Week 9, Question 3

I particularly likes the small section where the book talked about making sure you speak to your audience (and not your media) during your presentation, when using media of course.  I can see this being a struggle for new speakers, and possible even seasoned ones.  It is very easy to get caught up in looking at whatever you are presenting and loosing sight of the audience.  As the book states, the audience will feel ignored and get bored.  It will also be hard for them to hear you if your back is to them.  To avoid this, a new speaker is going to have to make a very conscious effort.  It will be very hard because I assume it may be a magnetic comfort zone like a table or the white boards in the class room :) As with most things, practice! practice! practice! and this can hopefully be avoided.

Week 9, Question 2

In all honesty I haven't been to many public speaking events, and none that were really recent.  I attended the Tim Wise conference at the Rocklin Campus just prior to this semester starting but he didn't use any media presentation.  Other than that, my experiences with public speaking are teachers lecturing in class as school has been my life for the last few years.  Some use media and others don't.  In most cases I prefer the teachers that use media as part of their lecture material.  It really helps for taking notes and often pictures, diagrams, or charts help clarify certain points or aspects the instructor is trying to teach.  In addition, often teachers are lecturing faster than any human can write so it's nice to have the slides up for note taking purposes.  This is also helpful if the teacher gets off track.  Once they notice they are lecturing off track by looking at the slide, they will usually head back in the right direction.  Outside of that, being that I am an RN major, classes are often related to medical material.  Presented media is very helpful in these cases because it really helps to see a real life picture of whatever disease, disorder, infection, etc. is being discussed.  Simple text just doesn't teach as good as media pictures in these cases.

Week 9, Question 1

In using a visual aid which contains visual and audio files the speaker needs to consider a few things and make sure he/she does the research necessary to credit or discredit the media clip.  Before choosing to incorporate something into your speech visual aid, complete research needs to be done to ensure the clip is authentic.  With the internet the way it is in these times, just about anything is possible and many bias and untruthful things are posted online.  Rate my Professor is just one example.  These are peoples opinions and are in no way a valid or factual basis for research or evidence.  Once the media has been deemed credible, then the speaker must ensure they cite the source of the media being show so it is very clear to the audience.  The source needs to contain the 'original' source location not just generically saying something like 'YouTube'.  With the speaker adhering to these simple guidelines, their credibility will be that much more in tact for the presentation.

Week 8, Question 1

In the speech buddy videos 9.1 and 9.2, the second one in both examples seemed to have the most downfalls, in my opinion.  In 9.1, the second intro was very busy and unclear.  This would confuse the audience and I  didn't hear a clear thesis or purpose.  In 9.2, the second example, the eye contact was lacking and the speakers voice was very monotone and there was no clear ending to me.  In 13.1A, Evan had erratic eye contact when he started out.  It seemed to me that there was no clear theses and he didn't clearly state his points that I heard.  I wasn't sure if he was speaking on what techno was, or how it was created, or all of the above.  I also thought he should have played samples for the audience so they could relate better.  It was a very uninteresting topic unless he was speaking to a music class.  Most people in a general audience could not relate to the information he was providing.  In the 13.1B video, she was more geared to a general audience.  Though I did not hear her clear thesis (purpose) or her 3 points, she had a cure ending.  In the USE IT video, man that girl was a mess.  She had poor eye contact and was speaking way to fast! It seemed like she should have practiced way more.  She was also very unfamiliar with the language she was trying to use and she stumbled quite a bit.  I was also unclear of her exact purpose and I heard her mention 2 points versus 3 in the beginning but then somewhere in the middle she mentioned 3.  Poor thing.  She was a wreck.

Week 8, Question 3

I particularly think the part of chapter 9 where they go into detail about making a strong closure is very helpful.  In closing a speech, this is arguably the most important aspect.  This is the part of the speech where you will be wither remembered or forgotten.  This is the part of your speech where, if you are calling for an action, people will be motivated to take that action.  The book states to ensure you review the main points, reinforce your purpose, and to provide closure.  Depending on the type of speech you are giving, some of these may be more important than others.  Personally, I thing the second two are probably the most important.  regardless of the type of speech, you want to make certain you reinforce your purpose.  Review whatever information, or provide the information necessary for your audience to easily attain what ever the purpose of your speech was.  If it's an informative speech, give the audience easy access and reference information, if it's a persuasive speech, do the same so they know where and how to take action, etc.  I also liked how it was mentioned to thank the audience.  To me, this is a very courteous gesture.  People are busy and have many things to do in their lives.  I am sure, regardless of what your presenting about, they could have been doing something else.  A simple thank you can never hurt.

Week 8, Question 2

The introduction and conclusion of a speech are the most important for many reasons.  In the introduction, your audience is going to decide, based on your introduction, how much or how little they are going to actually 'tune in' and that is your main opportunity to sell whatever your purpose is and establish your credibility.  Per the text, your intro needs to get the audience’s attention, Indicate the purpose and thesis, and establish your credibility.  Your time limit needs to be considered and a few basic attention grabbing ideas for new speakers can be to cite a fact or statistic that is interesting or startling, tell a non-offensive joke, or ask a question you want the audience to ponder and answer by the end .  In conclusion make sure you review the main points, reinforce what your purpose of the speech, and provide closure of some sort.  This is the part of the speech the audience will remember most so this is your main opportunity to call for an action, if that is your purpose.  I am still tossing a few ideas around for my informative speech, but being that I am in the medical field it will likely be geared as such.  I am leaning toward speaking on the controversial vaccination Gardasil which protects against the Sexually transmitted Disease HPV (Human Papilloma Virus).  In my introduction I will implement the startling statistics of this disease (80% of women will be infected by age 50) and inform my audience how NO One is safe from it.  My conclusion will likely again state my startling statistic and urge my audience to protect themselves and their children and how/where to do so.