Re-watching my persuasive speech made me look back at the first assignment of the monologue speech, ans see how much has changed. I felt different. The fear of going up in front of the class was almost non-existent, replaced with everything I wanted to present to them. I had moments that I know I can improve on with time, like hesitation and swaying a bit while talking, but overall I’m happy of the overall effect. I think my speech was exploring a topic that at first presents no interest, but when looked at in depth presents interesting points. I tried to present the speech in a way that wouldn’t be overly serious, but easily understandable. Having watched my classmates’ speeches, I feel that they tackled the act of persuading particularly well. For some of the speeches, I felt like I learned new interesting things that made me question my previous opinion on the matter. I am glad I took this course so early on in college. I know that public speaking will be a big part of my time in Baruch and in my career, so the things I learned in this course made me feel more confident about tackling a speech I want to present, and  having new techniques to use while presenting. The most important thing that I have learned would be to approach challenges with excitement rather than fear. My fear of speaking in front of people, has changed to wanting to share what I know with others, and to not be no scared all the time.

I think my groups informative speech was thoughtfully organized. We designed it in a way to have the topics flow chronologically, and with good transitions. What I think we could have done differently was providing the audience with more decade-related examples. Our power-point presentation focused on introducing each decade and then presenting the artworks of that period, with specific focus on each painting. The way we divided each section to be presented visually was particularly effective, because each painting was clearly shown without distracting the audience from the speaker with other details.  I think that one way we could have used the visual aid more effectively was in switching of the slides. It caused some small problems in keeping the speech continuous. My own personal delivery in this speech was tricky for me to handle. I was very nervous at the beginning which contributed to me mixing up some words, and relying much more on my cards. My goal for the final speech is to come off more confident, and credible by working on my inflection. I noticed my voice catches an unwanted pattern when I start getting nervous while speaking. A quality that I thought was most influential in keeping my attention during my classmates’ presentation was their use of images in the visual aids and the way they tied them in into the speech, making the content memorable.

• The difference I saw between the monologue and the personal speech was that I could play a lot more with the emotions of the monologue, making the character sound like anything I wanted to. In the personal speech, I lived through the event so there was no point in pretending to be anyone but me. I also found myself approaching the two speeches differently, for the monologue, making sure I had everything memorized so it sounded good, while for my personal speech I could  rearrange the words and change how I wanted them delivered because, I came up with them.
• I have terrible stage fright so watching myself give my speech was a whole new level of nerve-wracking. At first I could only pinpoint the bad things in my speech like the fact that my voice sounds so much weirder on camera.  I realized later, that it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. There are things I need to work on, but it wasn’t tragic. It really does help a great deal to see oneself and pick apart the speech to work on the mistakes.
• I think that a lot of the classmates are too self-deprecating when it comes to their performances. We’re not professionals, but I think it’s an easy group to be comfortable around so a great quality of many is that their deliveries have great eye contact and gestures. What I think that many of us have to work on is  the speech fluidity, so if we forget something or make a mistake, we don’t let the audience know of the error, and just continue.

• The picture below, pretty much explains what is going through my head as I am presenting.  I want to come off confident and sure of myself, but on the inside I am just hoping I don’t make a mistake or pass out.  “What I think I do” is a good example of how silly I feel going up with the audience looking at me, waiting for me to start. The reality isn’t really that scary, as represented in the picture,  and it’s a good thing to remember when the nerves kick in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqcLUqYqrs

Roza Dul

Jeff Daniels could most likely be associated with his role of Harry in Dumb and Dumber back in the 90’s with Jim Carrey. Now, years later and starring as a TV anchor named Will McAvoy in the political drama Newsroom, he delivers a very interesting speech during a debate answering a question of what makes America the greatest country in the world. His answer, shocking the audience, is that it isn’t anymore, but that it could be. He immediately captures the interest of the audience by his insult of the girl asking the question. At that point everyone is ready to slaughter him, but just then he says that America in fact was the greatest country in the world, “…we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things, and to do all these things, because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered.” The facts that he presented and the description of American citizens from the past inspires the whole room to listen. The audience changes from outraged to interested and he manages to inspire everyone to the point of taking out their cellphones and taking a video of him speaking.

Even though at first he keeps avoiding the question, he later lays out an impromptu shock speech that through his delivery leaves the audience amazed. He tells the audience of all the negative things, but then reminds them of all the good, and the fact that we have the ability to change them. He definitely has a powerful impact on the audience in a sense that he shakes them up. He tackles the question from the other end, and says what people don’t really want to hear, but deep down realize is the truth.