Week 15 Question 3

I think that the most helpful thing that I learned during class this semester was the different breathing techniques. They really helped before and after the speech when my adrenaline was running high. It was a big help to me. The other thing I learned is that not everyone is judging me when I'm speaking. I always thought that I was being judged. The comment cards helped me to realize that people are just listening attentively. Interestingly, I have also noticed through some of my comment cards that there are actually students in the class that genuinely care about how my speech goes. People have been very supportive. That was a huge revelation. The hardest part was the preparation of myself right before the speech. The help of my classmates, the breathing techniques and the overall ability to just try led to me being a better public speaker. Not perfect speaker, just a better one.

Week 15 Question 1

 In my future endeavors, I plan to take with me the ability to actually speak in front of people. When this semester first started, public speaking was something that I was so scared of, all I wanted to do was run away. Now I have a better understanding of how to use the skills I have learned to apply to my everyday life. I have learned how to just take a deep breath, breath normally through a speech and soon it will be over. This last speech I remember seeing the 1:30 card and the 5:30 card. That must mean that I blanked out on most of it. Oh well, at least I tried. That has been this entire semester for me. Just try! I have also learned that not everyone is staring at me or judging me even though it feels that way. Most people are just scared about giving their speech like I was a moment ago while sitting at my desk.

Week 15 Question 2

I think my favorite speech of this semester was the tribute speech. I liked that it was something that I could apply to my personal everyday life. I'm not sure that in my line of work that I would have much use for the other types of speeches such as the persuasive or cultural. The tribute speech showed that you can outline and prepare a really good tribute to someone. They were also very meaningful speeches. A few of us got choked up while speaking about a loved one. This speech just had a heartwarming feel to it that I really enjoyed. It was really awesome to see the different emotions that were invoked from the tributes. It was a very meaningful speech. I also liked that it was very easy to prepare, short and sweet. The outline was pretty simple and self explanatory. It made it a very easy assignment.

Question 2

When having a persuasive conversation I tend to always use the problem and solution method. I mostly speak with my husband about things like that and him being a guy, tends to respond better to me giving him a problem and then a solution. He has no problem with debating it with me but in the end, I tend to persuade him that what I want to do is best. My reasoning seems to always work. It makes me wonder if my speech will be the same and if I will have the same ability to persuade my audience. I think that this speech will be by far the hardest of my life. I can only hope that my reasoning for knowledge of one's health can win over the audience. It's a topic that I am passionate about being in the healthcare field, so I want that to come through in my presentation.

Week 13 Question 3

My persuasive speech is all about The Informed Patient, so I thought that this week I would talk about The Uninformed Audience. I feel like my topic is not something that many would think about if they weren't familiar with the healthcare field. I intend to show that my topic is important and show the audience that I have expertise on the subject. I have many personal experiences that I intend to speak about that will help with my credibility. I will address both sides/perspectives of my topic as well as be subtle with my persuasion. I want to inform people about my issue, then let them know that there are ways to inform themselves that they should maybe be doing what I'm saying instead. I just want everyone to know what they are asking for when they go to the doctor, not just say something because Dr. Oz said it was right. He doesn't always have all the details. He is more of a persuasive speaker on his shows but he tends to be more one sided. I will show both sides.

Week 13 Question 2

A sea of persuasion exists all around us at all times. My neighbors have been hinting that we should replace their side of the fence for weeks. That we are choosing to ignore. I watch quite a few shows on TV and they all have commercials saying that their product is the best or tastes better or 'if you use this you will have...' All of these things are trying to persuade us to do or buy things. Even on the news with some big stories, they only tell you one side, and they say that side is right. You have to be a critical consumer or you won't have any money left. If you see something you really want to try then go ahead and try it. Just don't try 20 different things with the entirety of your grocery budget. One must have great willpower in this day and age. There are even people that come to my door trying to sell me things or tell me their religion is better than mine. I remain strong and true to myself while politely telling them I'm not interested. I just try to pick and choose things that are out there. I make sure not to be bullied by anyone while they are trying to persuade me.

Week 13 Question 1

While I like the idea of the Monroe Motivated Sequence, for me personally I will be using the Problem/Solution organizational pattern. Monroe seems to be a bit more invasive to me. It requires that you capture your audience in a way that makes them want to change whatever it was you were speaking about. P/S is more my speed: to inform and persuade the audience to consider my opinion. It seems more like a show of opinion than an actual task. Because of those reason I feel like the Problem/Solution organizational pattern would be better for me. I like the simpleness of it. Problem solving is a main point in many conversations and I think that many people would better understand me if I used that pattern. "Clearly establishing that a problem exists provides the foundation for persuading the audience that the solution should be implemented." This is the plan...

Week 12 Question 3

One thing that I read this week that I found interesting albeit simple was to not use offensive or aggressive language. One would think that it was a given but some people tend to still be aggressive when speaking. The book talks about the language used can spark different emotions. These emotions can be good or bad. If they're bad, the speaker looks bad because of what they said. Language that provokes negative emotions can't be used effectively in a speech. It can damage your credibility with the audience. It's better to just stay neutral and if you're being persuasive, try to stay on the positive side. You will get a better response from the audience. It's sort of a catch more flies with honey that with vinegar. You can teach someone something more easily with being nice than with being rude or obnoxious. Neutral is better, stick to it.

Week 12 Question 2

I took an English class a year or so ago and we discussed in detail "gender roles." I have come to the consensus that no one will ever be completely happy with where they fall, or what kind of language is used. I do think that we should try to be as neutral as possible in our speaking, if only to sound more professional. The book basically says to try to remain neutral. The Flickr pages show a lot of different opinions, some similar to myself-I feel that it isn't insulting to call a grown woman "girl." So many of the "acceptable" and politically correct terms have been changed as to not offend anyone. One day there won't be anything left to choose from. It is frustrating to me that we are using so much of our time on this when we could just be speaking about our topic. I plan to use as neutral of terms as I can. Someone may always be offended. You just have to try your best.

Week 12 Question 1

The videos this week showed some interesting tactics of voice usage but I didn't like these as much as some previous ones. I do believe that sometimes it's not what you say but the way you say it. An audience will pick up on anything that seems out of place, whether it's a slip in jargon or saying 'um', they will notice everything. I think it's important to not use slang or things that could be misinterpreted. When I speak, I tent to use a lot of 'me' or 'I' which is not the best thing. Having the ability to use language correctly is very important in good public speaking. In the tribute speech, I am looking forward to giving a speech that is moving, that someone will really enjoy. I can still remember some of the great ones. That means that the speaker made such an impact that I still think of it. Language is a wonderful tool for speaking well. Hopefully my next speech will contain language that is appropriate and lingering.

Self Evaluation 2

Status post the informative speech today. I'm still alive and well, nervous already about the next speech. Even though I didn't get the A I wanted, I managed to accomplish it! That alone is a huge improvement from the last presentation. Thank you to the girls that gave me a pep talk beforehand. It really helped! I believe that I did achieve the purpose of my speech. There was the information and I gave it to the audience. It could have been a little more detailed. I felt comfortable with the material but I was not at all comfortable speaking in front of people. It was better though, that the power point was there. It was a measure of comfort that I had something to "lean" on. I would definitely research more than I did. The speech turned into an overview and it could have had more details. I also needed to cite sources in the speech because it would have made it more believable. I think I did pretty well in delivery, my mouth wasn't as dry as it has been. In the next speech I want to have more information to give and I would like it to sound more personable. The speech shouldn't sound like I'm naming things off. For delivery I am planning on doing the breathing relaxation techniques a bit more beforehand. The main thing that was different from my last speech was that I actually spoke. It was incredibly scary for me last time and so I decided not to present. The good part is that I felt better about this speech, the content I knew better. My eye contact could have been better, I think I would give myself a six. I think my grade of a B+ was very reasonable. I didn't feel like I did a great job. My speaking voice is good, I knew the material. I do think it was a little bit boring. Unfortunately I didn't cite sources in my speech and that is something that I plan to change in the persuasive speech. This speech was by far better than my last one, as the last one was nonexistent. I want very badly to improve on the upcoming presentation and look forward to feeling confident while giving it. I have never been a very good speaker. It's very hard for me to stand up and be judged by what I have to say. I know that everyone else is just hoping that you won't go over your time, they want to go home early and they are just thinking about their own speech but it's still hard. I want to choose a subject that I am passionate about so that I can be confident in presenting. I know from my own personal experience that I am thinking the same thing as I described above while listening to other speeches. I just need to relax, be ready in my information and facts and perhaps even practice before a little more. I can do this!

Week 9 Question 3

I thought that the idea of using a paper handout to show ideas was a really cool idea to me! To give the audience the web address of something you are speaking about or to show a smaller diagram of what you are speaking about. I have had a couple people hand out things during speeches and they have been very successful in doing so. It gave the audience just enough information to read over without being distracting from the speaker. I agree when they say that you have to be careful about when you distribute it. It can make a speech very awkward if done at the wrong time. You need to think about when the audience will need the information and you definitely don't want a dull lag of quiet time while you pass them out. The book says that it's better to give the handouts at the end of a speech so the audience isn't distracted. I believe that if done so properly, I may be able to give them out during a speech.

Week 9 Question 2

An event that I attended had a speaker that used power point slides to illustrate his topic. He showed pictures of things that helped to clarify certain things in the speech. He also listed his main points on them. The speech was approximately 15 minutes long and he had approximately 8 slides. It made me think of how many to use for my speech. I want to have enough to illustrate my point but not so many that I am flipping through them. I don't think that his media was any kind of distraction. They added just enough that you could read them and still listen to the speaker. I'm not sure that there could have been any improvement in the presentation only because I was so enraptured in the speech and his passionate presentation that I didn't see anything that could have been improved upon. I see this as being a fabulous example of a speech that I want to base mine on.

Week 9 Question 1

To what do we owe to the audience? Do we really want them to trust us? I believe that we as speakers owe it to the audience to be truthful. If we alter something to serve our own purpose we have the potential to lose our audiences trust. It would be incredibly awkward to have someone know the photo you were using and call you out that it was altered. You also have the potential to have to lie your way out of the alteration of the image. Then you would have to continue the lie or even worse, you may have to explain your reasoning as to why you decided to alter the media in the first place. I believe that there is always media out there to prove your point. You just have to find it. You don't need to alter it to your advantage. There will always be more out there.

Week 8 Question 2

According to the book, an introduction consists of a purpose, something to show the nature of your speech. You have to have an attention getter. There is nothing worse than a speech that is boring from the beginning. Establishing your credibility again is very important. Once you introduce your thesis you can then preview your main points to show your audience where you are going with the speech. The conclusion is equally important. It needs to have a recency effect-the audience needs to remember everything you just spoke about or at least your most important point. You should reinforce your purpose and provide closure. It's really awkward when you either don't have a conclusion or your audience doesn't know when your speech is over. It is incredibly important to leave the audience with a lasting impression of what you were speaking about. The best speeches are the ones that a person will take with them to another person.

Week 8 Question 1

I think that the example videos for Chapter 13 were very interesting. I liked the way the Evan delivered his speech. He had a good introduction, used citations correctly and showed us what his main points would be prior to starting the speech. There were no personal opinions expressed which is required of an informative speech. I am looking forward to my informative speech for that reason alone. I think that by watching the videos, I now have a better understanding about how to give my speech and what the instructor is looking for. It was hard for me to understand the chapter in the book. I found it a lot easier to watch the videos and then relate myself to that. So now that the videos are over, I plan to re-work how I was going to present my speech and will now be making it even better than it was.

Self-Evaluation

I was asked this week to evaluate myself on my speech that was performed last week. I, unfortunately, did not present my speech. Not only was I not comfortable or confident, I was completely unprepared to give the speech, my demonstration things were unavailable for me after work and I did not have the confidence to get up in front of the audience and perform. In a previous post, I wrote about what scares me the most about speaking in public. It was the fear of failure. In my fear of presenting I actually made a worse fear come true. I have failed on a speech by not doing it, by not trying. I had done a fair amount of research for the speech, completed my outline and turned it in. I do believe that my outline achieved the purpose of my speech. It showed this history of my topic as well as part of the demonstration and also my experience with the topic. Reading it should have given the reader a sense of what the speech would bring. I feel as if I gave up, not a feeling I'm liking. Hybrid classes for me have not been incredibly successful and this one seems to be no different. When left to my own devices, it is hard to find the motivation to work. In the future, and the future also means right now, I plan to work a whole lot harder to get a good grade on the next speech.  I am planning on being more organized in content to better deliver my points. To read and research, make the note cards, making sure to do the breathing exercises, be completely prepared for the next speech. I want to better research my topic so that I am more familiar with it to be able to confidently deliver the information. I want it to sound like I am speaking to a friend so that I may have good eye contact with the audience. From the first speech, when I get nervous, I pace back and forth. I think it may be to try to distract the audience from what I am saying. Confidence should help, I hope. There were three mentioned sources in my outline, which is what was required of me. Although overcoming performance anxiety is going to continue to be a challenge for me, I feel that that is what college is all about. To learn and grow as a person while on the way to a degree. The feeling of failure is waning now, to be replaced by a sense of wanting. Wanting to be better, wanting to pass, wanting to feel that I have accomplished the goal. By not presenting, I know I have dropped at least a letter grade. I'm hoping to be able to get the B in Comm 1 that may still be available to me. It would mean putting in a ton of effort, a task that I am willing to take on. As I sit here typing, I am thinking about the next speech. I am determined to make it better than the last one. Bring on the challenge!

Week 5 Question 3

I found the celebrity testimony to be most interesting. It says that the effectiveness of the speaker depends on their stature or the audience's impression of a person. It shows that Sandra Bullock, being America's sweetheart will probably have more credibility than Jesse James, being the bad boy. It has nothing to do with the person's knowledge of the topic. If a celebrity plays a part in a film with a disorder, becomes part of the group that benefits the disorder, the general audience will believe that the celebrity has a multitude of knowledge about the topic. That is not necessarily true. He is credible due to his status as a famous person. A celebrity who actually has a disease and the knowledge about it, is truly a credible celebrity source. You have to research and decide if you want to use a celebrity as a source, and you have to make sure that they know what they are talking about.

Week 5 Question 2

Facts and statistics are a great way to add color to any speech. They are well received at the beginning of a speech where there is an impact. They have to be facts that are scary or will capture attention. Adding too many can be tiresome. No one wants to listen to even a five minute speech from someone that is simply reading off facts. The statistics have to be true and believable to a point. Some speakers even go so far as to manipulate their facts. They say them differently or leave out others that would otherwise change their point. Facts and statistics also speak to the logical side of our brains. When we hear them we automatically try to make sense of them. They can be very helpful in proving a point. They make any speech more meaningful, more objective in a way. We hear 'facts' and think that they are true. No questions asked.

Week 5 Question 1

A short story or narrative would be helpful in my speech. It would relate me to the topic. I am planning on telling a story about why I love cookie dough. I will be sure to keep it short. Hopefully this will help with the audiences emotions and help me connect with them on a personal level.
I have been researching the history of chocolate chip cookies and have found several sources, all of which have a slightly different story to them. I will use a chronological pattern with my speech. I will start with the history then my experience with cookies and finally the demonstration. I am planning on asking some questions to the audience that will encourage audience participation and attention. I will convince them that you don't have to have a baked cookie to enjoy cookie dough. I am still thinking about how to flow from one topic to the next and sound conversational at the same time.

Week 4 Question 3

One concept from the reading that I found interesting and actually compared to my life, was the part about The Time. I went to see a speaker a few weeks ago and it was about 5:30 or 6ish that he started speaking. I was tired because I had just come from work and hadn't had dinner yet. This would have put me as one of those people that were grumpy and sort of didn't want to be there. The speaker was incredibly good and within one minute of him speaking I was completely intent on not missing anything he had to say. It shows was a good speaker he was. I'm sure he had researched the audience and realized that these are college students around dinner time that he was speaking to-a hard thing to do. The paragraph in the book goes on to suggest that an audience is more alert early in the morning. It is challenging to speak near a mealtime, when the audiences' attentiveness is at a minimum.

Week 4 Question 2

Audience analysis is incredibly important in any speech. You can analyse to be able to tailor your speech to your audience. Doing so can help you give a more successful speech. You wouldn't want to give a speech to someone that not only didn't know what you were speaking about or worse didn't care. In my speech preparation, I am planning to rehearse in front of my husband and friends to see what they think of it. I will then listen to pointers. During my speech to the class, I will ask things like 'who doesn't love chocolate chip cookie dough?' I want to engage the audience by telling them how good the dough is. Then I will ask what their favorites are. Speaking to my target audience, I will attempt to speak in a way that doesn't sound like an infomercial, more like a cooking show with a host close to my own age. Audience attitudes are also important. I am taking a risk by assuming that everyone likes cookie dough. I tried to pick a neutral topic that everyone will enjoy hearing about.

Week 4 Question 1

The videos this week were a new perspective for me. I never thought to gather the audiences' response to better the next speech. In the drinking speech I thought that Matthew did a great job by getting our attention at the beginning of the speech. To run off and pretend to vomit to make a point was very smart of him. Then he immediately started off with some scary statistics that I thought did an equally good job of getting my attention. Unfortunately the rest of the video did not play even after several attempts. The other videos, however, did give me some insight as to how to get information from the audience. It is a good thing to see how many people in the audience actually understood or even knew what you were speaking about. By asking both closed and open ended questions the speaker is able to gain the knowledge required to better prepare for and give the speech the next time.

Week 3 Question 3

There was one very interesting section in Chapter 6 that really made me think a little harder. I am a person who tries to watch the news everyday. It is important to me to keep up with the days events. I enjoyed the small section that talked about events that are happening now that relate to your research interview. You could use a book or journal as a source, but at the same time you could also use a newspaper or a news website as a credible source. It would help me better understand the speech if there were something in it that would relate to current events, especially if it was something reoccurring in history. You could perhaps relate information better to your audience. I believe that it's important to use a variety of sources. The newspapers that are out there are a wonderful fountain of information just waiting to be researched.

Week 3 Question 2

If you don't research, you could be telling your audience lies, or at minimum, nothing important. You might not know as much as you thought you did! Sierra College has a huge library. It also has librarians that can help with The Speech Buddy videos tell a lot about the importance of researching your speech before you present it. any kind of research that you might need. The videos stress the importance of using the resources at hand. A well researched speech goes over much better than one that you've just tried to throw together. It was also interesting to see other speeches that were given. They were very informative. I could tell that the speakers were passionate about what they were telling us. I could also tell that they had rehearsed and thoroughly researched their topic. The speeches sounded like they were teaching us something and telling a story at the same time. It makes for a great speech!

Week 3 Question 1

In the past, with my fear of speaking in public, I have not had the opportunity to conduct a Research Interview. I have however met many new people in my life that I enjoyed getting to know. People seem to respond to open-ended questions the best. It almost forces the person responding to think about an answer and not just give a yes or no. In the reading I have found many skills that would help with one such interview. You need to develop questions that will lead the conversation along a path hitting the main points along the way. The interviewer must always show that they are listening, make the speaker feel welcome, and conduct the interview in a comfortable setting. This also helps the speaker act more like a friend and is more likely to continue the conversation. This makes you more likely to have a successful interview.

Week 2 Question 3

When I read that Public Speaking is a Life Skill I thought that that was a great concept. Throughout our lives we will have to speak in front of people. Not being scared to do so is a valuable skill. The excerpt from the book speaks about the transferable skills such as finding information and organizational abilities. Habituation is something that can also help with the skill of public speaking-it is the process of not fearing a situation as it becomes more familiar to you. It can help manage anxiety. While developing our ability to speak in public, we also are becoming better listeners. Many of these skills can transfer into our jobs and personal lives. Learning how to convey ideas to a different group of people that may not be your peers, after researching your subject extensively can be used in many different types of jobs. It will also help you to be a better more flexible, and more versatile in your job.

Week 2 Question 2

Although it will be difficult for many of us, there are many strategies for managing anxiety. Before even starting a speech you need to visualize what you are planning to do. Imagine step-by-step what you need to do so that when you go to do it, you have a clear plan in mind. You need to control your feelings and maintain composure before you can ever give a speech comfortably. There are three different breathing relaxation techniques that you can use. The first is diaphragmatic breathing which is exactly as is sounds-breathing deeply and evenly with your diaphragm. The second is meditation breathing. You are concentrating on your breathing. Start by doing the diaphragmatic breathing and while doing so focus on every aspect of your breathing, thinking only about what you are doing. Lastly is the tension-release breathing exercises. In this one, you use the same diaphragmatic breathing as for the first two but this time find the tense muscles in your body and relax them one at a time while breathing. Make sure that before you go to present a speech that you have dressed for the occasion, that you are well-prepared and you perform your breathing exercises. During a speech if you start to shake or your voice cracks tell yourself that it isn't nerves. It's actually excitement. This puts you in a more positive frame of mind. Focus on your audience not on your shortcomings. When you're done, listen to your peers, realize that you're not the only person with anxiety and they try to learn from your performance. It will get better next time!

Week 2 Question 1

You know that feeling you get when you have to stand up and present something in front of your peers? That moment when you know that all eyes are on you and your every move is being watched, every drop of sweat that falls is being followed by eyes that are ready to judge you on your performance? Failing miserably after spending hours at home attempting to write a speech that is not only acceptable to the professor but equally impressive and funny to hear to my classmates. Having my hard work be thought of as stupid or even worse, be laughed at for doing something wrong. That is exactly how I feel when speaking in public. Every time I have to speak in front of people I get sweaty palms, my breathing rate increases and my mouth gets dry. All I am trying to do is get my speech out without sounding like a dork. The basis of my fear has to be the fear of failure which can relate to the 'Uncertainty about Evaluation.' To get up and speak in front of people and then fail is my biggest fear.
"The spotlight probably isn't nearly as bright as you might think." A wonderful quote at the end of my favorite paragraph. I know the person that wrote that paragraph has probably done it all, been laughed at and judged and so on. But at the same time, that spotlight, when only on you does not black out the faces, the noises from the audience. This is a fear that I must try to get over. I am looking forward to reading the chapters in this book with a hope to improve myself.

Introductory Post

Hello! I am a 26 year old medical assistant currently working in an internal medicine office. My goal in school is to earn my Registered Nurse certificate. It is my dream to work in an Emergency Room. I love the fast paced, constantly changing atmosphere. I have been attending Sierra College for almost two years now. Right now I am taking 14 units. It's a lot of typing! Not a problem though, as I am not too bad at it. I enjoy expressing my opinions of things, although I am terrified of public speaking. My hands start shaking, my mouth gets dry and I forget what I was supposed to say! I hope that by the end of this course I will be able to overcome some of those fears. Hopefully there will be a lot of pointers for me. I am open to suggestions!