Often, when I plug in my headphones, I feel as if I am in my own personal little bubble. As I watched my speech, my bubble burst as my roommate asked, “are you okay, Val?” I realized then that I was no longer in my little bubble and in fact, my inward commentary was audible to the world around me. I was not “okay,” as I moaned and groaned in disgust of my own speech. I felt as if I were a child as I peeked through my hands to watch myself present.   Unlike the monologue, in which the ideas and words were not my own, this presentation was a direct reflection of who I am as a person. Having to share intimate experiences with classmates was challenging, but in the end, beneficial. The negative aspects of my speech stuck out to me like a sore thumb, unfortunately. I know that I speak fast, I’ve always been a bit of a blabber mouth; however, now, I understand how this is distracting. As I watched my speech, knowing exactly what the content was, even I had trouble at times keeping up with myself. I realize now that this is distracting because it forces the audience  to keep up with the words rather than the content.  I also noticed that when I was reading from cards, my words came out faster than when I was speaking more freely. From this point forward,  a more extemporaneous approach to speech giving would work best for me. What I feel I achieved successfully in my speech body language. For example, I pivoted my body to engage both sides of the room, used natural/conversational hand gestures, and made eye contact with the entire audience. Also, I had inflection in my tone and used vocal variety in my pitch. Using these types of stylistic elements makes  a speech more engaging. As a member of the audience, those who used these approaches made the speech more interesting. I also liked when the opening sentence made the audience reflect on past experiences or values, for this made me want to listen in. I found it hard to continue listening if a speech was too long or a tad artificial. A shorter, yet to the point speech, that didn’t sugar coat too much were the types of speeches that I was really invested in. By a non sugar coated speech, I mean one in which details weren’t added just to take up time and the content was to the point and easy to follow. Although nerve-wracking, this was a beneficial experience to have. From now on, I will look back upon this speech to remember what works and what does not.

-Valerie Auciello