Informative Speech Reflection

Going into the speech, I was really excited to be speaking about drugs in baseball. It’s a prevalent issue that still has lingering effects from the “Steroid Era”. To start, I looked to get the audience interested on the topic by humor. I talked about the “Mac Attack Bat”, which was an old childhood toy that used to crush the cover off of a wiffleball. Then, I wanted to transition into the speech with a more serious tone. Physically, I looked to continue scanning the room, making eye contact with people in the classroom to make sure I had their attention. I also wanted to make sure I wasn’t leaning on the table, or having my hands in my pockets. Something that I’ve learned is that it seems easier to maintain attention when the speaker is using their hands, making gestures, as opposed to standing with their hands in their pockets.

Generally, I think I did a good job completing my goals for this speech. I sort of lucked out after having the battery of the recording device fill up because I was able to joke around a little bit prior to the speech. I like to do this because I think it loosens me up a little bit, and since the beginning of a speech can be a little nerve-racking, it’s good to feel a little looser. Listening back to the tape, I think my tone could be a little clearer. Additionally, I use a lot of “umm” and “uhh” in my speech, and I tend to stutter over my words a little bit. Those are some things I should look to improve upon. But overall, I felt okay about this speech. In regards to the audience, I think I was able to connect very well with them. They had several questions at the closure of my speech, and seemed attentive while I gave it.

I think what I learned the most came from the recordings. I feel my speech can be smoother, so maybe what I can do to correct that is prepare my transitions better. Additionally, I was about 10 seconds over the time limit, so I should also plan the timing of my speech better. I think I made better use of my notecards this time around since I actually used them, so I never really struggled to remember what I was saying. Because it was a longer timeframe to work with, I think I assumed that I could take my time at the beginning, which ultimately was why I went over the time limit. Thus, I believe that after this speech, two things I need to focus on are time management and the fluency of my speeches.

Response to Elise

I really enjoyed the somewhat different approach that Elise took to the informative speeches. While many of us chose to do more specific topics, Elise elected to talk about sales, which relates to what she's interested in, but is a more broad topic. Elise did a good job outlining the topic, and clearly demonstrated key points she found to be important. Additionally, the speech helps clear up how I view sales; I'm used to watching Michael Scott at Dunder Mifflin (on "The Office"). Very well done, Elise.

Response to Rob

Over the past few months, I've heard a lot regarding the Semester at Sea, but I never really understood what it was. I was pretty interested when I realized that Rob was talking about this. The information that he delivered to the audience was both informative and opinionated, which is good. Additionally, he talked about how it's more than just a typical semester abroad, as it also includes academia and culture learning. This speech was very well done.

Physically, for this speech, I was looking to appear a little more relaxed than the first speech. Although I do feel I did well being able to appear calm, I was definitely nervous during the first speech. For this one, however, since it was an extra credit speech, I was more relaxed knowing there wasn’t anything to lose by making this speech. Additionally, I was talking about a subject matter that I’m very knowledgeable about, which is cycling. This relates to my emotional goals for this speech. The athlete I spoke of, Alberto Contador, was one of my longtime favorite cyclists as I gained interest in the sport. To see his demise occur this way is rather saddening and disappointing for the sport, and I looked to illustrate that in the way I spoke.

Making the speech, like I previously stated, was easier this time than the first speech because I’ve had experience and the event occurred last week rather than 14 years ago (as in my introductory speech). I felt very positive about my speech; I knew exactly what I wanted to say, I knew the order I wanted to speak of the events leading up to it, and I knew the background information I wanted to give out at the beginning of the speech. Additionally, I felt a strong connection with several audience members. I saw many smiles when I mentioned Contador’s excuse that contaminated meat was the reason for his failed drug test. A few students laughed when I mentioned that I always wanted to be “like Mike” (Michael Jordan) on the basketball court. So I definitely felt that a strong connection has been made and is being formed in general with the audience that I’ve been speaking to.

I think one thing I’ve learned and continue to learn is that you can never over-prepare when planning a speech. I knew exactly what I needed to say, but I still found myself saying “umm” or “like”, filler words which should really be avoided. One thing I do notice is that I make note cards, and never end up using them. One thing to maybe consider is constructing and writing a note card that has trigger words that I know I’ll use instead of filler words. Another thing I would personally like to focus on is my conclusions. I struggle to clearly get my point across at the end of the speech. In this case, I think there was so many important things about eh outcome of this case that I simply didn’t know how to summarize them into one. I definitely want to be more prepared when I think about what to say for future conclusions.

Reflective Essay for Loss Speech

Going into the speech, I did not really have any concrete expectations. I think one thing I do very well is entertain people, so I knew garnering a class’ attention would not be terribly difficult. Additionally, I knew my subject matter was rather light-hearted and, with proper delivery, I figured my speech would go fairly well. Physically, I was hoping to be able to move around, and attempt to make eye contact with everyone in the classroom. I wanted everyone to have a feeling of involvement and truly relate to the speech I was giving. In another emotional perspective, I wanted the audience to not have a sense of sorrow for my “loss”, but a sense of joy in recollecting the fun times of their childhood.

Being able to go third, in my opinion, was advantageous. Although I was interested in going first, going early on still allowed me the opportunity to speak early while the topic was on my mind. Furthermore, I did not have to wait around and dwell on ways to improve, or on ways my speech could have gone awry. I think the speech itself went tremendously well. I was able to get some sort of smile or chuckle out of most of the students. Additionally, I think the audience’s questions pertaining to my speech truly showed the relation that they felt to their own childhoods. For instance, one student asked if I had attempted anything drastic, like tying my tooth by a string and a door. I think this also showed the lightheartedness the audience felt, which is something I was aiming for. Additionally, I finished within the time limit, which I am pleased with.

There were several things I think I could have done better for the speech. I wasn’t able to move around as much as I anticipated. Frankly, I didn’t move at all. I think that my thinking was, since it was a short speech, a lot of movement might take away from the overall message of the story. Another thing I could have done better was reduce the number of filler words that I used, like “umm” and “like”. While I didn’t speed up too much during the speech, there wasn’t always a flow to it, as I struggled to remember exactly what I wanted to say to the audience. I did not even use the note card that I brought up, which I actually was pleased with, because it demonstrates that I remembered enough to get through the speech.

For the next speech, I think the most important thing for me to focus on is to have a better flow to the speech. I think the more fluent a speech is, the better an audience understands and pays attention to the speech. Another thing that will be something to consider is that not all of my speeches will be fun like that one, so I’ll need the ability to take on more serious subject matters.

Speaker #15

This story was very frustrating, having to rid yourself of two pets for ultimately doing something that wasn't there fault. But it was very well told, as I was intrigued the whole time. To discover that the animal causing the mess the whole time was actually the dog must have been extremely upsetting. Hopefully in the near future you'll be able to get some more cats. Ultimately, this was a very well-told story.

Speaker #5

I think the best part of Hannah's speech, for me, was how it was a topic that everyone can relate to. Everyone has had time's where they have lost some sort of work. I also enjoyed the visuals she gave, talking about "eye fluttering" in class (which happens to everyone), and the illustrative depictions of the library, with soda bottles and coffee cups. Overall, very well done.

Hope

In passing, you wouldn't think public speaking would be a challenge to me. I'm a fairly outgoing individual, seeking to meet new people and try new things. Public speaking, however, isn't all that easy. I struggle with eye contact, largely due to an eye condition I was born with, and I don't always speak clearly either.

With this class, I'm hoping some of those habits can change. I'm a sports studies major, hoping to deal with player personnel in the future. With this, I know that press conferences are definitely in the near future, so public speaking is something that will be crucial when I take on the real world. I look forward to each new speech we will have to encounter this spring, and hope that by the end, I'm comfortable speaking with anyone I want to in a pleasant and convincing manner.