http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX39J_YyKbs

– Praneeth Bolgodu

Public speaking is the art of speaking to a group of people in an attempt to inform, entertain, influence, or inspire and empower them. When most people think of public speaking they think of a speech given on stage like a valedictorian or one like the dean gave at convocation. Although, in my case the person who influenced me and anyone else who may have been on a sports team, is the coach.

When my basketball coach spoke to us the in locker room before a game, he spoke to us with such power and confidence in his voice. During his speech and after it was over we all felt a sense of courage, strength, and the desire to do our best. The way our coach used to do that and the way the coach in the video does that is by telling the team they’re the greatest, by asserting that no matter what a team must give it their all, and with the power and passion in the coach’s voice it impacts the team.  This video shows the relationship between the coach and the player in that the coach hypes them up and gets them ready for the big game and throughout his speech he involves them by saying ” Who am I” and the team who is empowered by their coach’s speech replies ” I am a Champion”

Jimmy Marshall

I see most people are making posts about their favorite public speaker, but I don’t watch a whole lot of TV or anything so I’ll just talk about my own experiences in public speaking. First off, I’ve never been too good at it. Something about standing up in front of an audience makes me crack under pressure. Throughout high school I’ve done many presentations, doing very well in some and not so well in others.  Sometimes I’ll freeze up and completely forget what I’m even talking about, which is what happened once at a DECA competition. My parter and I (who also was not so good at public speaking) had to come up with an original business, and explain in detail how we would manage it. I wanted to win so bad that I memorized every freakin word of the presentation. Of course, when it came time to present, nothing came to mind. We didn’t win that year, obviously. Anyway, I think I just let my nerves get to me and over-think my presentations. I try to make it so perfect that it ends up the opposite. That’s why I’m happy that I’m taking this class; It’s a weak point that I need to improve on. Hopefully by the end of the semester I will at least become more comfortable presenting and being in front of an audience. Well, now you guys know what to expect!

CJ Furchert

Thulasi Pius

Everyone knows how hard it is to sit through a speech or lecture that we don’t find riveting.  Keeping that in mind, we have to realize that one of the most difficult components of giving a good speech is keeping the audience captivated.  This is exactly what motivational speaker Jeff Yalden has perfected.  Being a motivational speaker is hard enough as it is, but Jeff’s targeted audience is teenagers.  Teen audiences are the most arduous age group to reach out to because of their susceptibility to distraction and obstinacy, which we all know.  Jeff however knows not just how to capture their attention just by his first statement but keep them like that till the very last word.  Jeff knows exactly how to deliver his speeches so that teens will be inspired by his words.

When Jeff delivers his speeches, he takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster.   For instance he repeatedly starts off with humor, and by doing so he catches the audience’s attention.  When applying humor he tends to level with the audience and make them feel comfortable by opening with jokes about himself.  He refers to his weight, his baldness, and even his height. Just by this the audience accepts him as one of them.  He is no longer someone who is telling them what to do or how to do it, he is now someone who associates with their problems and understands them.  Jeff has been through suicide, bad break ups, depression, learning disabilities, bad acne and more.  His speeches are so emotional at times that it brings listeners to tears. The passion and emotion he conveys show the audience just how authentic his pain is.  This is what touches their hearts and as Jeff put it “if you touch the heart the mind will follow”.  If you have ever listened to Jeff speak then you know this to be true and you will know that this emotional connection he constructs with his audience is what really inspires them.  The image above of Jeff delivering his speech to the laughing audience and then the shift to the very emotional student perfectly portrays this emotional bond he shares with his audience.