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.