Chapter 9 Concept

I feel that I have a weakness is starting off my introduction and ending my conclusion when it comes to a speech or even an essay. So I looked to Chapter 9 since it discusses useful concepts to help me in those areas. I have always known to start an introduction with an attention getter, but luckily the book gave examples of the kinds of attention getter you can use such as humor or asking a question. I read that an effective attention getter: focuses attention on the importance and relevance of the topic by showing how the topic relevance of the topic by showing how the topic relates to the audience”. There are many other ideas for it to be effective we should all read on. I also have to remember to use my creativity and presentation media. For my conclusion I just need to review my main points, reinforce my purpose and provide closure to the audience.

Components of Introduction and Conclusion

The components that go into an introduction are getting the audience’s attention, indicate purpose and thesis, establish credibility, and preview main points. For conclusion the components are reviewing the main points, reinforce purpose, and provide closure. How I will use these ideas in my Informative Speech is by to make sure I continuously gain my audience’s attention. The introduction I will have to use an attention getter to help create interest in the speech, such as “Have you ever thought about what ways the media impacts today’s society?”. I have to make sure I clearly state everything in my introduction so that the audience knows what to expect and listen for. In the conclusion I will recall everything I have spoken about in the speech.

Speech Buddies Videos

In the videos, they discussed many ideas that are helpful towards your speech. Having a good introduction goes a long way and to do this you have to grab the audience’s attention, establish the purpose and thesis, and preview the main points that will be covered. You can give a great attention getter by using humor or stating a fact. Speakers need to have a solid conclusion which is just as important as an introduction. You want to remind your audience the key ideas and re-enforce. What I noticed when Evan gave his speech was he stared at his speech cards for awhile more than he should but he does give good eye contact and speech projection. In Janine’s speech she was very confident with her speech and gives eye contact constantly. I think in Katherine’s speech she looked to her cards to much and needs to use it less.

Chapter 8 Concept

One concept from the reading I found useful/interesting was the complete-sentence outline in Chapter 8. Since we all had to do a complete-sentence outline for the first speech and future ones, I wondered why. It helps “provides a highly detailed description of your ideas and how they’re related to one another”. It really does help to see everything for your speech along with the supporting materials so you can state it, rather than just having bullet points. The book tells you how to format the complete-sentence outline by using symbols and indentations. If you look at Figure 8.3, you’ll see an example of how it’s formatted. You have to remember to include and label your introduction, transitions, and conclusion. Using this type of outline is very helpful and keeps your speech organized!

Finding Facts and Stats Effective and Not as Effective

You find facts and statistics most effective in a speech when you want to “promote agreement or provide foundation for the topic’s importance”. It can have your audience pay more attention and best used during persuasive situations. Facts and statistics are not as effective when it’s “overwhelming or difficult to comprehend or subject to manipulation”. In Chapter 7, it states “sometimes speakers overwhelm audience members with facts and statistics to such a degree that listeners simply tune out”. You don’t want to include so many and what you state can be misinterpreted or interpreted in many ways. You have to keep the audience in mind when selecting your facts or statistics. Also make sure that the facts and statistics are reliable.

Speech Buddies Videos

After watching the videos, I learned numerous things that could be helpful in preparing a speech. In 7.1, Erin talks about different types of supporting materials and even gives examples. The types she listed were narratives, definitions, testimony, facts and statistics. In 7.2, Evan gives examples of popular media to help support a speech such as newspapers, magazines, and internet. You have to find out how reliable these resources are and their credibility along with their relevance to the audience. In 8.1, Anthony tells you how about patterns of organization. These patterns of organizations are chronological (developing or occurring over time), spatial (physical relationship between objects), topical (breaks down a topic into elements), narrative (relative events), cause and effect (how a particular action produces a particular outcome), and problem-solution (identify problem and how to solve it). Each pattern is for different types of speeches and knowing what the patterns mean can help better prepare you for your speech. In 8.2, Erin tells you about different transitions you can use. The different transitions are: ordering, reinforcing, contrasting, chronology, causality, and summarizing. You can use words to transition one point to another and the examples given in the video are very helpful so you know how to use them.

Self Evaluation: Cultural Artifact

Sitting in my chair, waiting for my turn to go up, my anxiety rose every minute. Finally, my turn has come… Yes! I have finished my speech! No more anxiety, but it’s time to self-evaluate to better prepare myself for the next speech.
I believe I did pretty well to achieve the purpose of my speech. I clearly stated all my main points to the audience and presented all the information I expected to. I thought I was going to be comfortable once I stood in front of my class, but right when words began to flow out of my mouth I felt as if I was trembling in my voice. I felt as if everyone noticed. If I had to do the speech over again I would definitely make some changes. For preparation, I would practice WAY more so I don’t have to rely on my note cards. I thought I was well organized in my speech, but for delivery, I would practice in front of at least 3 people so I can boost my confidence when presenting in front of a larger audience.
I need to set higher goals for my next speech, so one goal I have for improving the content in the next speech is to be more in depth and to use information that I believe, to keep the audience’s attention. One goal I have for improving the delivery in my next speech is to have more eye contact. I did look around a lot (wandering eyes?), but not so much personal eye contact. I also need to make sure I don’t feel that I am trembling in my voice and speak slightly slower. The funny thing is that when I practiced my speech the timing was just a little over 4:30, but when I did my speech my time was 4:03!
After watching the video, I saw multiple things that were in need of improvement. The first thing I noticed about my delivery was I needed to let things come a little more natural, which a couple wrote on the cards. I don’t think I did anything distracting the video, since I didn’t do much hand gesture or awkward postures. I did present myself with energy in the beginning, but it seemed that energy left from the middle to end of the speech. From a scale of 1-10, I would have to rate my eye contact a 7.5. I think I started well in the beginning with eye contact, but after I began to look to my note cards. Mostly every comment of improvement I received was to work on eye contact and make it last longer. While watching the video, I listened for the number of source citations I mentioned. The number added up to seven.
On a scale from A to F, the grade I would give myself based on what I noticed from the video tape would be a B+. People commented about good things such as good attention getter, energy, projection of voice, and that I clearly identified the main points. I also presented a visual aid, but a few said I need more while others mentioned what I had been fine. Overall, I think I did pretty good for the first speech :).