Self- Evaluation Assignment- Demo

When I got up to present my demonstration speech I was so nervous that a lot of what I had practiced kind of just went out the window it seemed like. I felt like I did not cover everything that I wanted to talk about, which was true. I only verbally cited two sources, but I had four in my speech. It seemed to me, at the time, that I was all over the place and didn't make any sense. After I presented my speech, I thought I did terrible and was going to receive a bad grade, but after reviewing the tape, I actually found that I did a lot better then I initially thought. I was not all over the place like I thought I was before, and besides not mentioning the two other sources, I said everything I wanted to say. I just wish I had practiced a little more with the projector! I actually did the transparencies at the last minute because I realized no one would be able to see what I was doing, so I did not get a chance to see how it worked. I also wanted to do more of a demo, but 5 minutes was not enough time to get a decent drawing. My speech, when I practiced it at home, was over 5 minutes, but I knew that when I get up in front of people I tend to talk faster, so fast that I cut off an entire minute.

The other thing I noticed was that I said "um" a lot, but I gave decent eye contact, an 8/10, and spoke clearly. I think that if I just practiced a little more in front of people, it would have been much better, and my delivery would have improved. I think I deserved exactly what I got for a grade. A B was perfect, because I was not perfect, but I was not terrible. I could have worked on eye contact and I needed to cite ALL of my sources, as well as give more of a conclusion, but all in all, I had a good flow in my speech and I spoke clear and said the most important things. I actually found the time cards a little distracting. I saw myself in the video look up at it when I was demonstrating how to draw Scooby Doo. I mean I like knowing how much longer I have, so I would not go to the extreme of getting rid of them all together, but maybe have them on plain white paper and only every 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have maybe done an easier character because of the time limit for the complexity of the character was too much, but I am glad, however, that I drew the in betweens for the character because with out them I would not have been able to draw the character as well as would have wanted to and it would of turned disastrous.

Week 4 Discussion #3

Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

I thought that the most interesting concept from the assigned reading was the part on page 102 about "adapting to a diverse audience". This was the most useful thing for me to learn becuase when I thought about it, every audience you speak to is not the same and with in that audience are people with different characteristics and feelings. Because of this you have to make sure that the content in your speech will not affend someone in your audience.
A subtitle from this concept on page 103 talks about some key points to "meeting the challenges of audience diversity". Maybe these key points will help the rest of the class as well.
-make a "climate" that allows people to relate with different perspectives on the issues in your speech
-get information from several different sources to make sure it can relate to as many people as possible
-foster positive intergroup relationships in a cooperative fashion
-look at how your diversity would react to better understand those around you
-acknowledge the diversity and respect them
Hope this helps someone else as well.

Week 4 Discussion #2

Discuss the importance of audience analysis and audience adaptation in the speech development process. Also discuss how you plan on using audience analysis in your speech.

The importance of audience analysis in your speech is great. If you know your audience then you can relate your speech to them in the form of how you address the speech (or the way you talk to them) and how you choose what topic your speech is going to be about. It would not make sense if you talked to a group of 80 year- old grandparents about the new generation of ipods or apple computers. They, as a majority, have no use for it and it will not be relevant to them. On the other hand, if you had a group of young adults, it would be more relevant and interesting to them. Knowing your audience is key to a well- written and addressed speech.
I plan on using audience analysis in my own speech, by possibly having a few people from the audience participate with me while I am drawing Scooby Doo. I understand Scooby Doo is a little young for this group of people because it is a cartoon, but I think that there is a big kid in all of us, especially me! So I think it will relate to everyone for the most part.

Week 4 Discussion #1

Speech buddy:Review Drinking and Light Pollution videos... Respond to each video. What did the speaker do well? What can you learn from watching these videos?

After watching the Speech buddy videos for chapter 5, I felt that the first video on drinking was not done as well as I thought it would be. He seemed pretty nervous and a little unorganized. He made a lot of gestures and noises that distracted me from what he was saying. He also had a very monotone voice that made it boring. He did, however, have a lot of good information. I learned how you don't look very appealing when you do not have good pressure. The light pollution video was much better, but it was too short and she was little too infomal when talking to the audience. I thought that her voice was more interesting to listen to and that her posture was very good, but she needed to speak up a little bit more. I learned that if you make your appearence proper and your voice interesting, that the audience will be more intriqued about what you are saying.

Discussion Week 3 #2

Pick one concept from the reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

I felt that page 143 had some good information on "Maximizing Your Search of Internet Resources". When I write a research paper, I always cringe at the idea of having to make sure I find creditable resources on the web, plus there is just so much information to sort through that it's hard to find the thing you are looking for. You might miss the perfect article that could have made your paper that much better. This section in the book breaks down how to better your results and use your information more effectively. It also tells you what to watch out for; creditable versus noncreditable or sponsored links. The most useful part of this section to me was the part about using a variety of key words because I am bad at trying to find multiple words with the same meaning to get different results. Some examples are given to show how one key word can be linked to another that might come up with better results.

Discussion Week 3 #3

Update the class on your speechpreparation progress. What topic have you chosen? What have you been researching? What are your main points in your speech? What are you planning to use as a visual aid?

For my demonstration speech, I am demonstrating how to draw Scooby Doo. He is my favorite cartoon character, and being an animation/ Illustration major and all, I thought this would be perfect. I never actually sat down and tried to draw Scooby Doo before so I researched some pictures of him. I went to the Cartoon Network website and found some interesting pictures of Scooby Doo and even found a link that broke down how to draw a certain pose of him. I found a better pose that I liked and I have been practicing how to break it down in parts so that it comes easily for the day of the speech. My visual aid is an original picture of Scooby then me drawing Scooby and then a finished, colored drawing (showing how it would look in the end with out spending too much time coloring it in person).
I need your opinions on if I should have the whole class draw Scooby Doo while I am demonstrating it or not. I know some one was showing us how to tie a tie... are you going to have the whole class follow along with you?

Discussion Week 3 #1

What experience do you have with conducting research interviews? What went well? What needed improvement? Share your advice.

I do not have a lot of experience with conducting a research interview besides what I did in high school for a paper. Before hand, I thought about what questions I wanted to ask the person I was interviewing and wrote them out so I would not forget during the interview. I made sure to ask questions that went with my research. The part that needed improvement was the way I talked to the person I was interviewing. I mean, I had all of the questions I wanted to ask before hand so that I wouldn't forget, but because I didn't know the person very well, I was very nervous and stumbled a little over my words. It just didn't go as smooth as I wanted it to.
I never had to do another research interview, so I was never able to practice to make it better; the only advice I can give to someone is make sure you write out your questions before hand.

Discussion Week 2 #2

Speech Buddy videos:

The interactive video that showed Jessica giving a speech was very useful. She seemed very confident, projected her voice well, and gave a personal experience that made her and the audience connect. You really "felt" and understood what she was saying.
The other videos that gave some tips on how to give a speech and how to relax were also helpful. I am more of a visual learner; reading how to do something will not always work for me, so actually seeing how to do the breathing exercise and being visually shown how to stand and make a speech really made all the difference. I was surprised that the videos were so short, but I think they still got the point across with out making it boring. They were easy to watch and understand.

Week 2 Discussion #3

Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

I felt that when Coopman broke down the key components on how to confidently deliver a speech, it was the most helpful for me. The book talked about 1.) planning and preparing early with a topic you truly care about so that you will be more excited and determined to work on it, 2.) Do as much creditable research that you can so you really know what you are talking about, 3.) learn your audience because it will help address your speech in the correct, reasonable manner so that the audience can relate and connect to what is being said, 4.) practice your speech aloud so you can become comfortable with timing and see if the wording flows, and finally 5.) make sure that the introduction and conclusion coexist and help support the point you are trying to put across. The book even gives some exercises to help relieve stress and anxiety, and help bring your confidence level up. The part about knowing your audience is something that I never really thought about, but after reading it, it seemed so obvious that it would only make your speech better and you be more confident.

All of these key points basically mean that the more you know your subject and the more you practice, the more confident you will be.

Discussion for week 2- #1

What makes you apprehensive about public speaking?

Public speaking makes me a little apprehensive because speaking in front of a live audience makes me extremely nervous. I feel self- conscious about how the audience will react and respond to what I have to say- negatively or positively. I feel a lot of pressure when it is just me- one person- against an entire crowd. I know I have to be creditable for the audience to believe my speech, which is easy, but hard at the same time. I still feel that even with hard evidence and reliable facts, an audience might be too narrow minded, or too determined of their view of the subject being presented, to listen to what I have to say to at least here me out.

I found later in the reading, some helpful hints on how to feel more confident in front of a large crowd which will be very helpful for me and anyone else who feels the same way about public speaking. (pages 41-44)