The personal story, in my opinion was a lot easier than the monologue. First of all, we had index cards available. So when my mind blanked out for a split second, I had something to keep me on track. With the monologue, I was constantly forgetting the next line, even though I memorized it. I also believe that my nerves had to do with that. Also, the personal story is about me. The monologue, although I believed in the message it was conveying, was more forced. They weren’t my words, and I think it took away from the presentation a bit. The personal speech was much more natural, because obviously I know what happened, and I can speak about it without worrying about forgetting anything. I felt more comfortable in that sense. However, there was a larger sense of vulnerability that I felt with the personal speech. I was speaking on a topic that was very close to my heart and had a big emotional effect on me. It made me feel very exposed, and to a certain extent, it was a little uncomfortable.
After watching my video, I saw how stiff I looked. In my opinion, the speech itself wasn’t bad, but my physical presentation could definitely use some work. I looked like I was clinging onto my index cards for dear life, and the way I was standing didn’t say anything about my confidence. I definitely need to start taking deep breaths before I start speaking because my nerves were clearly visible. Towards the end, my volume started to drop, and that’s something I need to work on too. To be honest, I didn’t even notice any of these things when I was speaking.
The image below shows how I jumped out of my comfort zone to do this speech. I found myself feeling really uncomfortable standing and speaking in front of everyone, but after it was over, I was proud that I got through it.