Peer Evaluation for Rob

Rob's speech was about something that is very relevant to me, music. His point was that instruments help your mental development as you grow up. He related it well, as he discussed musical instruments that people grew up with. Also, music is a very relevant topic to most students, so it wasn't hard to relate to. I found it interesting that it's been shown that music actually enlarges the brain, which affects reading, learning and listening. What I'd like to know more about is if certain instruments affect the brain in certain ways. Rob discussed how piano helps you learn different instruments, but I wonder if piano can be correlated to overall intelligence as well. Overall Rob did a great job. He is very fluent when he speaks, and is prepared, as he doesn't simply read off of notecards.

Peer Evaluation for Christina

Christina chose a very interesting and relevant topic; Social Networking. Her argument was that social networking causes sadness amongst viewers who see pictures and status updates that are happy. The speech topic itself relates to the audience because it's all stuff everyone does; posting statuses, pictures, videos, and notes to Facebook. One thing that stood out was how pictures were actually shown to cause sadness. What's interesting is that I find that point to be true; if certain people are having a good time, and I'm unable to experience that, I can feel sadness as well. I'm curious to know if Social networking can be linked to any kinds of depression or anxiety that affects people's daily lives. Christina did a good job, and had lots of evidence. One thing to look for in the future is formatting the speech. I was never really clear on what the topic was, or the supporting points that came with it. Overall, a job well done.

Peer Evaluation for Lee

Lee's speeches are always fluent, as she is always sure of her claims, and clear of her topic. The purpose of this speech was to warn the audience of the issues with donating to Invisible Children, and the deceptive nature of the KONY 2012 video. Not much from this speech needed to relate to the audience other than the topic itself, as it's been so overly shown to the general public. One thing that stood out was that 35,000 people out of 40,000 in Uganda who were viewing the KONY 2012 film left the theater they were watching it in because they were upset about it. That's a significant number, and I think Invisible Children really needs to examine the way they go about things. I'm curious to know how Invisible Children plans to handle this. Additionally, what groups would be the best to donate to currently to help the Ugandans. This was a great speech that was well prepared. One thing that I tend to say for everyone (but I think is crucial) for the next speech is to not read straight from the note cards. For me, it's obvious because the language of a speaker tends to change, and sometimes it is easier to stutter over your words or lose your place. Otherwise, a very good job!

Reflective Essay for "Got [Chocolate] Milk?"

I was very excited to discuss this topic. It’s actually something that I’ve discussed with a significant amount of people, after knowing the facts for about a year or so. I was aiming to clearly present this topic, because it’s something I’m so comfortable with. Physically, I wanted to have everyone feel that I knew what I was discussing through my body language and tone. Emotionally, I wanted everyone to be convinced that this snack that most people consider to be junk food was actually the best way to refuel the body after a workout. I had the facts to back up my claims, and I had the proof, through my own recovery period, that chocolate milk helped the most when recovering.

I did not feel as comfortable as I anticipated, but I didn’t do too badly of a job. I had all the research, facts, and claims that I wanted, as well as the knowledge from discussing it so much with people. I think I got my point across fairly well, and related it well with the audience, using real-life examples from the “Got Milk?” commercials. I still am not as fluent when speaking as I would like to be. It’s hard, because I don’t write down my speech completely on the note cards as many people do because I want to learn not to stutter. But then I hear all these people go up and speak without a stutter in their speech. I am happy with my progression otherwise, and regardless, I still believe I connected well with the audience. Additionally, these 4 years of college are probably the time where people do athletic activity the most, so it’s a wise tip that I think many of my classmates listened to.

This speech round, I learned that, as comfortable as you are with a subject, it’s important to be very sure about what you are going to say, or else you’ll probably stutter. I knew what I was going to say, but I don’t think I practiced enough in order to fluently express my thoughts to the audience. For my next and last speech, my hope is to have a speech nearly free of stuttering. I think that otherwise, my purpose and claims come across cleanly, and my tone and delivery are generally good. The fluency of my speaking will be the key to success for my next speech and for the real world.

Peer Evaluation for Christina

Christina's speech was planned very well. The intent of her speech was to illustrate the impact the media has on female teens. She used good examples that related the topic well, including magazines, commercials, and the mention of movies. What stood out to me were the facts about sexual activity, which shouldn't be surprising but was rather alarming to hear. I would be curious to know if there were different influences on males by the media as well, or if it's generally something that doesn't affect adolescent males. One thing for the future would be to not read straight from the note cards. It tends to be distracting, and when people stutter on the note cards, it's makes the speech choppy, when you want it to be fluent. Nonetheless, good job.