I think that the speech buddy videos for this week were some of the most helpful ones to date. There were a few things that they emphasized that I will do my best to utilize in improving my next speech. My biggest issue so far when giving speeches has been my time management. The advice from Chapter 10 about being concise as well as in Chapter 12 when they said not to be married to the wording in your speech should help me with that issue. I liked when they said that you don't need to give the exact same speech every time, just a good version of that speech. I will also be making a point in my next speech to make use of inclusive language. I want the speech to not just be about me, what I know, and what I think; I want the audience to feel that the speech was written for them, for their benefit. I will also try to build repetition in to my speech if possible, as that seems like a good way to emphasize more important aspects of the speech. In the past I have done that in the conclusion, but there is no reason to only use it there.
In the video about delivery and speech patterns the part that I felt pertained to me the most was in regards to pacing, or rate of speech. This also goes back to my time management issue. I tend to try and cram too much information in to a speech and rather than self-edit I sometimes end up rushing through my speech, especially in the case of the second half of my most recent speech. It is better to give less information while making sure that my audience is absorbing it, than to give a ton of information, but have only a small portion of it be absorbed because my frantic rate of speech loses my audience.
I think it is important to always have a goals to improve. I notice that you want to use more inclusive speech. However, I think it is also important to not try to hard. This could lead to over doing it. If you think about what the videos are focusing on, that you do not need to have set, unchanging speech. Trying to use inclusive language, could end up being counterproductive towards your goal, if you make that your emphasize. Not to say that you shouldn't try or won't suceed, but that you might not be inclined to speak that way, and if you get nervous, things could get weird.
ReplyDeleteI too think that this week's videos were very helpful. Since you mentioned that time management is the biggest challenge for you, wouldn't it just be easier to not be so thorough in the main points? That is what I had to do for our last speech. Highlighting the basics and being concise, like you said, is necessary. Since the final speech we're doing is a persuasive speech, I think using inclusive language will help you leaps and bounds. Trying to persuade an audience to what you're presenting will require definite amounts of inclusion. And I wouldn't worry about being excessively inclusive with the audience because I would feel more involved in a speech I was listening to if the speaker kept referring to me (as part of the audience). Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI too like the idea that your speech is just your best version of the speech. I use to think that it had to be exactly or as close as you can get it to your outline. So, when i missed something or I saw the time ticking closer to the limit I freaked out cause I felt like I had to say what was in my outline. About the giving less information in. In my last speech I thought I would tone down the information of my subject but I was marked down a little for not providing enough knowledge of my subject. I think its right to make it not to complicated but make sure you let the audience know that your knowledge about the subject is rock solid and that you approach it from many different angles. I too struggle with this though.
ReplyDelete