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.