Question #3 10/30

A part of the reading that I found very useful was when they gave tips on digital slide design. I wish I had learned these tips earlier, because I could have incorporated them into my previous presentation. The first tip was to avoid relying on text or numbers. They suggest that in visual aids, you should mostly use just images and avoid writing. The second tip was to limit the number of bullet points for each slide. I agree with this tip because if a slide has ten bullet points, it ruins the point of having a visual aid. It gets really distracting when the audience has to read all the points the speaker is talking about and the audience tends to tune out the speaker. For example, in many presentations i have seen people write paragraphs on slides, and it is very distracting and boring for the audience to have to read all the information. The next tip was to limit the number of words per bullet point. I feel that it is more effective when you use short sentences or just key words in bullet points instead of lengthy sentences. The book suggests to make the type font large and clean. This is very important because if your font is small, the audience will have trouble reading and if your font is too fancy and blurry, it will be difficult to read. The last tip was to avoid special effects. This is a point i really agree with. Special effects and animations can be entertaining, but can also take away from your presentation. Too many special effects can be really distracting and annoying.

Speech Buddy Videos 11.2 and 11.1

In video 11.1, it tells us how to use slides in our presentation. They used the example of using PowerPoint. I agree with their example that too many sound effects and animations are distracting. It will take away from your presentation, rather then add to it. Another good point was that you should mainly just use images. It is unnecessary to put all your writing up there because it makes it pointless for you to speak. They suggest to put just main points and mostly pictures, things that you can't explain yourself. The video also suggests that video slides help the audience understand what you are talking about. In the second video, they give ideas about how your presentational media should look. They said they should keep it simple, emphasize key ideas only, show what you can't say, close up photographs, keep it manageable, make lettering big, and keep it organized. In the presentation, the girl presenting did a good job of using media. She spoke while showing different images that were related to what she was talking about and the only writing was her main points. She italicized the main words to show an emphasis and the lettering was big. Her presentation was very helpful to her speech. The second presenter had good media, but didn't do a good job emphasizing it. She used a bright background that overshadowed her images, and her color of her lettering was morphed into the background color so that it was really hard to read. On the second slide she had too many pictures so it was hard to pay attention and understand what went with what. In my presentation, i use a PowerPoint. If i had seen these videos before, i probably would have made my slides easier to read. I could have used a different background color that wasn't as dramatic, and spread out my pictures more.

Question #2

I recently went to a presentation on Studying Abroad. The presenter used a lot of media and visuals to help show the audience her points. In her presentation, she used videos of people who had studied abroad and their adventures as a study abroad student. The videos were very persuasive because they showed the full journey of why the students wanted to go study abroad, what their expectations were, how it was when they did it, and how it changed them. The videos were presented after she described her own experience as a person who studied abroad and her reasons why she wanted to do it. I think she did a good job in the way she presented it. The TV was off and no one knew she was going to show a video, so there was no distraction during the time she was speaking. She turned on the TV and the video after she had finished talking, so no one was distracted by the TV screen wondering what was going to come on. I feel like she could have improved her speech by explaining the video after she showed it. After the video she gave a short conclusion, but i feel like it would have made a lasting impression if she somehow related the video maybe to herself or tot he audience. i feel like if she had given more examples and used the video for a bigger purpose, it would have been more persuasive. Overall i feel that the media she used was very useful and helped make her presentation much stronger than presenting without media.

Question #1

1). Speech Buddy: Review the following interactive videos - - - 9.1, 9.2, 13.1A, 13.1B and "USE IT" 13.1 on the Interactive Video website. What did you learn that could be helpful in your speech?

In video 9.1, the presenter says that it is important to have three things in your introduction, get audience attention, purpose and thesis, and preview the main points. I agree that you can tell a interesting story or humor as a good attention getter. I liked the introduction about driving with a cellphone. i felt that the presenter did a really good job getting the audience's attention by having them participate when asking a question. She made it relate able to the audience and it got them interested in her topic. In video 9.2, they describe how to write a good conclusion. He said that you need to leave a audience with a good impression that reviews the main points, providing closure, and reinforcing the purpose. I liked how the second presenter closed her speech by giving a quote that related to her topic and gave her speech a sense of closure without her having to say "I'm done." In video 13.1, Evan gives a presentation on trance. I think he did a very good job because he had a very strong introduction and attention getter, he had smooth transitions between his main points, and he always related to the audience. In his conclusion he gave closure and ended with asking if there were any questions. In the second presentation, i didn't feel like the presenter was very good, because she seemed nervous and spoke very quickly, which made it hard to understand. She had good content such as previewing the main points in her introduction, but it was difficult to understand because she spoke very fast. She also didn't have good eye contact, therefore it was hard to follow because the audience didn't feel engaged. She had a good conclusion that related her title and her topic in a closing statement that left a lasting impression.

Question #3

I felt that Chapter 13 was important when explaining the characteristics of Informative speeches. Informative speeches are important Because they are there to teach and raise awareness about certain topics. I found the most effective thing was the different types of informative speeches which were objects and places, people, processes, events, and ideas. Informative speeches have very wide ranges of topics. Speeches about objects and places are very interesting. For example, you can give an informative speech talking about a national land mark such as the Yellowstone Geysers or Yosemite National Park. From that you can go on saying the significance of the place, why its important, and all the special things about it. Informative speeches can also be about people. You might give a speech on Benjamin Franklin and his importance to the world, his own personal history, and what contributions he made to the US. According to your audience, you might want to give a speech about an person who they can relate to and would want to know more about, or about someone who has done something interesting such as set a world record, done something outrageous, or invented something. I think the most interesting type of informative speech is about different ideas. I feel that its important to tell people about different ideas and theories so that they can be open-minded and maybe learn something new. You can introduce an idea about building something new or a new invention, which would get the audiences mind thinking. You can do an idea about religion, a certain belief about a way of life or an important political issue. There are many different types of informative speeches and they can all be interesting and informative.

Introduction and Conclusion

Introduction are very important when giving a speech. They are the attention getter to get the audience interested in your topic, they give an overview on what you will talk about and your main points, and it shows the organization of your speech. In an introduction, the attention getter is important to make the audience feel engaged to your speech. It is also important because it is the first impression that your audience gets from you. If you have a good attention getter, it shows that you know your topic, your interested in it, and that you are confident. Your thesis is usually in your introduction. This way, the audience knows from the beginning the main focus and purpose of your essay. The thesis usually includes your main points that you will be speaking about in the speech.
Conclusions are important in a speech because they rap up your whole presentation. If you just stop talking after your third point, the audience will not know if you are finished or just forgot what you were talking about. Conclusions review the important points of your speech, and usually reflect and are similar to your introduction. The last line in the conclusion should be something that gets the audience left with a good impression and something to make them think about what you had presented. You want to make sure they are left with an impressionable message by the end of your conclusion.
In my informative speech, I will be talking about Persian New Year. In my introduction, I plan on stating my main points that i will be talking about. I would tell the audience why Persian New Year is important, what are the important elements of it, and how different people celebrate it. I will give a short example as an attention getter to get the audience interested in my topic, that I am sure will be new to them. In my conclusion, I'll review everything i talked about, but most importantly, I want them to be left with the importance of Persian New Year. Hopefully, I'll leave them with a positive image of what Persian New Year is like and hope they would want to experience it and educate others about it.

Journal #3

An interesting part of the reading that i found useful was in Chapter 8. They talked about using cause-and-effect and Problem-Solution in your speeches, which i think are very useful. Cause-and-effect patterns are used when showing and action and then a response to that action and the outcome. They can be used for organizing and informing. For example, if you are giving a speech about hurricane Katrina, you can show the cause and effects. For instance, the cause is the hurricane and the effect would be how the people, government, and land was effected by that hurricane. Then you can go on to your main points of describing how the people were effected, how the government and the united states was effected, and then how the land was destroyed. Problem and solution speeches are also very useful. You can use it to persuade or state a point. Using the Hurricane Katrina situation again, we can say that the hurricane was the problem, and the devastation of the hurricane. You can explain the solution by giving ideas as main points. For instance, you can say some possible solutions would be to send aid the the people who lived there and now have no food n shelter, and describe how you would go about that. Or you can state how we can make a plan to rebuild all the lost homes, and how we can be better prepared for that situation again. Both problem-solution and cause-and-effect problems are great to use in speeches.

Journal #2

Facts and Statistics can be very useful in speeches. They can be used to back up your main points in a speech and as examples. Statistics are best when you are trying to prove a point, and you use a statistic to show how important your main point is. For example if you want to show how serious the situation of smokers in America today is, you would use a statistic saying how many people die a year from just smoking. Facts are also very useful because they support your speech. Facts are good to use because they are solid and can be proven, so they can strongly agree to your speech, rather than just an opinion of someone else. For example, you can use the fact that a certain team won the Superbowl in a certain year, and use that as an example of why that certain team is a strong team. Its a fact that they won that Superbowl, so it can easily support your ideas on why that team is strong. Facts and Statistics are most useful in persuasive speeches or speeches where you are trying to prove a point. They will not be useful when you are giving a narrative speech or a speech where you are giving your opinion.

Speech Buddy Videos

I think that supporting material is very important in a speech. In the video they discussed narratives, which are stories. I think this always works well in an argument or as an example. You can always use a personal story to help the audience relate or see your point. It also helps to support a point you made before by telling a story to help illustrate what you are explaining. Narratives can also be a great way to get the attention of the audience at the begining. By using a story at the beginning that is intriguing and informative and relating to your topic, you can easily get the audience interested. Facts and Statistics are also useful when giving a speech. They help support your main points with solid facts. You have to be careful and make sure that when you use facts, to make sure they are accurate and correct. Organizing you speech is also very important. Being chronological in your speech is important. this allows your speech to flow easily and the audience finds it easy to follow. By stating things in order and in relation, the audience never feels lost or confused and stays focused. Problem and Solution examples are good also because if you start with the problem and then explain it, and then show the solution, it helps the audience understand what you are talking about.

Self-Evaluation

I think I did well on my demonstration speech and got my point across. I think the audience got a good sense on what I was trying to demonstrate and the main point of my speech. Surprisingly, I was very comfortable by the time it was my turn to give my speech. I thought I would be a lot more nervous, but I was quite confident and comfortable by the time I got up there. Some thing I felt I needed to improve on was my organization. I had it planned out how to do it, but when I got up there it kind of went out the window. I need better transitions to go from my points to points, but I rushed through it, which is why my speech came up short. I also feel I could have been more engaging to the audience to make them more interested in what I was talking about. A few times I tried to make references that I thought were funny, but looking at the audience I don’t think anyone got what I was saying. I think my content was pretty good, but I do need to work on orally citing my sources. The first thing I noticed about my delivery was that I was very loud, maybe too loud. I also noticed that I use a lot of hand gestures. I also noticed that I was thrown off guard by the time cards and they kept distracting me and made me lose my place during my speech. Next time, I think I should be more prepared. Sometimes I felt like I forgot what I was talking about. I needed to do more research to find more things that would help my demonstration flow together. I should have found some fun facts or something that the audience would have been more interested. Also, my attention getter at the beginning should have been a little better. I had a good line, but if I said it louder and in a more attentive way I think it would have been a lot more effective. I would give my eye contact an 8, but I feel like in my demonstration, I had a lot of movement showing my tricks so it was hard to give eye contact while doing my demonstration. I think from the time I did have to give eye contact, I gave as much as I could. I think I deserved a B on my presentation because I came off confident and loud, and I felt like I showed that I knew what I was talking about. The only poor quality was my conclusion, but I feel like the rest of my presentation was strong. I had good eye contact and my peer evaluations assured me that I did decent. I felt that after I watched the tape, I realized I did better than I thought. I think during and after my presentation I was over evaluating myself and grading myself too hard.