Discussion question response 24

My favorite speech was the second one, the informative one. I liked this one because I really liked the topic, Tae Kwon Do. I also really enjoyed learning the history of the sport and its origins. One of the other things that I liked about the speech was that I felt a little more comfortable with the faces in the class and had a better feel for the classroom itself. But over all I felt that the way that I had set up the speech and how the speech seemed to flow was the reason that I liked the second speech.

Discussion question response 23

I the topic of home schooling has come up in discussion in my high school classes a lot. In my opinion is that though home schooling is effective, but the student looses the chance to learn the complexities of a social network and discourse with his or her peers which is just as important as school work. My opinion aside I think that Dixie (pro home schooling) would not have connected with the audience like Robert (con home schooling) would have. Her voice seemed kind of emotionless in comparison to Roberts. Another thing I saw was Dixie's eyes darted around a lot but I can’t comment on Roberts because of the camera position.

Discussion question response 22

One of the sections that caught my attention was the one on after dinner speeches. In a few weeks I have to give a toast for my cousin’s wedding. I don’t really know if that counts as an “after-dinner speech” but I thought that was the closest. Though I still have like 5 weeks left to write what I am going to say but this section gave me a lot of help deciding what to say. For example keeping the conversation light and make somewhat comical. It also the section helped me kind of get a topic for my “speech”.

Discussion question response 21

I haven’t really haven’t had to persuade anyone to do something recently. But there was one “debate” I had with my mom about a philosophical statement. If tree falls in the middle of a forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound? Me being a “nerd” I went with the point of view that if two dense objects like a tree and the ground collide in a medium like air they will make a sound but my mom on the other hand did not. She still maintains that a sound is something a person hears and nothing more. I tried to convince her using logic and the science but my mom being very stubborn had none of it.

Discussion question response 20

The three main points in my speech are first the benefits for those who are in dire pain and the medicinal benefits. The second point I will try to make would be to talk about the possible tax income that could be generated from the taxation of the drug. And finial I would try to make the point that if the drug is not legalized that there is a high possibility that it could cause a major drug trafficking. I thought that I would try to persuade the audience by talking about the benefits for those with cancer and the economical benefits.

Discussion question response 19

The section that caught my eye was the one on “the Ethics of Persuasive Speaking”. My speech topic is the legalization of marijuana; some would consider this to be some what of a touchy subject on account of the fact that the united state has a strict drug policy. The section reminded me that when I am writing my speech I should really pay attention to the way I am presenting the data. I should really try to make the more effective by really trying to push the good things and try not to mention the drawbacks. Another thing that I thing is even more impotent that content a persuasive speech in my opinion is the way you present it.

Discussion question response 18

You could say that I am constantly being persuaded to do something. For example TV commercials, they try to persuade me to buy things. Also my friends may try to persuade me that Superman is better than batman when Batman is clearly the better choice. Nevertheless everybody is inundated with persuasive messages on a daily basis. But I am pretty sure if you pay attention you could get some tricks to make your speech more persuasive. Another perk to learning the “secrets” of persuasion is catching the little things people do to mask the faults in their product or logic.

Discussion question response 17

One of the sections that I liked was the audience centered language on. it really helped to see how I can make my speeches more approachable rather than boring regurgitation of information. I also liked the little bit on “sparking imagination” through the words that you use in a speech. Some of the things in the section were kind of weird in the fact that it seemed to make picking the language of your speech an impossible task that takes eons. Don’t get me wrong the language you use in a speech is very important but it should seem as if it came out of a casual conversation.

Discussion question response 16

The videos were interesting some of the things were kind of obvious like the section on varying your voice and avoid presenting in monotone. Nevertheless the little part on the speed was informative because I never realized hoe much it could take away from a presentation. The video on the language that you should use to incorporate the audience seemed to say to make the speech like a conversation. That is the way that I view it, a large conversation with a single contributor and many listeners. But I definitely learned how much the speed that which a speech is presented really effects

Discussion question response 15

Maybe it is just the English teachers that I got but it always seemed that they all had some sort of vendetta against the English language’s sexism. And being stupid and stubborn I always argued with them. I am not saying that the English languages lacks sexism all together but you have to taken in when the language was “created”. Women only recently have been pushing for more rights and men have been free to do whatever they like with the English language. But my opinion is that it really doesn’t matter it gives the language character. As for using in a speech I think that you should judge based on your audience and err on the side of caution.

Discussion question response 14

Form my second presentation I presented my speech to my roommates. One of the things that came up during the discussion was the speed at which I was talking. It might have been ay anxiousness to finish the speech but both in my comments that I received in class and the comments that my roommates told me, I definitely did talk fast. The other thing that both my roommates and the comments that I received in class was the confidence that I apparently have when I am presenting, my roommates said that the way I spoke was like I was not nervous or afraid of public speaking. But one of thing things that I noticed that I did differently was I did not feel rushed or felt pressured to complete or rushed to finish the speech. Another thing that I noticed was I used my hands a lot. I don’t really know if that is a good thing or not but it seems like it would be more distraction. After looking at the feedback I got from class and then “redoing” my speech was really helpful. I got to really see what I really need to improve on and I really got to see what it is like to deliver the speech in a more comfortable setting.

Discussion question response 13

Over all the videos reinforced what I have been reading about introductions and conclusions. One thing that I saw that was interesting was in the techno speech. He seemed to have played examples of the music in the conclusion. The other thing that caught my attention was the usage of the camera to get the attention of the audience I am sure that the flash would woken up any sleepy heads. The other thing that these videos got me interested in was trying to use stories as “attention getters”. To me it seems counter intuitive to use a story unless it is really intresting, and that may vary from person to person.

Discussion question response 12

Whether it is an essay or a speech I always have trouble starting the introduction. The first section in chapter nine was help full for me. The green box that separated the parts was the most helpful. Make each box one or two sentences and there you have a halfway descent introduction. I really liked the tips that they gave you in the getting the audience’s attention section. From stats to stories and even jokes got me thinking, and helped me start my intro. The other thing that helped was the establishing credibility section. It always thought that establishing credibility was like bragging but this section really cleared it up. It is not really bragging but showing that I know what I am talking about.

Discussion question response 11

Every speech and every audience is unique. Therefore the supporting material you use for each a speech will vary from topic to topic and venue to venue. But no matter what topic you are talking about you should try to have a little bit of each kind of supporting material. I think that looking at what each supporting fact appeals, logic or emotion, will help strengthen any speech. The outline video really shows that the topic is the one that dictates the organization of the speech. It was helpful to that the video clarified the organization patterns, but I thought that the supporting material video had more useful info.

Discussion question response 10

Stats are an effective way to bolster your argument but to effetely weave it in to a speech is an art. In my opinion the most effective place to use a stat is right after you it as a general statement. Stating the info as common knowledge and then baking it up with the stat. the worst place to put a stat in my opinion is at the beginning of a speech or a sub point. It makes the delivery of the information less personal. I feel that the presenter is trying to make the numbers do the convincing. Either way making stats flow in a speech is an art.

self-evaluation 1

I thought that I did fairly well on the speech that I presented last week, of course there are many things that I need to improve on but overall it was not bad. I did feel really confident thanks to the ridiculous amounts of practice but if I had to do this over again I would definitely change a lot of things. One thing I would try to work on the most was the speed at which I was talking. I was definitely flying through words. Another thing that I would change is my posture during the speech. Keeping my hand in my pock may be a way of dealing with the nervous tension, but is doesn’t really look good when giving a speech.

Content wise I would have added a few more things. To make the speech longer but at the same time if I started to go over I could just drop from the speech. This could have help compensate for the fast talking but towards the end of the speech I noticed that I added things to my speech that I did not intend to say in the conclusion. Another improvement in the righting of the speech could be the integration of the sources. I probably could have thrown in a quote someone has said about cars.

The other major thing that I would change is the actual delivering of the speech. As I said before the posture thing that I said before but the other thing is the eye contact. Rating on a scale of one to ten it would probably be a six. I would not say that it was not nonexistent bit I would not say that it was superb. I looked at one side of the room a more than the other it I really did not make eye contact.
The other thing that I would have liked to change would be a better delivery of my main topics. Looking at the comment from everyone most people got the main topics but some really missed them. It may have been due to the speed at which I was talking or because of the way my speech was set up. Nevertheless it needs to be improved. Another thing that can be improved with better speech writing is a better support for the examples. Though I thought that I had good examples I felt that they were not well backed up and the audience took it at face value.

Most definitely for the upcoming speech I will be trying to focus on the speed at which I am talking, eye contact, and the way that I write my speech. But in regards to this speech I think it was fairly good with lots of room for improvements. If I had to give myself a grade I would give a B-. Because I really did not get my main points across, and if you don’t get your main points across your speech is made in vain. But I am look forward to improving my upcoming speech.

Discussion question response 9

The first video that I watched was the drinking one. I thought that the presenter had a good opening and introduction, it definitely got my attention. He also did a good job with the presentation of the stats by stating the percentage and the “one in three of you”, it made it more understandable unlike the raw number of 33. The light pollution one on the other hand was may have lacked in the interesting opening but did have more eye contact in my opinion. One thing that I can take away from this is the eye contact, it is undoubtedly very important.

Discussion question response 8

One of the most useful sections for me was the “adapting to the setting” one. The place where you speech will greatly affect the way you deliver the presentation. For example in a class room you may tend to stick to the podium and point to your visual aide. But if you are on a stage you may want to walk around rather than sticking to a corner of the stage. Another important aspect is the time at which you are presenting. If you are talking about the economy you may want to incorporate information on the current economic crisis.

Discussion question response 7

“Audience analysis” is very important after all the audience is whom you are presenting for. If you lose their attention the message that you are trying to send obviously won’t be received. Therefore if you feel that you are losing you audience you have to change the way you are presenting. But you should be able to somewhat anticipate where the audience might be “dosing off”. What I attempt to do to avoid this problem is to have stats and other things that are potentially boring spread out in the speech. Therefore not all the boring stuff hits you all at once.

Discussion question response 6

The video didn’t really teach me much. The things that were on the videos were nothing more than what my high school teachers have been telling me for the past four years. One thing that I learned was using the references on an article. For example on Wikipedia, by the way not a credible sore, has a list of resources from which they got the information. Those sources usually check out. Nevertheless the things that the video talk about are all viable. It is very important to check the validity of every source. There is nothing more damaging to an essay or speech.

Discussion question response 5

I haven’t conducted many interviews, nevertheless the three interviews that I have done have taught me a lot. For example, always record the interview on a tape recorder. You will always need to revisit the actual interview. Fortunately for me I was able to “redo” the interview. One thing that I would like to improve would be on the questions that I make. I want the questions to “pull” as much information out as it of the person as possible. Make the “interviewed” give up info. One thing that surprised me the most though is the fact that an interview is nothing like a conversation at all. It is completely different.

Discussion question response 4

The hardest part of research for any project is to know where to start. Most of the time I just Google the topic, but looking at the way to braking up the topic it looks like I can make my research more efficient. But the next section in the chapter is also really helpful when researching a topic. “Identifying multiple resources” is really important. All our sources can come from the internet; some print sources may have things that are not available on the internet. In my opinion an interview would be the most interesting and most informative. It would give you a chance to see another perspective.

Discussion question response 3

The video that was most useful to me was 2.1, those simple breathing exercises. One could quickly pause in the middle of their speech and calm their nerves discreetly. This could help your recollect your thoughts on the fly.

I guess real estate agents have always been correct in stating “it is all about location, location, location”. The location can affect how you deliver a speech. For example if you have a podium you would not walk around to point to your visual aid. Nevertheless both videos provide grate tips to get you comfortable before delivering a speech. For me the breathing tips could help me a lot.

Discussion question response 2

In chapter 4 the “consider time” section stood out to me, especially the “time of day” subsection. I never really realized but it is possible that the when you present your speech could adversely affect the way the audience perceives your speech. For example if ones speech is intended to rally the audience toward a purpose or goal it may not be the best idea to present it very early in the morning. The other subtopic “time limit” could be catastrophic to ones speech. If one is forced to stop his or her speech due to the time limit the presentation will not have the same effect on the audience. Therefore time has to be taken into careful consideration when writing a speech.

Discussion question response 1

Every since I can remember my Father insisted that I take part in small plays whish were presented to may be five hundred Tamil speaking Sri Lankans. Therefore I have never been anxious or nervous about going on stage or presenting in front of many people. Nevertheless the “uncertainty of the setting” may affect me. All those other times I have done speeches I been standing up in front of people I know very well. Another difficulty is trying to adapt to my audience. Writing the speech in such a way that the listener still is interested. These may be the greatest causes of anxiety in regards to this class.

introduction post

Hi my name is Tharma and I am really excited about this class and welcome to my blog.