Intersting Concpets

The thing that interested me is in chapter 13, the different types of informative speeches. I didn’t know that there could be so much and I didn’t know that they had different categories. I thought an informative speech was just an informative speech. Another thing that interested me is the different types of organizational patterns. I never really thought of using another type for my outline. I guess that the different types of organizational patterns depend on how you want your speech to be viewed because you could go with the chronological pattern, where you can explain how someone or something has developed. Or you can go with the spatial pattern where you can describe and physical or directional relationship between objects or places. Lastly, is the topical pattern where you make subtopics and explain them, this is my favorite to use.

Components of an introduciton and conclusion

The components of an introduction are stating your purpose, thesis, main points, and establish your credibility. The components for a conclusion are to review your main points, reinforce your purpose and to provide closure for the audience. I would use these ideas for my speech by making sure I have all these components when I am writing my outline that way when it comes time for my speech I am ready. In introduction I would try and make my purpose, thesis, main points, and credibility as interesting as possible so the audience wouldn’t be bored. Then in my conclusion I will restate my main points by rewording it and not make it seem like I just said the same exact thing from my introduction. Then for closure I will try and leave the audience wanting more. I’m just not sure how I will do that just yet.

Speech Buddy Videos

In the videos they say that telling a story is a good attention getter, I have never thought to use a story because it would just seem that the introduction would be way to long. Now I know that a story would be a good attention getter I want to try and use it for my next speech. From the videos about informative speeches the speakers just talked about their topic without choosing a side. I think that with my topic it is going to be kind of hard to not choose a side, but I am going to try and stay away from taking a side or trying to persuade my audience to my feelings toward the topic.

Interesting/useful concept from ch.7 or ch.8

One concept that I found interesting and useful is the transition part of the chapter. I know transitions are used in between ideas to make the speech run smoothly. I also didn’t know that there are different types of transitions that we are able to use in our speeches. I always thought of a speech as an essay where our transitions couldn’t be “next I will be talking about….” But after reading chapter 8 I know that it’s okay to use that as a transition between my main points. Now I know that essays and speeches are different and I shouldn’t be writing them the same. In our next speech I will remember to use transitions so my speech is able to flow better.

Facts and Statistics

I find facts and statistics most effective in an informative speech because you are basically teaching the audience about your topic. It is also effective when you are giving an example in your speech and your example somehow ties into your fact or statistic. I find facts and statistics effective in every speech; you can’t go wrong in letting the audience know what everyone else in the world thinks. I don’t think I can think of any situation where facts or statistics wouldn’t be useful in a speech. I always think that they are interesting especially in a speech. If I hear one fact that really interests me then that would be the only thing I would remember at the end of that person speech. But I guess having too many facts can then leave your audience thinking that your whole speech is about facts and none of your own ideas.

Speech Buddy Videos

What I found helpful was which of my supporting material was best for me to use. In the video it explained the different types of supporting material and how it affects the audience. The video also talked about media credibility and how we should be careful in the sources we choose. This can help me on my next speech by not relying just on what I read in one newspaper. From the videos it’s telling me to not just rely on one type of source but I should have a variety of different sources. The videos also taught me how to organize my speech and the different patterns that I am able to use. I could use this information to help me better organize my speech by knowing all the organization methods. Transitions are also important which I didn’t have in my first speech but I will have in my next one.

Self Evaluation

Now I can relax, our first speech is over and done with. After that experience I felt that I had a lot that I could have worked on prior to giving my speech. I feel that it was pretty good for our classes first time. The thing that I could work on is my time management. Every time I looked at the time cards I panicked and I lost my train of thought. I guess I could time myself better so I can fall into the time frame.

I think that I achieved the purpose of my speech very well except for the time frame. I feel that I had a lot of information in my speech about the Hawaiian lei. I thought I timed myself pretty well but I guess I just took way to much time talking about one thing. Overall I think I did well I just need to work on eye contact and memorizing or practicing my speech a bit more.

During my speech I felt a bit confident like I can see myself doing well, but then once I started talking I could feel my voice shake. I felt comfortable when I was up there but for some reason when I started talking that’s when I started to become nervous. Then when I saw the time card for four minutes and thirty seconds that’s when I started to feel uncomfortable. Then I had to rush to get to the end of my speech and that’s when I started to read off my card. Every time I looked at the time cards I lost my train of thought and would have to look at my note cards or my slides to remember where I left off.

If I was able to do it all over again then I would probably practice my speech more then I did and I would have timed myself better. In my delivery I would have made more eye contact with the audience and tried staying away from “like” or “um”. I also would have not made my slide show so long because there were some pictures that I didn’t get to explain because I was trying to have my speech within the time frame.

One goal that I have for improving the content in my next speech is to mention more support in my speech because I knew that I only cited my sources once in my speech. One thing that I could improve in the delivery in my next speech is to make more eye contact and memorize my speech a bit more. I also could try not using “like” or “um” as much as I did, which I didn’t know I was saying so much in my speech.

When I first watched the video tape I noticed that I was really loud and I noticed that I stuttered a lot because I was so nervous. I also noticed how much times I said “um”. I couldn’t watch the whole tape because I felt that I could have done better if I wasn’t so nervous. I thought I wasn’t going to be while I was walking up there but once I started talking the butterflies in my stomach came.

I think the only that I did distracting is when I started looking or relying on my cards at the end. I also got distracted by how much times I said “um” and I hate it because I didn’t really notice it when I was giving my speech.

My eye contact was about a six because in the beginning I was giving good eye contact. But every time I saw the time cards it just worried me and I just forgot what I was talking about then I would have to look at my cards and think where I left off. Then at the end I just lost total eye contact with the audience because I saw that I only had thirty seconds left and I just had to rush my ending.

I think I would give myself a B because in the beginning I was doing fine I hardly looked at my note cards, I was giving good eye contact and my volume was really good. I did the assignment that was asked I just failed in keeping my speech within the time frame. But I think I did good overall just my ending of my speech could have been better if I didn’t have the feeling of being rushed. Especially this being our first speech I think I did pretty well for my first time.
After doing our first speech, now we know what to do and what not to do for our next one, our speeches can only get better. By watching ourselves on tape we can see for ourselves what we actually do which is a good thing because sometimes some people have to see it for themselves in order to believe it.