Informative Speech Reflection

I did my informative speech on Adobe Photoshop. I thought that it would be a good topic to write about because it is something that I enjoy, and am pretty fluent with. As I began thinking about the topic, I found myself writing a persuasive speech rather than informative. I tried my best to try and make it as neutral as possible, but I still feel as though part of it was persuasive. Preparing for this speech was a lot different than before because I practiced a lot more and prepared a lot more as well. Having to do an outline forced me to create a well thought out speech, rather than an informal one. I was pushed to try and create something with a set goal, and I believe that that helped me to create a better speech. I think that the next speech I write about, I will try and give myself even more time so I can give some more polished. Leading up to the speech I was pretty nervous, but not nearly as much as before. I knew what to expect in terms of the class size and reception towards speeches, the positivity of the group definitely helped to calm my nerves. While giving the speech I was still nervous, but I felt that since I had visuals and an outline I was more prepared. I knew what I was going to be talking about next so there was no stuttering or failure to find words. After the speech I was disappointed in how I failed to improve some things. I did not articulate better than before, neither did I reduce my use of "ums". It is definitely something I wish to work on for my next speech, however I am feeling a little worried that I will not be able to. I think that finding appropriate sources to cite was a small challenge, but it helped me to really know what I was talking about. It gave me credibility with the audience. I enjoyed this speech a little better than the first, and I'm glad I was able to choose the topic.

Life In A Bag Reflection

I had a speech to give this last Monday, and it really shocked me with how it made me feel. The first three weeks before the speech, I was calm and ready. I thought that since graduating high school I was no longer the shy kid who dreaded giving speeches, it was college by the way! The nights leading up to the speech were a completely different story. I could not get the speech out of my mind, and I was worrying about it constantly. Walking into the classroom only worsened my feelings of worry, as I began to see how many seats there were. As it slowly became my turn to talk, I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of giving my speech. While giving it, I was calm for certain parts but towards the end I started to falter. I panicked about not knowing how to close my speech, and rambled about random things for a while. I felt as though I was talking in a good manner, but the evaluation given to me told me that I needed more pronunciation and diction. After the speech, I read through the evaluation a few times and realized that what was said was true. I did need to work on carrying my voice better, and emphasizing key points. As my next speech approaches I am working on it more, and trying to calm my fears of public speaking. I'm trying to practice more, and be better with my voice. When preparing this speech I practiced it with others a few times, but they were always too short even though I stopped to think of what to say numerous times. For this speech I did not cite any sources, as it was one about my life. I think that with the next speech I could speak louder, and gesture differently. I tend to fall into a rut when speaking, and I do the same thing over and over (with my gestures and voice). Hopefully I am able to improve over my last speech with the next one, as I am trying harder to get better with what has been said about my previous speech.