Upon watching all my videos I noticed some stark changes. I think my vocal variety is much more prominent and I have developed a stronger speaking stance compared to my first speech. I think overall I learned to become more poised and I follow through with my speech much more effectively than I have in the past.
I honestly think I didn’t do too bad on my speech in terms of rhetoric. I don’t think I persuaded too many people in the audience. Looking at the peer feedback I got some pretty harsh comments. Perhaps it was my own fault for not emphasizing that I wanted to restrict the NSA more than I am against national security. I am all for national security and I didn’t want this to be an issue of what we have to give up; privacy or security. I thought my plan and benefits would illustrate what I wanted to do much better however, due to time restraints I had to move past it, as I had to do with many slides.

I think the most successful speeches were told extemporaneously with a good pace, strong stance, and had a organized approach. I think  I successful persuasive speech targets what the audience is interested but at the same time considers the bigger issue too. Most of all I think a successful persuasive speech will make even people opposing what you are arguing say, “Oh that is a good point.”

This class has improved my speech delivery skills tremendously. Watching the videos, constantly receiving feedback, analyzing others, reading and writing speeches, I think it was safe to say that we became immersed in the art of public speaking. One day I plan to be a lawyer, if you can’t persuade, or if you can’t talk in an organized manner conveying your argument then even the most brilliant minds will lose the case. I think this course has helped me learn techniques to improve my persuasive speech. Also throughout my career at Baruch we will be given so many presentations, taking this course has given me an edge on completing those challenging tasks. I think the most important skill I have taken away from this class is to be confident in what you have to say about a topic, to regain composure even if you lose it, and how to prepare a speech that works for the individual. Overall I owe a lot to this class and it was fun learning and delivering speeches.