Week 5 Discussion 3

One concept that I found interesting and useful from Chapter 5 is everything related to audience adaption. I think that it is important because in order to give a successful speech, you must know how the audience is feeling towards your topic. If they seem bored, you must find ways to get them to pay attention and make them interested in your topic again. Observing the audience's facial expressions and adapting to the ways they are feeling is the key to a good speech. I tend to not look at the audience's reactions because it makes me nervous when I see them dozing off. I hope that while I am giving my speeches I can adapt to the audience on a personal level.

week 5 discussion 2

Chapter 5 discusses the importance of audience analysis and audience adaption in the speech development process. Audience analysis means that you pay attention to audience's feedbacks through facial expressions. Adapting to the audience's feedbacks is called audience adaption. Audience analysis and adaption is important because in order to have a favorable outcome with your speech. You, as the speaker, are responsible for keeping the audience interested in your speech. The importance of audience adaption is that you adapt to the audience's needs. If they are falling asleep on you, you must come up with a strategic way to wake them up and make them interested in your project!

I plan on using audience analysis in my speech by making sure I am watching the audience as I am giving my speech. If they seem like they are bored, or not listening, I will try to use some sort of stragety to get them interested again!

week 5 discussion 1

While watching Courtney's Light Pollution speech, I noticed that in her introduction she summarized the main points that she was going to talk about and also discussed how she was going to give solutions to her main points. However, she seemed really nervous and it didn't seem like she knew what she was talking about because she kept looking down at her note cards.

I like the way that Matthew started his speech off and it was a good attention grabber. He spoke at a steady pace but it began to become a little boring. To me it seemed like he was a little nervous because he wasn't standing still and he kept looking at the note cards.


From watching these videos, I learned that I need to start my speech off in a way that will get the audiences attention. I also learned that I need to incorporate my main points while introducing my topic. The one thing that I learned that I should not do is stare at my note cards. I need to know my speech and look at the class, not the podium.

Week 4 Discussion 3

Chapter 6 gave plenty of useful information. After reading the chapter, I learned many ways to identify multiple perspectives and sources. While researching your topic, it is important to learn others viewpoint's because not only does it help with the diversity of your research, it also allows you to search more sources for information. The main questions that you need to ask yourself when you are researching a topic are:
1. Who might be knowledgeable about this topic?
2. What organizations address the topic you are researching?
3. What events are hapening related to your topic?
4. How can I find the information I need?

I find these questions to be important because when I begin to research my topic, I never know where to begin or what questions to ask. In the past I have just gone to Google or Yahoo! and used keywords but I have found that many times I get information that I am not looking for. I know that in future reference I will be asking myself these questions in order to research my topics more efficiently.

Speech Buddy Videos Chapter 6

The speech buddy videos for chapter six taught me how to make my research solid. "In order to make sure that your research is solid you must determine what you know and do not know about the topic, gather information that covers multiple perspectives, and evaluate the sources you use for validity." It also referred to the library as the place to go to find sources. I find that making my research solid is important because it means that I am feeding the correct information to my audience. Also, knowing that I have the right information will make me feel more comfortable while I am giving my speeches. I don't exactly enjoy going to the library but it is useful because there are newspapers, journals, books, articles, encyclopedias, etc. that I can use to help write my speeches. In the preparation process I will be going to the library to find sources that make my speeches successful. I will also be reviewing my sources to make sure that they cover multiple perspectives (in order to get all sides of the story) and I try to evaluate the validity of the websites or books I am using.

In the 6.1 use it video, I noticed that although she stumbled on her words, she kept talking like nothing was wrong. This is definitely something that I plan on doing. I am not expecting the perfect speech but I know that in order to have a strong finish to my speech, I must not get nervous. The best thing that I can do is continue talking like I had made an error.

Research Interviews

I haven't had much experience in research interviews besides the ones that I had to do my sophomore year of high school. We had to interview people who were working in the field that we were interested in at the time. I went to my dad's work and interviewed four of his co-workers. It was easy for me to interview them considering I had known them for many years so I wasn't really nervous and overall the interviews went well. The thing that i could have improved on was knowing the subject in which I was asking questions. I was interested in Marketing but because I didn't know much about it, I found asking questions to be difficult. The best advice that I can give it to research your topic. It makes the whole interviewing process easier and it makes you feel more comfortable when you know what you are actually talking about. Also, its best to pretend like you have met the interviewee before. I find that it makes me less nervous and it helps me open up and really be myself during the interviewing process.

Week 3 Discussion 3

While reading chapter two I came across strageties to build confidence before the day of your speech. In this section I learned that you should know your introduction and conclusion well. I find this useful because it seems like it will make me more confident in myself while I am giving my speech. It states that by knowing my introduction I will start off smooth which will calm my nerves and by knowing that I have memorized my conclusion, it will increase my positive attitude. I have tried this once before and it seemed to work well so I will definitely be using this technique while I am preparing for my speeches. I hope it works!

Week 3 Discussion 2

Video 2.1: Jeanine taught me ways to manage anxiety while public speaking. I learned that in order to be calm you must use your senses and focus on what will go right and not wrong. This is useful because before and during speeches I tend to think of all of the possible ways I can mess up. In order to over come this, I can use breathing techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing and meditation breathing.

Video 2.2: Anthony and Jeanine taught me ways to manage my anxiety. From Anthony I learned to practice the introduction and the conclusion because it makes you more confident. While practicing my speeches, I will learn to memorize my introductions and conclusions in order for my speeches to run smoothly.

Video "Intro: Jessica": By watching Jessica's speech, I noticed that she had a strong introduction and conclusion in order to keep the audience interested.

Overall, these videos taught me what to do and what not to do and I will definitely be keeping Anthony and Jeanine's tips in mind.


:)

Week 3 Discussion 1

When I think of speaking infront of an audience I become very nervous. It is not the fact that I think I am going to forget what I am supposed to say, it is that I do not like the fact that all eyes are on me. In the past I have preferred doing group presentations because I know that the audience is focused on more than one person. During my senior year of highschool I had to present a lot of projects. The biggest presentation I had to give that year was my speech that went along with my senior research paper. It was ten minutes long and I remember dreading the day of speeches when the project first got assigned. I was psyching mysef out and setting myself up for failure. The day of speeches came quickly and when it was my turn, I began to feel sick to my stomach. I knew my topic well which eased my nerves and before I knew it, the speech was over. I had accomplished it without any mistakes and I left the class feeling really good about the grade I would recieve.

In chapter 2, it mentions uncertainty about the audience's response. I feel that this is significant to the way I feel because when giving a speech I am constantly questioning what the audience is going to think. I am always afraid of messing up and I start to wonder what the audience will say if I do so. Even if I personally know every person in the room, I feel that the audience's response is what makes me so nervous to give speeches.