple due to time issues and I just forgot to say one.
This speech was pretty good, however, the informative speech which I did on snowboarding, was my favorite and best in my opinion, by far. The informative was a topic I really enjoyed. I really took time to learn the speech instead of memorize facts. Also, the audience could really see that I had a passion for snowboarding which helped them connect with me in that speech. Also, in the informative speech, my distracting behaviors were limited compared to the others. Preparation for the informative speech also, was much better. I practiced more than the other two, as well.

Helpf for the Future

Something I will take form this class that will help me with future endeavors is that it is best to do as much prep work ahead of time. I have a procrastination problem, so I would always wait for the last minute to prepare for my speeches and it hurt my grade a little. I have learned that it really is easier to do things like assignments early, not to mention how much less stressful it is. This will help me in my future especially in college as well as in my career. If the prep work is done ahead of time, you can spend more time refining and polishing whatever you are working on.

Organizational Patterns

The concept that I found to be the most helpful in preparing for my speech was the parts about the organizational patterns. The organizational patterns were the most helpful because if you have some kind of template in mind when you are doing your research or outline, it makes it much easier to go through information. With the pattern in mind that I wanted to use, I could read a page and say this helps here and that helps there. This made outline construction easier too because you knew what you were going to talk about. With a solid outline it is easy to practice and memorize pertinent information. Also, transferring the information to note cards was easier with a well thought out outline with a good organizational pattern.

Favorite Speech

My favorite speech this semester was definitely the informative speech I gave on snowboarding. This was the most fun and interesting to me because I enjoyed the topic the most. I did not have to fore myself to do the research. It was actually kind of a problem because I would read the pages then go onto reading more as opposed to reading then doing the rest of the preparation for the speech. It is way easier to give a speech or do research on a topic which you find interesting. The other two speeches were ok but I could not get into them as much as I could with my Informational Snowboard speech.

Videos

The first video was about the elements of an argumentative speech. The elements of an argument are thesis, claim, evidence, and reasoning. A thesis is the argument that you are making. The claim is the position you want the audience to accept. Evidence is your support, such as facts and figures. Reasoning is how you connect your claims and your evidence. This was helpful because with these terms defined it makes it much clearer and easier to use in our speeches. If we know what the elements of our arguments are, then we can consciously think about when we use them instead of just winging it. The types of appeals used were logos, ethos, and pathos.

Chapter 15

One part of Chapter 15 that I found especially interesting and helpful was the part with the table titled “Types of Reasoning.” As usual, I like the tables the best. They relate information in a short sweet way without giving a large amount of reading of non necessary things. This table was about the types of reasoning, deductive, inductive, causal, and analogical. The table also gives a definition, strengths, and weaknesses of each type of reasoning. I especially like that they included strengths and weaknesses because it helps you know when it is best to be used. If reasoning is used correctly, it greatly increases the effectiveness of a persuasive speech.

Reflection

I believe that I try to persuade the class to accept my point of view in almost all of the posts, especially the ones about the reading. In the reading posts I am trying to get everyone to read my post to believe that the part if of the chapter that I am writing about is the most interesting and important part of the chapter. Most of the time, I believe that I used logos and ethos. I used logos because I logically explained my reasoning. Also, ethos because I tried to show my credibility by showing that I really understood the chapter. Whether those worked or not, I do not know; that is up to you guys.

Speech Progress

As some of you may know, my speech is on why we should use and continue research on GMO’s (genetically modified organisms). To be completely honest, I have not made much progress with my speech. I have been super busy with all of my other classes with midterms and papers, which I am sure you all know how that goes. I have only started researching recently. I have not even begun to really think about how I will begin my speech, let alone end it. I figure that as young people, the class will be, for the most, uninformed on this subject, so I will use the guidelines in the book to help me design my speech when I get to that point. I hope everyone else is further along than I am. Goodluck!

Reading

The most important and interesting part of chapter fourteen was the table on page 377. The table has information on the types of audiences and the persuasive strategies. The types of audience are negative, positive, divided, uninformed, and apathetic. The table shows what kinds of strategies to use when you encounter each kind of audience. This is helpful because if you use the wrong kind of strategy in a persuasive speech for the type of audience, then you could make them angry or have them totally turn against you more. You would not want to make a speech about gun control saying that gun carriers are maniacs when the audience is members of the NRA. If you know how your audience feels then use it to your advantage.

Persuasion

We are all immersed in a sea of persuasion everyday all day. Persuasion is everywhere we go and in everything you see. Persuasion can be found from ads in a magazine all the way to interactions that we have with other people. Ads are trying to get you to buy something. Your friends are trying to get you to like them or do something for them. In public speaking you do not have to look any further than a few weeks ago to the election. Every time each candidate was speaking, he was trying to persuade the listeners to vote for them. To become a better critical consumer, you can think about who is saying certain things and decide if they have anything to gain from you listening to them. Also, it is important to make sure statements that companies make are not biased because if they are biased then they have a hidden agenda.

Chapters 10 and 12

The section that I found most helpful in chapter ten was the part on audience-centered language. Audience-centered language is when you tailor make the speech to fit for your audience. This helps for the audience to connect with the speaker and make it easier for the audience to understand the whole point of the speech. Some of the suggestions to have good audience-centered language is to put your language in context, personalize your language, use inclusive and visual language, and to spark imagination. Putting you language in context is like mentioning the event you are speaking at. Personalizing language means integrating audience analysis information. Inclusive language is language that avoids discrimination and stereotypes. Visual language is using things like similes and metaphors. Sparking imagination is done with humor.

Videos

The first video is all about audience centered language. This helps the audience connect with the speaker. Some advice they gave was to refer to the event, use similes or metaphors, use inclusive language, and humor.
The second video was about language choice. The video said the speaker should use meaningful words, have a balance between clarity and ambiguity, be concise, and avoid offensive language, build in repetition, and don’t get attached to words. These help to have a speech that is clear and helps the audience connect with you.
The third video is about the voice that you use in the speech. They say to focus on volume, pitch, rate, variety, and articulation and pronunciation. These help the speaker easy to listen to and not boring.
The fourth video is about physical delivery. The important parts are eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, body movements, and appearance. These help to ensure that the speaker looks confident, and is not distracting.
The last video was about practicing your speech. They suggest using note cards, practice in sections to develop it, and practice in front of friends. These tips help reduce anxiety.

Sexist Language

After reading the posts on the discussion board about sexist language, I thought that these people were giving way too much thought to something that is not a big deal. The book says that the speaker should avoid using words with a sex bias. I think that the book and these people are reading way too much into this slight difference in language. Maybe I feel this way because I am a guy; I do not know. I do not see how anyone can get annoyed when another person uses different words. However, I definitely understand when a person is purposefully using the terms to put someone down that someone can get angry. The examples given are not a big deal to me though. I guess interpretation is very important when it comes to people’s language.

Self Evaluation #2

Overall, I think I achieved the purpose of the speech very well. I gave important information about a subject that was related to my peers. Although I accomplished the purpose of the speech, I was very nervous and I believe that it was visible to the audience. If I had to do my speech over again, I would not have changed anything concerning the content or organization. However, I would change my preparation. I unfortunately did wait for the last couple days to put my speech together. I know my audience noticed it because that was on quite a few of my improvement cards from the class. I would definitely give myself more time to rehearse my speech. If I had done that then I probably would not have been so nervous and would have done better.
One goal I have for improving the content of my next speech is to give myself more time to do the research. As I noted earlier, I did not give myself much time, so I had to rush. If I give myself more time for the next speech I will not be rushed and it will make my whole speech better. My goal to improve my delivery is to practice more. Like I said several times before, I did not rehearse enough because I waited for the last minute. For this reason I looked at my note cards quite a bit. In this speech, my delivery and grade suffered because of that. So if I can fix that then I will do much better in the next speech.
One good thing that was different from my last speech was the fact that I did not sway as much. In the demonstration speech, I swayed back and forth almost the entire time I was in front of the class and that turned out to be very distracting. This time I only swayed once or twice which is a huge improvement and was much less distracting. Another thing was that I did not look up at my slides as much. I only saw myself do it once on the tape. I did not notice anything else that was different from the last speech when I reviewed the tape. I could not hear the audio on this speech so this is only on the visual delivery. I may or may not have done things differently audibly, but I cannot tell with my tape. I did a few distracting things. First off, I tugged at my shirt a little in the beginning. I also swayed little which was less than the last speech, so that was an improvement. Lastly, I found my hand movements to be a little distracting. I did not notice that in the previous speech.
My eye contact was not good. I would probably rate it at a four or five out of ten. I think this was worse than the first speech. I read off my cards way too much. This was due to my lack of preparation. Based on my performance, I would give myself a B on the entire speech. My content was good and informative. I knew what I was talking about and my visuals were very effective. On the downside, I was ill prepared and I looked at my note cards too much. The audio on my tape did not work, so I could not count how many citations I gave, however, I felt that I did a good job of citing while I was in front of the class.
I believe that this speech was much better than the last one. I did not do as much distracting things which was a big improvement. Also, I was more comfortable talking about this subject because I enjoyed it a lot more than the first speech. I also was not as nervous because I knew the information better, but I did not practice as much as I should have.

Reading

The most interesting part from chapter eleven was the “General Guidelines for Visual Design,” specifically the table on page 280. This is obviously a very important section because the interactive videos were on this exact subject. I liked the table especially because it lists things out in an organized manner. The guidelines are keep it simple, emphasize only key ideas, show what you cannot say, use close up photos and other images, keep the number of images manageable, combine variety with coherence, and use large lettering. These steps are very useful because if the speaker follows them, the visual will be effective and not distract the audience. The key take away message from these guidelines is “less is more.”

Public Speaking Event

The last public speaking event that I attended was a guest speaker in my health class two semesters ago. I forgot his name, but his speech was about aids and HIV virus. He used a slide show to help give his speech. I found his slideshow to be effective. His visual was well prepared. He kept it simple. The slides only had the important key information and contained simple neutral colors. He also had good pictures which helped show what his meaning was. I did not find the slideshow distracting at all. I have no suggestions for the speaker. The speech was interesting and well prepared.

Videos

The first video was about guidelines to visual aids. She says to keep it simple, have easy ideas on them, and use big lettering. One of the big tips she gives is to avoid too many special effects as they can distract your audience from your speech or slides. The most important tip, however, was reminding us that the visual aids are there to enhance and support the speech not be the star of the speech; that should be the speaker. This is helpful because we have to use visuals in all of our speeches. Properly used visuals immensely help a speech.
The second video was basically recapping the guidelines for visuals and showing good and bad examples of visual aid use. Once again the message was that properly prepared visuals enhance a speech while busy ill prepared ones distract from the speech. This helpful so that we can recognize when we use visuals properly or not.

Videos

One of the important things that I learned in the first video was all of the components that need to be in the introduction in order for it to be effective and interesting. Now that I know those parts I can make myself a checklist. I especially like the attention getter part. It gave me ideas for my speech.
The helpful part of the second video was the part about the closure aspect of the conclusion. It was helpful because it is not good to just leave the audience hanging. It also made me think of some clever ways to end my speech.
The last two videos were helpful because they were examples. It is always easier to do something when you have an example.

Chapter 13

The part of the reading that I found the most helpful and interesting was the Table 13.1 on page 337 and 338. This table has information about different kinds of informative speeches. The different kinds of informative speeches are about objects and places, people and other living creatures, processes, events, and ideas and concepts. The table shows example topics, specific purposes, and thesis statements. I am a visual learner and I like easy information. This is why I like tables and charts. It helps me visualize and it organizes the information nicely. I can use the table to find what I need and then go read about it more in depth in the chapter. The table also helps when forming your speech once you have a general topic.

Introduction & Conclusion

The components that go into the introduction are the attention getter, to indicate the purpose and thesis, to establish credibility, and to preview the main points. The components that go into the conclusion are review the main points, reinforce the purpose, and to provide closure. I will use this information in my Informative Speech by making sure that I include all of these into it. Now that all of the components are listed out for me, I can make a checklist for myself. This will allow me to ensure that I include all of the components and make sure that I use them correctly.

Videos

The first video was very helpful. It showed me what kind materials to use ad when to use them. The best thing I learned from this video was that it is important to vary the types of supporting materials that I use in my speeches. This way, I can appeal to logic as well as the feelings of a person.
The second video told me to make sure that the evidence I use comes from a credible source. It is important to use credible sources because it makes your argument stronger and more persuasive. He also said to use a variety of credible sources because even if one source is credible it is only coming from one point of view.
The third video talked about the types of organizational patterns. These are important because it helps make your speech cohesive and not jump around. This also helps in making an outline and writing your speech.
The third video is about transitions. It lists the types of transitions and gives the definition of each type. It is important to know how to use transitions because they help make your speech more cohesive.

Chapters 7 & 8

One concept I found useful and interesting in the assigned reading was the chart about “Patterns of Organization.” This table lists the different ways in which you can organize the body of your speech. The types listed are chronological, spatial, topical, narrative, cause-and-effect, and problem-solution. I found this chart very helpful because not only does it list the style, it also gives the situation that it is useful for and what it provides the audience. If you have the style that you want to follow in mind, it makes writing or outlining your speech much easier. I used this chart to help me in my last speech and plan on using it in our next speech as well.

Facts and Stats

Facts and statistics can be very effective in speeches. They are most effective in persuasive essays when you are trying to make an argument. Facts and statistics are most effective in this situation because facts and stats are undeniable and are very hard to refute so they help support an argument. When you use facts and stats in an argument, it is called an appeal to logos, or appeal to logic.
Facts and statistics are not as effective when you are trying to appeal to people’s emotions. When you are trying to appeal to emotions, you are trying to have the audience connect with you. The audience does not connect with the speaker because they does not tug at their feelings, they tug at people’s minds.

Self Evaluation

Overall, I believe that I achieved my main goal from this speech. I got my points across. There were some areas that could use some improvements regarding delivery but all of the content was good. During the speech I felt nervous and it was very apparent after I watched my video. I also felt rushed because I knew that my speech was pushing the time limit from my practice. So I felt that I had to speak fast and to get all of my information out. After viewing the video of my speech, there were a few things that I would do again. First I would definitely give myself more time to prepare. To be honest, I kind of left most of the work to the last minute. If I did some of the wok earlier then I would have had more time to practice which would have made me more comfortable. I also would have practiced my delivery more. This way I would not have looked so nervous in the classroom.
With the next speech coming up I will take some of the lessons learned from the first speech to improve my second one. To improve my content I would have started my speech preparation earlier. If I did that, then I would have had more time to do better research. Other than that I felt that my content was very good. For my delivery however, I would like to eliminate my nervous habits such as the swaying, saying “umm” and not looking at the audience. I feel that if I had eliminated these nervous habits that I have, then I would have gotten a better grade.
Now that I know what I need to improve for my next speech, I can talk about the speech that I already did. While I was watching the video, the first thing that I noticed about my delivery was my swaying. I started doing this almost immediately and kept doing it throughout my speech. This also is the thing that I found most distracting about my presentation. It is kind of annoying now that I see it. It looks like I have ADD or something and cannot sit still. That will be one of the main things that I practice to fix for the next speech. I was not thrilled with my eye contact as I was watching the video. I believe that I do not make a lot of eye contact because I focus on the people too much and I kind of forget what I am saying. If I were to put it on a scale between one and ten I would probably give it a five out of ten. It should have been a lot better but could have been a lot worse at the same time. I counted five oral citations throughout my speech. Whenever I gave a fact, I cited it.
Based on the information above, I would have given myself a B on this speech. My content was good and succeeded in teaching the class how to use the website, which was the main goal of the speech. Things I got marked down for were my lack of eye contact and my swaying. These two things make it hard for the audience to really connect with me. Also, I need to cut down on my umm’s. Other than these few problems, I feel that I fulfilled all of the criteria set out for us.

Chapter 5 Reading

I know that we were supposed to talk about these in a separate post, but I really believe that audience analysis is the most important topic of Chapter 5. It plays a huge role in determining everything about a speech. After analyzing the audience, it is much easier to choose a topic to write about. Audience analysis allows a speaker to figure out what demographic they will be speaking to. This is a huge help because it helps choose what to say. If the audience filled with young people then, it is probably not a good idea to quote or refer to television shows from the sixties and seventies. This concept is the basis for the entire speech. That is why it is so important. Without a good base, a speech can fall apart very easily.

Audience Analysis and Adaptation

Audience analysis and audience adaptation are extremely important when preparing and giving a speech. Audience analysis helps to anticipate what will and will not work with an audience. It is like the armed forces doing reconnaissance on an enemy before striking. Also, this gives you an idea of your demographic which you will be speaking to. This is super important because you have to have the correct topic for which you are speaking to. A young group will usually not be able to relate to a speech about the complexities of the stock market. That would be more appropriate for a trade show. Adaptation is also important because you have to be able to read the audience and be able to tell if they are listening to you. If people are looking around at the clocks then you need to do something to keep their attention. Otherwise you are just wasting everyone’s time.

I analyzed my audience for the demonstration speech. It is all college students. So I thought to myself what would help and/or interest college students. I eventually came up with a speech about selling books on half.com which will help my peers get money back for the books they do not need.

Drinking & Light Pollution

In the video about drinking, the man does a good job of making eye contact with the audience. Also, he relates the topic to his audience (college students) because college students are notorious for drinking. His topic choice is good because of the fact that college students drink and sometimes are not responsible when they do it, showing that he took the demographic into account. Another thing that they guy did well was to use a lot of visual aids. Visual aids almost always help make a presentation better. I learned that choosing a topic which the demographic can relate to is important. Also, visual aids are necessary to make the speech more interesting and effective.

The second video was the intro to a girl's speech about light pollution. The girl had a very good introduction. She introduced her topic and then explained what her examples will be. She used a very concise language, making it unmistakable what her speech is about. Outlining the speech is also good so people can know what to expect. I learned that it is a good idea to give your examples in the introduction. Also, it is important to make good eye contact during the speech because it looks funny when you just glance up at the audience between sentence.

Speech Progress

For my demonstration speech, I will be demonstrating how to sell a textbook on half.com. I thought this would be a good idea because textbooks are so expensive and it is possible to actually get a good amount of money back by selling them on half.com. There is not a whole lot of research to do, but I have been on half.com familiarizing myself more. I will probably take the class through the whole process of half.com. I will start with signing up and go all the way through putting a book up for sell. I have not decided if I will make a powerpoint to show the steps or if I will do the process live for the class, but I have a couple weeks to decide.

Chapter 6

The thing that I found to be the most important thing in chapter six was the huge list of websites that will help research a topic. This is so important because the library and print resources are almost obsolete at this point in time. Most of the time, students use the internet to research topics. They even go on the internet to search for print resources. I know I personally only use the internet to do research for papers. I have not been in a library in a very long time. This list will definitely help me when it comes time to do research for my papers this semester. It breaks down into several different types of search engines.

Research Interviews

I have hardly any experience with conducting research interviews. The only thing that I can remember that is close to a research interview is when I interviewed my grandma. In high school I had an assignment in which I was supposed to interview someone who is at least one generation older than me. I was supposed to ask her questions that had to do with views of different generations. I do not remember what went well. However I can say that being polite and courteous to the interviewee is important. What needed improvement for me was my conciseness of my questions. Sometimes my grandma did not understand the question. If I were to do it again I would make my questions more simple and easy to understand. My advice would be to make your questions short and simple while being polite to the person that you are interviewing.

Question #3

One concept that I found very interesting and useful was the part about building confidence before your speech. I felt that if anyone followed these steps, then they would feel a lot better about their speech. I know I would. The first tip is to dress for the occasion. This is very important because when you look good, you feel more confident and confidence is very important in front of other people. Also, the book suggests that you staying organized and arrive early. This is incredibly useful because if you are not organized, your audience will be able to tell. Being early helps reduce stress and it gives you a little more time for final preparation for the speech. The next is take calming breathes. This is very useful. It is just like my mom used to tell me to do when I got all wound up when I was a kid. Warming up your voice is a good tip that I have not even thought about. Nobody wants to go in front of the class with a raspy or cracking voice. Making sure all of your technical parts of the speech are prepared is critical. Not only does this calm you because you know that you are prepared, but it also makes you look more professional. Concentrating on other speakers is also important because if you just sit and think about all the "what ifs" then you are going to get anxious and very nervous. It is best to just sit back and relax.

Speech buddy response

In video 2.1, I felt that the tips were helpful for the most part. The first tip is visualization. This is important because if you have a picture or an idea of what your speech should look or sound like, then you will be more likely to have the real speech end up like that. Also, if you visualize what will happen, then the actual speech will feel like second nature. I personally have never tried the second tip which is relabeling and I am skeptical of this suggestion. I do not feel that this would help me very much. Relaxation to me is the most important tip given in this video. If you are relaxed, you sound better to the audience and you are less likely to get over anxious and mess up. Also, breathing is known for being calming.
The piece that I found most interesting in video 2.2, was Anthony's advice to know the introduction and conclusion very well. This is true because if you know how to start and end then you are already on your way and the body of a speech or essay is the easiest.

What makes me apprehensive about public speaking

There is one thing that makes me apprehensive about public speaking. That one thing is embarrassing myself in front of a lot of people, especially people I do not know. That is one of my biggest fears in life. I am in know way a very shy person but I do not enjoy being the center of all attention. I am scared that I will mess up or forget what I am talking about and everyone will laugh at me. I know that if I do make a mistake that people do not always react that harshly, but it is just in my mind. Other than fear of embarrassing myself in front of people I do not really have any problems with public speaking. Once I get up in front of the people I am fine for the most part except for some fast talking.

My name is Eric. I go to San Jose State. I made this blog for my Comm 20 class. I have lived in San Jose my entire life. I like the Giants and 49ers. I am into cars and this summer I built myself a couple mini motorycles.

I have a had a little public speaking experience. When I was in the fifth grade, I ran for student body president. I had to speak in front of the whole school. Other than that, I have only had to do speeches for school assignments.