Friday, October 23, 2009
Informative Speech Critique #1
Good job on your first speech. There are a few things to work on for our next speech, but overall, it was a strong effort that was shown. Everyone illustrated to me that they put proper research time, planning time and practice time into their speech presentation. Let's keep it up for the next speech! We will be addressing those areas that we excel and those areas that need improvement. Please comment on your own presentation based on your observation, the student critique in class and my critique. Identify three need areas for improvement in the next speech. What will you be focusing on to improve your presentation? How will you work on these areas? Be specific with a step by step action plan for improvement. Then, be sure to remark on the areas that you had a strength and were pleased with applying in this presentation. The areas that must be part of effective communication that you will continue to utilized in your presentations. Be sure this blog is detailed, with descriptions, examples. Avoid vague comments. Self awareness is how we learn.
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15 comments:
I could have done a lot better with my speech. I knew so much about my topic , especially since I play the sport, everything I knew basically was from my own experience, however once I got up infront of the class I was beyond nervous. I didn't even really need a notecard, only to help me source, but I couldn't even get the sources out of my mouth. Nothing ran smooth for me when I was up there becuase I was far too worried about what everyone else thought of me. I need to work on my conversational flow, and putting my sources into my speech better as well. My biggest problem is figuring out how to cite the sources, so hopefully I do better with that.
I feel I also should just practice multiple times more then what I did, becuase maybe if i had better word organization, my speech would have came out better, and I would have not rushed my words. I talked extremely fast, and I feel that next time I need to work on slowing down. The fact that I knew my topic was a plus, but everythign else I need to work on so when I get up there, I can present my speech with security.
My own observation of my first informative speech, I feel as if of course I could have done better. I feel like my comfort level was not where it should have been. I was not because I was nervous to be in front of the class, I hope that was apparent since I volunteered myself to go first. When I was doing my speech I felt in the beginning I had no problem, it was close to the third main point where I feel I almost lost control of my thoughts. I am not really sure why this happened, I did practice a lot before hand (my poor 10 month old, had to hear me rehearse over and over). I think maybe it was because it was my first time. I know I was told my posture was not good while up in front of the class, that is not an issue from nervousness but an issue in general, (I always have a baby on my hip, and a phantom baby when I'm alone) but I will try to be more aware of my posture for now on. Instead of awkward pauses I inserted phrases like, "I wanna say" or "I think", so I will try to cut them out of my speech.
I will focus on the contents of my next speech, I feel confident that doing a persuasive speech this time that my comfort level will be better, being the topic is of my opinion.
The strengths that I believe I have is in my research, I know how much time and effort I put into my school work, and in researching for my speech. I believe in my own opinion that in general not just in public speaking, if you know what the material is you will have no problem delivering it. I am pleased with my knowledge on the material but do believe I need work in citing correctly and in the areas I mentioned before.
Hopefully with my confidence in my research and working on the areas that need help I will effectively communicate my persuasive speech to our class.
For the first speech, i think i could have done a lot better. If i had gone over my material a few more times and practiced more i think i would have known my material better. I believe my conversational tone was decent, but my ideas were a bit scratchy. I have to slow down a lot when talking, and definitely stop saying "um". Ill learn to maybe take more breathes and realize not to say "um". I believe i didn't fiddle to much or move around, that i was happy about. Next time ill get all my idea straight, sources, and everything. I think i did a decent job connecting with my audience, but often lost where i was going in my points. Now that i know what it feels like to be up there i hope not to be so nervous.
For my first speech I was extremely nervous. I knew I wasn't myself because as soon as I walked up there I couldn't stop shaking. Throughout my speech I think I did an okay job I thought my eye contact was good I just need to lay off the note cards. I heard it in my own voice that I was scared. Normally, throughout high school and other classes I always made presentations and I never had a problem with being nervous or anything. This time around it hit me and I froze. The next speech I really want to focus on getting it perfect enough for an A. No more reading off note cards for the most part and I need to calm down. At the end of my speech, Prof. M. made a great comment to me saying "It wasn't that scary was it?" and she was totally right. It isn't scary at all. I'm a talkative person and I know how to hold a conversation so I just guess my nerves got the best of me. Well, I can't have that happen next time. I am satisfied with my first speech though. I thought everyone did a pretty good job for the first time. Critiquing each other helps a lot too and gets to know each other a little more. Also, my topic wasn't really up to my standards. At some points I didn't even realize what I was talking about. Next time I'm going to find a topic I am comfortable with so I feel confident in addressing it.
For my first speech i think i could have done a lot better. I was extremely nervous. I didn't think i would have been able to do it. But given the courage by some classmates and my professor gave me the ability to stand up. i know i shouldn't have depended on my note cards as i did. I should have cited in my presentation as i did in my outline. For the next speech i know i will need to practice a whole lot more and cite into my speech some of my research. What i thought was good about my speech was knowing my stuff. Since i knew what i was talking about it made it easier for me to talk in front of an audience.
As for the whole class i think we need to work on the ums and likes, also we need to cite more into our speech, and relying on our note cards.
For my first speech, I feel as though I did rather well. Considering I was so nervous and my practices that day were less than passable, I was surprised I pulled through like I did. Of course there are numerous improvements I can make. First of all, I can definitely work on my physical presentation. Unbeknownst to me, I was standing in a distracting pose and played with my hair a lot. I’ll have to remind myself as I’m speaking to stand up straight and focus more on how I move my hands. Another thing I’ll have to improve upon is the constant usage of phrases such as “like” or “ya know”. When I practiced in front of my mom she pointed this out to me, but I didn’t fully get rid of that habit. I think what I’ll have to do is have whomever I’m practicing to stop my speech every time I use these phrases, so that eventually I’ll be broken of the habit. Finally, I’ll have to figure out how to handle my pauses better. When giving my speech, I would lose track of where I was or forget the name of a source. Instead of handling this problem gracefully, I’d make the situation awkward and shake my head or giggle. I’ll have to practice keeping my cool so that I can skate my way out of an awkward pause instead of just exacerbating the situation.
Aside from the obvious blunders, I feel there were many good points to my speech. I was able to throw in my sources casually and conversationally, a task I had numerous complications with while practicing. I also felt like I knew my research inside and out, so I was much more confident about the things I was talking about. I felt my speaking voice was clear and concise, and that I seemed friendly when talking to the audience instead of awkward. My face, which is usually burning with embarrassment when I speak publicly, felt fine and I was pleased it did not distract me from my presentation.
Overall I was pleased with my performance. I definitely can improve in many areas, but I have way more confidence which will benefit my next speech greatly.
This was the first speech I ever gave, so of course I could have done better. After seeing so many great speeches, I felt super nervous. I stopped to laugh at myself in the middle of my speech because when I get nervous I start babbling and giving stupid examples. My goal was to inform my audience about the dangers of low quality day care centers. My outline was pretty good. But when I finished, I was told that I had just presented a persuasive speech. Now, that boggled my mind after reviewing my outline during the conference class and researching the topic. But I suppose somewhere, amidst all my babbling, I included my own view point. At least I have a head start on the next speech! When I sat down, I couldn’t even remember what I had said. It was like I blacked out and gave a speech. Now I know that I have to practice more, get more and better sources, cite them when I speak, and grab those “um’s” before they leave my mouth. Doing my first speech was scary, but for the next one, I don’t think I will be half as nervous. It really is a casual atmosphere in the classroom, and I think everyone knows that now.
Thinking back on my first speech I was relatively pleased with my performance. I was definitely nervous and some nerves did show a little bit throughout my speech. One example of this is that I played with my bangs way too much. I’ve decided it is best if I pin them up next time so it does not become a habit. Also I can work on doing my speech in a mirror so I know exactly what I look like in front of the class. Another issue during my speech was that I did let a few “Ums” slip. I worked really hard on not letting them in my speech, but hopefully even more practice will fix that completely. I will ask my mom and dad to sit down and listen to my speech with a pen and paper in front of them so they can mark down. This way, if I do say any of these filler words I know exactly when I say them and work on leaving them out. The best way to fix something is to know exactly when you do something. The last thing that was pointed out to me was that I read from my note cards too much. I am not exactly sure on how to fix that since what I read were the citations I had to make throughout the presentation. I tried my best to leave out most of the information and just put key words of the citations on the note card, but then I was not sure if that qualified as memorizing. I decided to put almost the full citations on the card so next time I will just put key words of the citations so I know exactly what to say without having to read it.
The areas that I excelled in were actually extremely surprising to me. I worked very hard on making the citations as conversational as possible and it obviously worked. I’m ecstatic that that hard work really paid off in the end. I thought that using different examples so everyone knew what I was trying to make them understand went pretty well as well. The audience seemed to be able to grasp the concept of the purpose of my speech. I tried to find examples that everyone would be able to refer to and completely understand rather than references only few people would get. I think I really found good ways to communicate my information so that everyone in the class understood everything I put out there for them to learn.
I could have done a lot better on my first speech. I wasn't prepared. I didn't practice much if at all and I should have. When I went over the speech in my head, it sounded perfect and then when I got up there, it wasn't. I was so nervous. I forgot what I wanted to say. Somethings I could improve is saying "um" too much, getting more sources, and practicing so I'm not so nervous. I believe that there was quite a few good things about my speech. I believe I was clear on my speaking. I knew what I was talking about because it was something I was interested in. Lastly, I made eye contact with everyone. Although I know I could have done better, I think I did pretty well.
All things considered, I was pretty content with my speech. It definitely could have been better, but for my first speech, I think I did alright. That being said, there are definitely some areas in which I could use improvement. First and foremost, I need to relax. I know I came across as calm and collected up there, but deep down, I was pretty nervous. Even to the point that I completely left out big chunks of my speech. Another issue I have is with the conversational citations. I couldn't think of anyway to indicate a citation other than by using 'according to...'. I guess it worked, but I felt that the repetition of the same phrase made some parts of speech seem flat and bland. My third problem, according to the professor, was that I had my thumb in my pocket. For shame.
In order to alleviate my nerves, I think the best thing to do would be to practice my future speeches in front of my friends. I recited my speech several times to my own reflection in the bathroom mirror, but when you actually get in front of a crowd with all eyes on you, all that preparation goes out the window. It's a totally different ball game when people are actually listening to you and expecting you to be well informed and entertaining.
As for my second issue, the awkwardness of my citations, I'm kind of at a loss. I suppose the best way to come up with more varied way to introduce citations would be to 'borrow' them from other public speakers. I'll watch how the pros do it and see if I can learn a trick or two.
My third issue should be the easiest to overcome. Next time, I'm going to wear pants without pockets. Problem solved.
I guess the strongest aspect of my speech was my delivery. I'm fairly confident in my ability to express myself. My job forces me to speak with complete strangers on a regular basis. One on One communication is certainly different from speaking to a group, but many of the mechanics are the same. Tempo and pacing are very important, as is eye contact and clarity of speech. In those areas, I think I did a good job.
For this being my first speech, I was pretty happy with it. I wasn’t as comfortable as I would have liked to be. I need to improve on relying less on my note cards, making more eye contact and citing more in my speech. Since I was so nervous, I had forgotten a lot of what I had practiced at home. Even though I knew all of the information, I just couldn’t remember while I was in front of the class, and this made me look at my note cards for help. Since I was using my note cards so often, I didn’t make as much eye contact as I should have. Lastly, I didn’t cite verbally as much as I should have, maybe I didn’t cite enough in my outline either. To work on these issues, I will practice more than I did. I wasn’t very happy with the amount of time I had to practice, but that was my own fault. I was happy with my clear speaking voice and I had good posture. I didn’t move too much while I was speaking. I have things to work on to make my next speech better and I will be practicing the areas I need to improve on. Overall, for my first speech, I was pretty happy with it. I learned a lot from this speech and my next speech will be even better because of it.
I could have done a lot better with my speech. I was very unhappy with my presentation, but it was only my first speech. I thought my outline was very well but i did not speak as well as i wrote.i relied on my note cards to much, if i would've practiced more my presentation would've went smoother. The note cards denied me the eye contact to the audience. i need to work on how clear i pronounce words and how loud my voice is. the word "um" was used since i was nervous.The use of "um" needs to be lowered to zero usage. since this was my first speech I believe that the next will be an improvement. I have critique to learn from and i will use my mistakes as an advantage. The next one will definitely be a lot better.
I believe some of the areas that I need to work on for my next speech are that I need to site my sources more and better, during my speech because I was nervous I left out some sources. I think I also read off my note cards a little when I was reading my quotes instead of glancing down and reading. Also I need to make better contact with the audience, keeping improving on eye contact and as Prof. M said to change up my tone when giving my speech. Some of the good things that I think I did were just presenting my speech because public speaking is feared more than death. I think I had good posture when presenting and had a good opening and memorable statement.
I believe some of the areas that I need to work on for my next speech are that I need to site my sources more and better, during my speech because I was nervous I left out some sources. I think I also read off my note cards a little when I was reading my quotes instead of glancing down and reading. Also I need to make better contact with the audience, keeping improving on eye contact and as Prof. M said to change up my tone when giving my speech. Some of the good things that I think I did were just presenting my speech because public speaking is feared more than death. I think I had good posture when presenting and had a good opening and memorable statement.
Speech delivery is a formula that can be conquered if you put into it what is needed. I need to improve on letting my nerves get the best of me, sourcing correctly, and insuring my closing does not drag on. I definitely got a taste of how much hard work goes into creating and delivering an effective speech. Overall I think I will be able to accomplish the goals that I set for myself and continue to improve on my research and delivery process.
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