Taking It to the Future

After taking this speech course, I feel more confident in my abilities to communicate with my peers. I think that the most important aspect of society is communication. Without it we are unable to learn from one another. This speech class has given me numerous skills I will use for years to come. It has helped me organize my thoughts and ideas, my ability to think rationally while under pressure, and my impromptu and quality of casual speaking. In the future, I know I will need these skills. I won’t to be able to express my beliefs with everyone else. I want convey with conviction. I want to help others and be able to explain the problem while providing a solution. This class has given me the self-esteem I need to succeed. The other thing I will take from this class is all the information that everyone else has shared. I learned some very interesting facts. Thank you so much everyone.

Favorite Speech a Tribute

I’d say that my last speech (Tribute) was my favorite one. It was something I wanted to share with the class and I have always held that person close to me. It was also nice hearing everyone else’s speech. It was a pretty emotional session for everyone. It really just goes to show you the impact that we have over each other. It’s an inspiring moment. I think what’s even more important is how daring it was for everyone to express their feeling and really open up to a class room of complete strangers. When I was giving that speech, I really meant the things I was saying. I believe that’s what makes the tribute speech so favorable. Although the other speeches I gave were equally just as meaningful, the tribute speech is a pure emotional roller coaster  I can only hope that my other speeches leave just as much impact as the tribute speeches do on everyone else.

Concepts We're Given

I think what concepts become really helpful are the organizational patterns for each individual type of speech. I think that’s probably what really helped me out. The outline examples were extremely useful reference material. The book also had some great examples but it was nice having something entirely rather than partially. Furthermore, how speakers uses evidence was important. Using creditable sources and having reliable statistics was something you almost usually have to use in most speeches. Gatewatching only seems natural, but I suppose that it’s always important to double check an author’s updates or sites activity. Digital media seems to be the current and future outlook for creditable information, but books and scholarly journals are always great because they’re concrete facts and studies. Although I don’t consider myself an extremely good speaker, I believe that knowing these facts and practicing them has given me a slight edge on the conduction of public speech.

Schooling: Pro & Con

After reviewing both “Schooling: Pro” and “Schooling: Con”, it was easier to spot what types of appeals were being used. In both speeches, either speaker approaches the topic with an emotional proof. In fact they both use more logical and cultural belief coming from opposite ends. I believe their ideas were pretty straight forward; however, I wasn’t too convinced with either argument. Coming from a home schooled environment, I know that as a student you have to be motivated to do your work. Even more so, I did also go to public school; however, there are too many issues that I had no control over. In the end, I went back to home school. K through 12 Institutions are pretty scary. It really depends on the type of staff parents are working with. If there’s one thing I learned from these videos, it that they need to emphasis on their facts. Perhaps using more pitch and tone to really stress key points. You have to catch the attention otherwise the audience isn’t really going to catch those brief pauses for facts. Listening, I didn’t feel connected, but I could relate on the topic. Anyone who’s ever been through some type of education can understand.

Using Evidence Effectively

Using evidence effectively is the foundation for your claims. Whenever a speaker presents evidence, there should always be a clear type of appeal they use. One of the most important concepts from reading this week was something we already learned about in previous chapter. There are four types of appeals one can use in a given speech: Logos, eithos, pathos, and mythos. Logo is the logical proof of facts and statistics. Eithos is the speaker’s credibility of expertise. Pathos is the emotional proof which could be a humorous quote or dramatic story. Finally, mythos is the cultural beliefs and values the speaker shares with that community. Practically all of these can be used in the same speech, in fact, they should be. For the audience to trust the speaker, having a well-rounded amount of facts and personal experience is important for that connection. Personally, in a normal conversation, we logically think about all these appeals even without knowing it. 

Reflecting on Persuasion

Reflecting on past arguments, I never try to get someone to accept my point of view. Perhaps providing facts and weighing the evidences, and thinking about the situation from both sides are something I try to do. Being sociology major, it’s important that I don’t hold egocentric views or bias opinions about a certain subject. Probably my last persuasive discussion was about women and the workplace. I simply provided the fact that the majority of people that hold lower-position jobs are women. This got me into trouble because they called me a sexist… after that I didn’t really want to get into the statistical data of race and gender. I could see though why this would make someone upset. I even agreed and said it was sexist, but it’s how bureaucracy has designed the system. How often do you see women holding a top management position on a corporate ladder compared to men? Right now, the number of women that hold Congress has just increased slightly but the margin is still in favor of men. Nevertheless, reasoning only got me into further trouble and I got weird looks from my female co-workers.

Question of Policy

Critical thinking is a lacking practice we do in our daily lives. It’s easy to find problems, but how do you fix them? When learning about how to be persuasive, one of the most important aspects is providing a solution to the issue. Question of policy is one type of course of action that should be taken. This tackles types of policies that reflected controversies either in substantial or meager topics. Depending on the issue, the speaker might request immediate involvement, general support for a political movement, disapproval of an idea, or a change in behavior. The general concepts of policies are formal doctrines or ethics used by institutions in government and organizations. As you can see, there is a wide verity that the “question of policy” covers. Also, it’s important to incorporate the Monroe’s Motivational Sequence in any type of persuasive argument. I think what’s nice is that Monroe’s sequence works will with the organizational pattern of policy. 

Sea of Persuasion

In our society, people are constantly trying to convince you of something. Whether it’s improving your life, buying goods, changing your views, helping out a specific community, something is always trying to get you to see it their way. The mass media is all around us, in our magazines, books, music, movies, art, news, shows, there’s always an agenda underneath. Personally, I don’t feel like I am as suckered into mass media anymore. The younger population is easily convinced because a lack of education and understanding on most subjects. However, with time that can easily change unless they’ve already imbedded the same views into their socialization. What really persuade me are my peers. I find that those who I am close with deeply persuade me. I also find that being on the line of poverty, you are more aware of the choices you make. You become careful to listen to the facts and find holes in stories. Most of all, it honestly depends on how well those messages relate to your morals.

Monroe's Motivation & Solutions Organization

Over the semester we’ve learned culture, demonstrative, informative, and now we’re moving on to persuasive speech soon. As a speaker, the goal is to convince the audience that whatever you’re talking about is either true or right. You’re job is to be the promoter. In order to hold a good argument, one must have sold evidence and facts supporting their claim, along with a solution. Depending on the topic, having the right organization pattern is critical for starters. For example, if you’re discussing Question of Policy, you might want to incorporate the problem-solution pattern of organization. This shows the audience there is a problem and you have a solution. I think for my speech, the problem-solution organization might fit into the whole “People Should Adopt Kids” because of “X” reasons. For one, I am talking about an institutional problem, and two, there is a tremendous positive solution that can be made for the community and children. Also, a good method to keep in mind is the Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. These steps will insure that your speech is organized in a way that encourages the audience to agree with your standpoint. Here are the steps in order: attention— a hook that is relevant to the audience, need— establishing the problem is an issue, satisfaction—describe the solution, visualization—show the pros vs. the cons, actions—explain ways the audience can contribute.

Vocal Variety

Vocal variety is probably one of the most important aspects of speaking. It creates emphasis on words using rate, pitch, and volume of voice to create differences between words. This is most likely the one area I'd love to improve upon because I believe without this, a speaker would have no character. The audience doesn't what to sit through an informative, persuasive, demonstrative, or any other speech with someone who's monotone. As a speaker, it’s important to connect with your audience not just through eye contact but also through vocal performance. If you're talking about why abortion should be a woman’s choice, you have to actually sound like you are for that movement in rights. Simply stating the facts and reasons is one piece of speaking. You most also act out those words using your voice. Dramaturgy is one way to describe it. Life is one big play and we are all actors in it; thus, it is important to bring those aspects with you onstage.

Flicking Sexism

Flickr, the million user website which allows people to share and upload photos, seems to be in a debate about sexist language. After reading the flickr blogs, it seems that users are more commonly using hash tags that represent specific gender and status. I think it’s somewhat of a problem that the users don’t really care what derogatory language they use to anchor their images. What’s even more surprising is that most people don’t take notice to the sexist remarks, even if they are subtle. In fact, some people even embrace the connotation. Although ethically it is important to keep your speech androgynistic, sometimes it’s important to use specific gender notation in persuasive speech. For instance if you were rallying a feminist movement, you might be trying to unite a specific gender or racial group. This might be a time when you direct you style and linguistics to a specific group. I think it’s important that everyone realizes that sexism in symbolic notation can still hurt people. Although in reality, words that are meant to oppress specific people based on a certain criteria, it becomes obvious that outside that culture they mean nothing. 

Speech Buddy, Chapter: 10 & 12

After watching the Speech Buddy videos for this week, it brought to my attention the importance of verbal and body language during a speech. This is the one thing I believe my speeches lack the most in. Although now I am more comfortable speaking, I need to get more in tune with mannerisms and delivery. Those videos really show the difference between good and awkward symbolic language. The audience is more likely to be interested and aroused with someone who is confident in their ability to speak. This doesn’t just mean knowing the information, but also how they are delivering that information to the audience. A few things I am going to start practicing more on are: the rate at which I give the speech, the volume and enthusiasm depending on the mood, and also the pitch to draw attention. Articulating these three aspects will be the key ingredient in making a more entertaining and insightful speech people will want to listen to.

Self-Evaluation #2

1) I practiced my speech endlessly a day before, and I gave myself the minimal amount of time. Once I got up there, I wasn’t as nervous as before, and I even took the time to breathe and rehearse the first part in my head. I think this prevented a lot of pausing. I feel like the purpose of my speech was communicated briefly, but it would have been nice to flesh out more detailed aspects of it. Furthermore, I wasn’t able to completely give the entire speech, but I had it broken into sections just for that matter. It was a safety net. 2) I felt pretty confident during my speech, like I said, “not as nervous as before”. However, I noticed a couple of the students laughing for some reason, and it sort of caught me off-guard. It made me stop because laughter is contagious at times, but I quickly looked away and reformed my thoughts. I lost a few seconds, but I regained myself. 3) I would change the beginning if I could. I knew I wasn’t going to fulfill all of my speech, but the beginning was a little slow at the start. I wanted a smooth transition to my major subjects, but time was of the essence so I had to act swiftly. I skip over a lot of examples. Some of the less important aspects I kept out, so the important subjects made it in still. The power-point was really helpful at times because some things I couldn’t remember, so I’d turn to it from time-to-time for clues. I had almost forgotten at one point about the note cards. Next-time I would like my delivery to be more conversational. 4) I want the next speech to be interesting and entertaining, so I’d like to implements stories that are captivating. I might use my best friend for examples, she has years of experience. Her stories are hilarious and yet heart wrenching. 5) I’d like to be able to take my time when delivering my next speech. I feel so rushed through them. I’m not sure what steps to take, but I figure I’d try and be more cut and dry with the next one. Of course, I’ll be descriptive with the examples, but leave it simple with the subject. 6) I wasn’t nervous going on to speak. It was the people that made me feel nervous, the whole spotlight effect. Between my last one and this one, I was only nervous with a crowd and not so much the speech itself. Also, I thought that my intro and conclusion were well executed out of everything. 7) This is a tough one, but I know I wasn’t too distracting. We used power points this time, but that wasn’t the issue. The class room was extremely cold, so I had my hands in my pockets for the majority of the speech. I guess it could be seen as either distracting or keeping warm. 8) Again, eye sight was good, lot of contact with the audience. Just need to stay in control! 9) Overall if I could give myself a grade, I’d probably stick with a solid A. I know that I am not perfect but I do try very hard at getting my speeches down. 10) This was tricky, but I know that I at least said three. I was hoping to add in more, but I wasn’t able to get to the other parts of my speech that needed it. 11) I think this speech went will given it was my first power point presentation. Hopefully my next speech will be even better because I know what to expect.

Digital Presentation

This week is about presentation media. The digital aspect of society has allowed us to enjoy things we take for granted. Perhaps you need mail, news, food, entertainment, all of these things aren’t a problem. With one click of a button, you can have whatever you need in minutes. The same concept also applies to public speaking. Let’s say you are describing a scene with your audience, but you can’t find the right words to express it. Well, with a document camera you can easily give a presentation with vivid images in seconds. Although digital presentations can enhance a speaker’s speech, it can also take away the connection one makes with their audience. If a speaker is relying heavily on presentation material to carry the speech, one might find themselves lacking conviction in words. It’s important to find a balance between the two. Having both verbal facts along with visual sources to back up your claims is a great duo.

Reflections of a Speech

The last presentation I went to was one about the Maya calendar. The speaker was discussing how the calendar in no way represents the end of the world in 2012. He used a power-points indicating how the Maya’s used astronomy to calculate the days and years into these calendars. That’s right, there’s more than one. I felt like for the audience, his lecture was designed for listeners who were majoring in the same field. Some of it was difficult to understand, even with the media presentation. I think he tried simplifying his speech by integrating images and graphs into the media. It would have been nicer if he broke down the mathematical aspect better. For a two-hour lecture, he did fairly well. Eventually, he ended up discussing Single Impact Theory which completely threw me off. His ending didn’t recap what he discussed earlier and left a lot of questions to be desired. Luckily, he did have a Q & A towards the end, so that was nice. 

Digital Responsibilities

Whenever a speaker is developing digital presentation material, it’s important to remember a few ethical responsibilities. A speaker should always cite information, especially if its digital. It’s important to prevent plagiarism and copyright infringement, but it also important because it bolsters the audience’s perception of reliable facts. Also, it’s important to not let the digital aspect of the speech take over. You shouldn’t be talking to your digital media but still connecting with the audience. The visual aspect is only there to enhance the presentation, not to run the show. Finally, it’s critical that you keep digital presentations short for each idea. You don’t want to be finding yourself overwhelming your audience with information. This could cause problems even for the most professional speakers. You want to provide short, key point that will enhance the topic. For example, maybe you’re trying to explain how the hippocampus works with memory. For this you might provide a visual image of the brain with pin points displaying each area. In short, remember, it’s about providing information that will help support the ideas of your speech.

Gatewatching

We’ve gone over this time and time again, but let’s emphasize the importance of being accurate with informative speaking. Whenever one is about to educate or inform others (audience), they are expected to be have information that is accurate. The supporting material, statistics, facts, examples, all of this is to be carefully looked over. Now we’ve gone over where to find all these types of evidence, but how are we supposed to know if our facts are valid? Simply, the best way to do this is a little process called “gatewatching”, this allows the speaker to not only analyze data, but also monitor their sources in case if the information changes or has updates for more information. Organizations such as news centers have used this technique in order to create a more trustworthy media. For myself, I will be keeping track of my facts just in case I need to remove or change any of my presentation.

Speech Buddy: Informative Styles (9.1-13.1)

After reviewing the videos on creating an introduction and conclusion, along with watching the informative speeches videos (9.1, 9.2, 13.1A, 13.1B), it seems that the best way to reach the audience is through a series of dynamic, informative characteristics. Probably what stuck out the most with the students was there use of visual aid. This seems to give the audience a sense of physical understanding. I think it will definitely help out tremendously with my speech. It will allow me to go through the times periods and represent history easier without having to elaborate too much on visual past. Furthermore, I thought that the Kodak speech had a powerful and fun ending. This will give the audience something unique to remember. I hope to create a little fun in my informative speech without having it be too sad. However, the Cell Phone speech was also moving. Right before she ended it, she gave a brief story about a young girl that was killed in a horrible car accident. This to sends a great message to the audience they will surely never forget. 

Introduction & Conclusion

When beginning a speech, once you've researched your topic thoroughly, your audience is going to want something that draws their attention. In this case, the first sentence should be a “hook” something that draws your audience in. whether it’s statistical facts, a joke, or perhaps a story everyone could relate to, you are expected to get their attention. Once you've established the first introduction element, everything else should follow: indicate purpose and thesis, establish credibility, and a preview of main points. For my intro, I will most likely take a more serious approach with something statistical and shocking. For example, “According to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) working full-time year round, women are paid 77% of what their male counterparts are paid”.  I think starting out with facts, the audience will become aware there is a problem with society and government.

Furthermore, whenever you are about to conclude or end your speech, you should always give your audience a recap of what you just went over. Usually the best way to do something like this is to restate the main points you brought up. In my case, I’ll probably start out my conclusion stating, “In summary, today we went learned about the social impact of women in society. I went over the history of women’s struggle in society, their undervalued achievements, and the future of women globally”. Note that it’s important to use transitions to smooth out your next paragraph when moving on to new ideas. This gives your audience the heads-up that you’re about to end your speech. Not to mention, it reinforces the main ideas of what you just went over. 

Self-Evaluation Assignment #1

(1) After giving my last couple of speeches, I feel slightly more confident in my ability to communicate with the audience. I felt like my last speech was probably my best. I was able to form my sentences more clearly, but there was still some fumbling with the words. I didn't actually memorize the speech, but instead the ideas and points I was trying to convey. This allowed me to make it a more fluid conversation with the audiences. (2) Comfortable ways, I was a little tens still during the performance, but it was my better moments because I knew the topic so well. The intro was a little rough, but as I made from each point it smoothed out. (3) The only thing I would have liked to have changed would have been the intro. I wanted a more solid motion of words. Also, it would have been cool to demonstrate how to actually do the seaming. I know it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to the audience, but I was still able to slightly give them a visual. (4) I think what I missed wholly was the verbal citation of credibility. Although I am sure my audience believed my expert experience, it would have been more reliable information with citations. (5) I believe my delivery was about fine during this last speech, but I obviously would have liked to have given it in a more enthusiastic way. Right before each speech, I psych myself out too much, so it drains my energy, leaving me on a teeter of delivery. I need to find a better way to relax before getting onstage. Perhaps with visual aid it will help me form my ideas more calmly. (6) Well, given the fact we didn’t have a video to watch I can’t really comment. (7) I didn’t think I did anything that would be considered distracting. Perhaps I laughed a little in the begging because I forgot my intro lines. This might have thrown off the audience’s perception of my speech. However, I felt like I recovered well. (8) From what I remember, my eye contact was pretty good. I wasn’t looking straight ahead, but more of scanning the audience as to make sure I had their attention. I’d give myself a solid 8 out of 10. There was a couple of time I had to break to look at my cards, but other than that it was fine. (9) From what I remember I only mentioned one citation, luckily. (10) Overall, I felt like I was demonstrative with my visual aid and my mannerism were entertaining. I didn’t pause a whole lot during my speech, and my voice was assertive for the most part. I used transitional words to lead into each main point, followed by each subpoint of ideas. Although I didn’t use all four of the required citations, the majority of my speech was spot on with accurate information. I think with the positive feedback from the audience outweighing the negative format of the speech. I give myself a B+.

Speech Buddy 7.1 to 8.2

Watching the Speech Buddy videos from 7.1-8.2, it enlightened me about the different aspects of giving the correct type of speech style, examples, facts, and statistics. Although I already know the layout of writing an essay, applying it to a given speech is different. You need to provide a steady and constant pattern of organization as to not throw off your audience. It’s important to make sure they’re able to fallow you in a clear concise way. Keeping your ideas short and sweet, while providing key support for you main points are essential. Also, you want to have a smooth transition between points. For example, “Education is important for everyone. It is imperative that kids learn at, a young age, to graduate and get to college. Furthermore, education stimulates the economy.” In this quote, I transfer over from one point to another that will lead to my next main idea. I feel I have a good grasp on the style of my speeches, but it’s important to use the correct one for what I am trying to convey.

Similes Everywhere!!!

What I found interesting in this week’s readings was the use of similes. Although everyone uses the word “like” or “as” in everyday conversation, I think that perhaps everyone uses them in strange conjunctions with examples. Living in NorCal, this area is known for its beaches, beautiful summers, and is stipulated that everyone is a surfer or snowboarder. I think what has caught on like wildfire, is the fact that the younger generation uses the word “like” outside the context of “example”. For instance, someone might be talking and they say, “I really like how those girls look, like they are so beautiful”. It’s not that they’re trying to give a comparison, but they’re using it in conjunction with starting the next sentence. This like-phenomenon is annoying because as a culture we’ve become simile fanatics! I always have found myself saying the word “like” a little too much in my sentences. However, after taking a few English classes, and becoming more aware of the like-craze, I’ve started correcting my use of the word “like” as much as possible.

Facts and Statistics

When giving facts it is important to know when to be factual. For example, you could be arguing that statutory rape is considered a felony in California. How would you prove this notion? Simply by find the fact from a reliable source, such as criminal law library or government website. Now if you were trying to relate that one thing is a cause that affects the outcome of another, you might want to consider statistical data. For example, let’s say that does religion effect crime rates? You’ve find data like that most likely from a sociological site that does crime reports and relational data. In this case, you’re trying to defuse an independent and dependant variable. And you’re arguing that perhaps religion is causing your neighborhoods crime increase. Overall, you can easily find sources that can help determine factual arguments or statistical analysis of persuasion. Hopefully you’re using your speech for something good. I am sure there are probably other ways to use facts and statistics, but for now, these are my ideas of when to use them.

Audience Attitudes

Alright, so let’s just say we have a speech ready to go. You’ve provided a reasonable argument, included creditable sources, and given the audience an example of what it is you’re trying to explain. Now how come they’re not moved by your persuasive research? Well, you’ve got one half of the situation right, but you might have forgotten the important of how the audience feels about the topic. The attitude of what you are trying to convey, based on the issues, and might not be reigniting with the audience’s belief. It is important to set a positive setting for your audience when giving a standpoint in a speech. Sure, you could be discussing the importance of legalizing same sex marriage, but you should always try to keep a positive attitude in mind. For instance, you could give the history of negative consequences it’s had on social and political matters, but you should also bring into the how society, legalizing same sex marriage, can make a positive change for future generations. In short, make sure your attitude reflects that of your audience.

Audience Analysis & Adaptation

The importance of audience analysis is a central aspect to creating a speech. As a speaker, you not only want to give valuable and reliable information to you argument, but you also need to be considerate to who you’re speaking too. The audience is a living, breathing thing. You can’t just expect everything to run smoothly when giving a speech; thus, you have to prepare for the unexpected. Analyzing your audience will greatly improve the success of your speech, but sometimes you’ll run into a few snags. For example, you could be talking about a sensitive topic, such as why rape should have harsher laws. In this case, you might want to take a more feministic approach with the audience, talking more about experience and statistical facts of victims who must go through therapy. This not only gives the speaker a sympathetic outlook, but also creates a connection to those affected by rape. As speaker, you have to be dynamic in your approach (audience adaptation) to any subject, and you must tread carefully whenever you’re dealing with audience’s who respond critically to issues. These are some of the crucial concepts I will take when giving my speeches.

Speech Buddy: Drinking & Light Pollution

In the persuasive speech of drinking, Matthew Naso, demonstrates good control over his sentences. Although there were some slight fumbles within the speech, he got his point across, calmly, which was directed at his targeted audience. What’s even more important was the fact he chose the demographic group of a younger audience, specifically college students. I think what helped out the most to argue his speech was the statistics he used during it. His standpoint on drinking was clear that he wanted people to use better judgment, creating clear values for the speech. Also, Courtney Stillman’s speech on Light Pollution had the same concept. She was arguing her standpoint on how light pollution is becoming a larger problem in society. The only difference in her’s and Naso’s speech was the fact she was addressing a much larger audience. She was arguing that it’s not just a certain group’s problem, but an entire community all together. I think they both had to do some audience analysis in order to interest the majority of who they wanted to listen. I believe that I’ll look at these videos with in ideal perspective as to who I should be trying to interest in my upcoming speech.

Reliable and Credabilty in Speech

If there’s one thing that’s the most important when giving a speech, it’s the credibility of information the speaker is giving. This is a very common mistake in communication courses. Whenever you are about to make a statement or fact, you need to have reliable data supporting your case. Even if you’re not making an argument, but just trying to be informative, giving examples from a particular source must be thoroughly researched. You need to double check and cross-reference with other sources to ascertain whether or not something is truly accurate. Having good amount of resources and data to back up your claims is important because it creates a foundation for expertise on any given subject. This allows the speaker not only give reliable facts, but also creates self confidence when giving a speech. In short, reliable, creditable, and validity in a speech are the three paradigms I felt were important in chapter 6.

Do Your Research

There is an overwhelming amount of information correlating to interviewing and citing. Whenever I research, I usually gather a verity of sources and compare them, beforehand, to see if information matches. If I have a source that doesn’t match up with a majority of information, I’ll usually discard it keeping the opinion of the author in mind. Trying to find first-hand sources is a big deal. I’ll usually try and find original works whenever I am trying to make an argumentative or informative speech. Going to a library in this case would be the most ideal because books provide a more solid foundation for first-hand citing. Depending on what you’re trying to research, you can never go wrong finding information online, but you have be careful not to assume that blogs or websites are accurate. Sometimes sites and blogs can be changed at a moment’s notice, so you want to make sure you’re gathering information from sources that have been around for long enough periods.

Interview Tips

I recall doing an online interview. I can’t remember what it was for, but I was interviewing a fellow student for something. There were a couple of times I had to do a follow-up, just to double check if the information I wrote down was correct. I don’t think I ever used that data. It must have been for one of my English classes. Well, my first advice is remembering what the interview was about. Secondly, write down any questions you can think of, even if you think they aren’t worthwhile. Sometimes these conversations can strike up ideas for the topic you’re trying to relate it to. Try and make your questions simples. You want to make your interviewee feel relaxed. If you’re tense while interviewing, they’ll sense the atmosphere is a little off. Conduct the interview in a location that is calming, like a local coffee shop. If it’s online or over the phone, make sure you write down the key points. Also, try and get contact information in case you need to follow-up on answer or ask questions.

Brainstorm

I’ve never really grasped the concept of brainstorming, but after reading through Chapter 4, I feel like I got a better idea of how to really benefit from it. It’s always overwhelming when trying to consider what I should write about. Usually, I just choose subjects that are fresh in my head or something that relates to the class. My past English teachers never explained it as clearly as it was in the book. Being able to conjure up a topic out of thin air doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and consideration whenever deciding a specific topic. You should never write about something you find boring, or unrelated to the class, unless you think it’s important. The best way to brainstorm is to do things that are interesting to you, and to try new things you’ve never experienced. It’s always good to try and get outside your own box. Even interviewing some friends can spark a view on a subject you never considered. 

Speech Buddy Help

Watching the Speech Buddy videos, there were a few interesting things I found useful. In 2.1 the girl talks about three types of strategies for reducing anxiety. The visualization technique is useful for prepping yourself for a speech. The idea is focusing on what will go right instead of thinking about negative outcomes. With this in mind, I’ll use it as a way to set the mood of my speech. Also Relabeling was another good tip. Whenever people usually go on to speak, they have that gut anxiety. This is a great way to help lower worrisome thoughts about failing a speech. Redirecting any negative thoughts when you speak, and creating those into a more positive outlook. Finally, I enjoyed the physical mediation aspect of this video. The diaphragmatic breathing is a great relief for me. I usually have the tendency to hold my breath before answering questions, and I felt this will definitely help with my speech preparations. 

Apprehensive of Public Speaking

When it comes to public speaking, I find myself getting the typical anxiety that comes with it. There’s always that shaking in the knees, the sweat on your palms, and that rush of adrenaline right before you go out on center stage. There’s really no avoiding it. I've come to learn this after years of forcing myself to do karaoke. Nevertheless, with practice things do get better. There’s a sense of confidence you can build up. Once you realize what your weaknesses are, you can focus on how to calm those nerves. For me, I tend to forget to breathe, so I focus on that instead of the crowd. The most important thing I try to remember is how awesome I am. Yeah, I know it sounds narcissistic, but the truth is if you have a positive attitude towards yourself, you’re likely to do a better job. What I found most useful from Chapter 2 in Public Speaking the Evolving Art was the Relaxation Techniques, specifically the tension-release breathing (30). I’ve always been a tense guy because I overachieve. When it comes to being onstage, body language is extremely important to me. I want the audience to have fun with me, and if they know I am feeling loose, they’ll feel more comfortable as well.

Introductory Post

How's it going folks? I have been a student at Sierra College for a number years. I am on my last few semesters of school here, and I hope to transfer to a university where I'll learn more about sociology. I am thinking of becoming a councilor or mentor of some kind, probably for the schooling system. Of course, sociology was never my first major; originally, I was an artist with transfer studies. Sierra has surely changed quite a bit, and I’ve made some great friends from the students, who are constantly coming and going.

I've taken a number of communications classes, but this will be my first Public Speaking class! I'm excited to see how well I do in this course because I am a outspoken person. I do karaoke every so often in Sacramento, in a little place called Hamburger Patties. It helps me loosen up in the public's eye. I enjoy being obscene and honest with people because I feel it brings them out of their shell or comfort zone. Sometimes it can help those, who could use a change of view or someone unlike themselves to shed light. I currently work at Safeway in Lincoln, so if you're ever in the area, maybe you'll catch me dancing or bagging groceries... usually both. I enjoy playing a verity of video games, and reading books, mostly among fantasy and science-fiction. I enjoy books that bring out the psyche of their characters along with symbolic meanings.

I hope we all become good classmates, so I look forward to making some memories with you chums. Cheers to a new semester.