After delivering my first speech I think there are definitely some things I can work on, but I also believe I did a lot well. For starters, I spoke pretty fast and I know that I need to work on slowing down so I am more audible. I tend to get nervous and speak really fast but I am aware that I need to work on this. Second, I didn’t practice my speech nearly enough. This led to me stuttering a little bit and sounding unprepared. In the future I will have to practice my speech more so that I sound more fluid and confident. I believe that all of these things, and maybe some more I didn’t notice I need to work on.
On the other hand, I believe that there were multiple things that I did well. I feel as though I did pretty well looking up at the crowd, I probably could have looked around more but I think I did well with that. I believe that I did well speaking loud enough that everyone could hear me. I also believe that I did a good job following my outline. Sometimes I get nervous and I skip parts or go out of order. After giving the speech I believe that I did fairly well sticking with my outline. With all of this being said, I believe for my first time speaking in front the class I did fairly well. There are definitely things I can get better at, but that is normal.
When asked to write an honest reflection on my first speech, I could write many things. First of all, I was very worried about my first speech. In my head, there was so much that could have gone wrong. My head was spiraling, and my heart was beating fast. Then I got up on the podium, and I just delivered the speech. It was over before I knew it, and it felt like I did not even think, it was almost like an out-of-body experience. Second, I believe my ideas could have flowed better with each other. The transitions were not the best and could be improved, but that is something to work off of. Additionally, I think I could have practiced a bit more to the point that I did not have to continue to look at my script. My speech would have sounded better with more practice. Yes, I did practice, but I think with more practice my speech would have sounded better. As a whole, it could have been worse, and I think for my first speech it was not all that bad.
During my speech, I believe that I sounded a bit shaky, and I got more nervous towards the end of it. Although I had enough time, I overthought and believed that I wouldn’t have enough so I rushed it. I know the content in my speech answered the prompt as well as making good details for a good speech, but I feel that the way I delivered it was not the right way. The way I organized my bullet points could have also been more prepared and a little more descriptive to help me remember my speech. I tried to rehearse and practice as much as I could, but I feel that I didn’t rehearse or practice enough. As for the audience, I was nervous about speaking in front of a larger class. All the classes that I have presented for were only about 15 people or so. Therefore, that was the biggest amount of people that I have presented in front of. I think the best part of my speech was probably the introduction because it provided a background as to why I have a difficult time public speaking. I think that it was also a good lead to get some people interested in my speech.
I feel like my speech went fairly well overall. I was incredibly nervous to go first since I had no one to base myself off of or any idea as to what to expect in terms of audience reaction and such but I think it was good that I went first as I was able to get it “over with”, for lack of a better term, which meant I didn’t have to deal with my nerves just building the entire time I waited. I would definitely like to work on making more eye contact with the crowd which I think comes with more practice ahead of time and also just experience overall with giving speeches. I thought I did a good job projecting my voice and everyone seemed to be able to hear me but I’d love to ask someone at the back of the room their feelings on that. I think I can definitely work on my confidence level, which I am self aware of as I talked about it in my speech, but this also comes with experience and just getting more comfortable with the group. My biggest take away is probably that I think my notes helped me but there is room for improvement and I would definitely like to learn about other ways to format them and try different things throughout the semester to find what works best for me, whether that be what I started the year with for something else.
After delivering my first speech I felt accomplished. It was not as scary as I expected it to be and I felt as if I had rehearsed it well. I thought that I did not deliver the speech too quickly and I was speaking at a good volume where the entire class could understand what I was saying. However, there are always things that could be improved. I believe that I could have looked up at the audience a little more than I did. Looking up makes me uncomfortable and I did not want to mess up by looking up too often and losing my place in my outline. Another thing that I want to improve on is making my speech flow better. During the middle part of my speech I kind of just stated facts and it could have been a little more interesting if it flowed nicely and maybe if I added in some more personal elements. I got some good feedback from my peers, I was definitely glad that I addressed how communication will be important for my future career because I got a positive response by adding that in. I also think it could be fun to add a little humor into my future speeches but I still want it to sound like me so I would not want to go over the top. Overall, I am very proud of my first speech, I was able to keep it within the time range and stay on track until the end of the speech.
After doing my speech, I felt as if I did ok. I wish I didn’t mess up on so many words but that was because I was nervous. I feel that I did a good job making eye contact and that I didn’t use my paper as much. I did feel as if I went a bit out of order giving my speech. I would go to one topic and then I forgot to say something about the other topic so I’d go back. I just feel that I need to be more organized with my speech so I don’t feel that I need to go back to a topic I already spoke about. I felt proud of myself that I was within the time range of delivering the speech. I was worried I was gonna just speed through it and it whined up being too short. However, I finished it in 1 minute and 36 seconds and I think that’s amazing, just 6 seconds over the minimum. For the next speech I give I know what things I need to improve on and what things to keep doing correctly and I think I will do very well.
When looking back on my impromptu speech, I felt I did well preparing and establishing a connection with the audience. I was able to write a detailed outline to help me move through my speech fluently. I wrote down a greeting and introduction, followed by what I felt I was good at as a public speaker, then what I believed I could do to improve my speeches, and lastly, I ended my outline with a line that I thought concluded my presentation nicely. I was able to practice this over and over again to help memorize what points I wanted to make during my speech while also meeting the time requirement. After hearing feedback from my peers, the part that resonated the most with the audience was my introduction. I did a good job introducing myself and establishing credibility with the audience, but at the same time, I was able to make a couple jokes to ease the stress that came with giving a speech in front of the entire class. An area I could definitely improve on is my body language. While I stood tall, I could tell I was fidgeting with my hands a bit as I talked. I also noticed that my voice was pretty shaky when I was giving my speech, so I would like to work on that so that I sound more confident in what I have to say.
: Giving my very first speech of this class so early in the semester was definitely always going to be a challenge for me because it felt like I was being thrown immediately into the deep end, but I am someone that can handle stuff like that because of my upbringing. I come from a pretty medium-sized town and growing up, because I was normally the socially awkward and shy kid, I relied on my abilities to go out of my comfort zone, take more risks and grow stronger as a person in all aspects. When I first started planning this speech, I wanted to connect the idea of first impressions to my communications because I am someone who has struggled with first impressions my whole life. I am overweight, I have a high pitched voice and I have a speech impediment, which is a slight lisp, as well as a stutter in my voice. People almost never take me seriously because of this and I couldn’t change their minds on me no matter what, and that stuck with me. Whenever someone had a bad first impression of me without fully getting to know me, it killed my confidence and made me lose a lot of social skills, so I wanted to abolish that idea and show people how smart and professional I can be. I came into this class on the very first day and I knew immediately I was the odd one out and I noticed a few people giving me looks. My determination in life comes from me wanting to kill the stereotype that fat and autistic people aren’t what everyone says they are. I know how I am as a speaker and I am a lot more intellectual than people give me credit for. That was the whole goal of this speech, to prove to everyone in the room that I could do it and that I am a talented speaker. This speech gave me the confidence boost I needed for the rest of the semester because the response I received after I was done was everything I wanted, and I felt that I finally left a good first impression on people, while at the same time, breaking the mold and showing everyone just how skilled I can be. Was I nervous? Absolutely! Who wouldn’t be nervous doing something like this in front of people you hardly know? But fear is the mind killer, and my adrenaline took over and I wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. I wanted to show people how much I improved over the last 11 years of my life and how talented and skilled I truly am. There have been times where even members of my own family doubted me and saw only what was on my outside, and that has stuck with me my whole life. Now that I am almost 20 years of age, I have a mission to fulfill MY dreams and MY passions, as well as improve as a person, as a student, as a brother, as a son and as a man, and I felt this speech was the motivation to keep on going. I am beyond proud of myself for not letting my nerves take over me and I was able to stay within the expected time frame, I allowed my speech to flow very smoothly, I didn’t stutter or have a lisp at all either. Every word I said was clear and concise and despite being so nervous to the point that my entire body was shaking, I didn’t let it show. People in the class told me that they couldn’t even tell that I was nervous and that made me so relieved. My biggest fear was having people think I was unprepared and nervous, which would prove all first impressions about me correct, but I kept my composure, I said every word properly and I spoke clearly and loudly enough to get my point across. I spoke with confidence and assertiveness and I let my speech flow clearly and concisely. I used the idea of not thinking before I speak to transition into my worst case scenarios and I used a touch of humor to make it stand out. I kept myself organized the whole time and I was proud of connecting the main topic to a topic that hits close to home with me. Obviously, I was not perfect but I felt so relieved that I delivered my speech the way I did because it gave me my confidence back. I do however wish I didn’t talk as fast but I think that was due to the stress of being in the timeframe, but overall I think that is pretty much the only thing I wish I could change. Besides that, I got everything I wanted out of my speech and I delivered it the way I wanted to, I got my message across and I learned that I don’t have to be scared. I am braver than I thought.
For speech 1 it was definitely a learning experience. I think it opened my eyes to what skills come naturally and what skills that I need to strengthen. For our speech, I did come up with an outline but I also had prepared a speech. I felt like this way for me was easier, and that I just have to read that and know that I got everything I needed to say down. I feel like writing out a full speech from start to finish also helps me with timing compared to an outline. It would take me longer to figure out what to say next and make sure that everything I say is cohesive. I think that speech 1 showed me that I need to practice my speech more than what I did. And also to practice in front of some sort of audience to maybe combat some nerves, I will have while presenting to the class. I think I could also take my time and focus on what I am saying whether it’s going based on an outline, or a prepared speech. Listening to other people presenting their speech also helped me see what they did well during their speech and see if I could apply that to me. I think that aspect of listening to everyone else can be beneficial. I think overall for the first speech I did alright, I think that I was a little unprepared and could dedicate more time to practicing and ensuring that when it comes time to present our next speech I will be satisfied after I presented, and feel like I got everything that I needed to say out and my point across.
I was incredibly nervous in my first speech as I had never spoken in front of these people. During my speech, I tried to pace myself and focused on projecting my voice. By focusing on this I got a tiny bit less nervous, however when I stopped focusing on these techniques during my speech, I found that I would focus more on how I couldn’t catch my breath and my heart pounding in my chest. I think I can do better next time by opening up my body language more so I am not as closed off. I think that the hardest part of this speech for me was trying to talk about myself. I always struggle when it comes to talking about myself, whether that be in interviews or with peers, it makes me feel awkward. I also think that I can organize the way my speech was delivered better to draw the audience’s attention more. I think I had a strong opening, catching the audience’s attention however I feel as though the attention fell off throughout the speech. A way that I can better grab my audience’s attention is to appeal to them whether that be through emotional connections or humor.
I have two experiences when it comes to rehearsing and practicing at something so I can become better at it. The first was during my junior and senior years of high school when I practiced coding with both Javascript and Python so I could get my certifications for both. It took a lot of work and memorizing what you were and weren’t able to do with these different coding languages. We also only had a few months to prepare ourselves for the exam. For my senior year of high school, when I first took the exam I had failed by only 20 points. I worked with my teacher studied coding and tried my best to memorize the functions of each variable. Doing this helped me pass and get my Python Certification. I am very proud of this achievement because I was the only one in my friend group who was able to get the certificate. Going back to practicing and reviewing the material helped me pass the exam and have a better understanding of what I was doing. Even though I do not want to pursue a career in coding, this experience showed me that if I want to have a good performance or outcome I have to work hard and try my best to memorize the material.
Today I gave my first speech of the class. I am very relieved that it is over. I think I tend to get anxious over things like this when I have to think about them for long periods, but now that it’s over with it was not that bad!
I practiced my speech a lot and got the timing down. I knew I would talk fast when I was up there giving my speech so I tried to add more content to it. I think my speech was a little bit shorter than it was supposed to be. l talked very fast but I still felt like I had some positives overall in my speech.
One thing that I think went well during my speech was the volume of my voice, I felt that I projected very well. I also think my speech was very organized with an introduction, supporting points, and a conclusion. I was prepared and knew what I was going to say and when. My outline was strictly bullet points and not full sentences which I think helped me with eye contact as well. When I gave presentations in the past, I had my whole speech written out. This caused me to read off the paper more than make eye contact with my audience.
After my speech, some students commented on my content and the energy I brought to the presentation. It was nice to have some positive feedback right after my speech!
After delivering my first speech, there were multiple feelings running through my head. Relief, excitement, satisfaction, and more. I am normally not nervous when it comes to public speaking, just because I have had a good amount of practice and experience. However, for this speech I felt a bit anxious before due to lack of preparation. Listening to everyone go before me helped because I was able to see the wide variety of types of speeches, as well as see what I wanted to do more of, and what I wanted to be aware of not doing. The class environment also made me feel comfortable and less anxious, which I was quite grateful for. During my speech, I think I did a good job maintaining eye contact with all over the room, maintaining a good pace while speaking, and I gave off a happy, positive vibe while talking. However, some things I could work on are making sure I don’t say “um”, and making sure I stick to the correct time frame, since this past time I was five seconds short. I also want to improve on not worrying about what my audience thinks of me. Overall, I was pleased with how my first speech went. I stayed true to myself, covered everything I wanted to say, and although there is always room for improvement, I still walked away feeling good.
For speech 1, I feel that, for myself, I did pretty well. I have a ton of anxiety around speaking in front of people as I used to have a bad speech impediment, and I still stutter sometimes, when I speak I get a lot of anxiety around trying to speak clearly. I think something that went well during my speech was that I hit all of my talking points in the order I wrote them. I was worried that I was going to skip things and rush through my speech. I ended up going a few seconds over, but I think I talked a bit slower than in my practices. I think I can work on being calmer and more confident, I felt good about my memorization of what I wanted to say, but I got really nervous when I was up there in front of everyone. I felt that the organization of my speech was really good, and I got some good feedback from the audience that said my speech flowed from point to point really well. I was also told that my voice was calming and smooth, and I’m glad it came across that way because I feel it masked some of my nervousness. Overall, I can improve upon my delivery of my speeches, as well as become more confident and calm while speaking.
Honestly, I think my speech went pretty well. There are —that some parts and thoughts were really well emphasized. For example, I know I need to work at my pacing and not ramble on and I also know that I need to work on my eye contact and just interacting with the audience overall. I think that my projection went well, and I feel as though I speak clearly. My classmates also commented on my projection and speaking. Giving this speech was not nearly as horrifying as I made it out to be and I genuinely am looking forward to seeing what else we do in the class in the future. The content of my speech, however, I felt was kind of week. I really only talked about stuttering and did not cover many other topics, topics that could have improved the speech drastically.
Journal 3
For my impromptu speech I feel as if I did really well. I think I stood up there with confidence and just really owned being up there at the stand. I didn’t stutter over my words. I feel like I kept a calm base in my voice so everyone could hear me. I also feel I kept a steady pace with how fast I was talking. I think I also covered everything that I wrote down on my paper. I feel as if I covered everything. That made it so I didn’t have to look at my paper a lot and I could stay connected with the audience. I think I also delivered the speech fairly well. Something I think that I could improve is talking for a little bit longer. In my speech I talked about how I could talk for a very long time but it felt as if I was not up there for the whole minute thirty to two minutes. The audience seemed to like it. They gave good feedback and said they liked what I talked about.
Overall, I was happy with how Speech 1 went. I was happy with the delivery regardless of how nervous I felt. Particularly, the fluidity and the transitions felt smooth. The content of my speech focused on what it was supposed to and the organization felt right. There are a few improvements I would like to make for the next speech. Despite practicing it so much that I had it memorized, I still looked at my outline for fear of forgetting what I would say. It’s helpful that the outline is there, but going forward, I would like to rely less on the outline to ensure eye contact and a connection to the audience. I would also like to scan the room more instead of just looking at the back of the room. When practicing, I timed myself and it was always closer to the maximum time limit of two minutes. When delivering the speech, it was a minute and a half. I was very nervous and talked faster than I typically do. I want to avoid this going forward so that my voice is clear by taking a deep breath before starting and taking smaller breaths when I pause between parts of the speech.
During my speech, I was very nervous. I thought my introduction went well but as I was speaking, I lost my words. My mind went completely blank. There were times when I completely lost my train of thought and took long pauses. I spoke to fast at some points, which made my speech 10 second shorter than when I practiced. I don’t think i spoke my words very clearly and I need to project my voice more and focus on taking my time. I think I had a well-written speech, but I think it was my execution of delivering the speech that needs improvement.
I approached for my first public speaking engagement, the lectern, and anticipatory palpitations raced through my heart. I had prepared myself well enough, but it was still a bit unnerving. With each word, I felt a surge of confidence, and soon I found myself immersed in the flow of my presentation.
I was eager to meet the eyes of the audience during the speech and made some asseverations with the help of gestures on the most important points. Though in some instances, my voice wavered signaling my excitement. I pressed on however because it was a speech that had been well-researched for facts.
My review of the experience exposes areas where I need to improve. First, I should control my nerves and bear in mind that on no account should I lose the steady voice all through my speech. Second, I will look forward to sprucing up my speech with more fascinating visuals or anecdotes that will glue the listeners to what I am saying.
With all these areas for growth within me, though, the sound of applause at the conclusion of my speech was definitively rewarding. And it also has taught me some valuable things about public speaking as well – I can’t wait to capture in practice some of the insights gained from this meeting toward giving perhaps even more effective speeches in the future.
Reflecting on my first speech, I believe that my content was up to standard and well rehearsed, however there is great room for improvement with the delivery aspect of my speech. I think I understood the prompt for the speech and spent the proper time rehearsing my speech. I think the quality of the speech that needs the most improvement is how I delivered my speech. I believe that my voice was shaky and I spoke a little fast, however this can be improved by becoming more confident in my public speaking. I think the audience reacted well to my speech. They seemed interested in the way I tied my need for developing my communication skills with my future career. One thing I can do to better prepare myself for the next speech is to rehearse it in front of a larger group of people rather than a small group of one to two friends. This along with having one speech under my belt will ensure I’m better prepared to deliver the next speech.
My first impromptu speech was intimidating and I’m glad I got it out of the way so now I can focus on what I need to improve on. I believe the speech had its high points and low points, some of my strengths during the speech was the pace I was moving at while delivering the speech, and also my voice level. With that being said there is lots to work on, from a delivery standpoint I believe I can display myself more confidently even if i’m not feeling the most confident. As I said in my speech, body language is a large part of how the audience perceives you. I also need to have more eye contact when giving my speech and try to let words come out naturally as I scan the room instead of being buried in my outline. My speech was also a little bit short, and while I believe my content was good I can make the speech longer by adding in good natural filler words and sentences that aren’t on the outline. I believe My outline was well organized but i’m going to continue to refine it and experiment to make it as streamlined as possible.
Honestly, I think my speech went pretty well. There are some parts and thoughts that were really well emphasized. For example, I know I need to work at my pacing and not ramble on and I also know that I need to work on my eye contact and just interacting with the audience overall. I think that my projection went well, and I feel as though I speak clearly. My classmates also commented on my projection and speaking. Giving this speech was not nearly as horrifying as I made it out to be and I genuinely am looking forward to seeing what else we do in the class in the future. The content of my speech, however, I felt was kind of weak. I wish that I was more intimate with my audience, however I was not. I really only talked about stuttering and did not cover many other topics, topics that could have improved the speech drastically.
From my impromptu speech I felt like I did okay, I definitely could have done a lot better but also could have done a lot worse. I feel as though I could have made my speech a little longer and could have connected it to more points such as background with public speaking and how it affects more than just my academic life. I feel as though I kept a steady pace throughout the speech and got most of my points across while also keeping the audience engaged which to me was an accomplishment in itself. I definitely anticipated this speech to go a lot worse than it did. I expected myself to stumble over my words, speed up my pace, or just forget everything I wanted to say in general. I think taking a deep breath before I started my speech helped a lot with calming my nerves and being able to keep a steady pace with talking. I think another thing I could have done better was outline my speech in a better format such as bullet points. I think how I formated it in more of a paragraph form was more difficult to follow in the sense of unless I was actively following my paper I would lose my spot in my speech which made me more nervous.
23 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 3”
After delivering my first speech I think there are definitely some things I can work on, but I also believe I did a lot well. For starters, I spoke pretty fast and I know that I need to work on slowing down so I am more audible. I tend to get nervous and speak really fast but I am aware that I need to work on this. Second, I didn’t practice my speech nearly enough. This led to me stuttering a little bit and sounding unprepared. In the future I will have to practice my speech more so that I sound more fluid and confident. I believe that all of these things, and maybe some more I didn’t notice I need to work on.
On the other hand, I believe that there were multiple things that I did well. I feel as though I did pretty well looking up at the crowd, I probably could have looked around more but I think I did well with that. I believe that I did well speaking loud enough that everyone could hear me. I also believe that I did a good job following my outline. Sometimes I get nervous and I skip parts or go out of order. After giving the speech I believe that I did fairly well sticking with my outline. With all of this being said, I believe for my first time speaking in front the class I did fairly well. There are definitely things I can get better at, but that is normal.
When asked to write an honest reflection on my first speech, I could write many things. First of all, I was very worried about my first speech. In my head, there was so much that could have gone wrong. My head was spiraling, and my heart was beating fast. Then I got up on the podium, and I just delivered the speech. It was over before I knew it, and it felt like I did not even think, it was almost like an out-of-body experience. Second, I believe my ideas could have flowed better with each other. The transitions were not the best and could be improved, but that is something to work off of. Additionally, I think I could have practiced a bit more to the point that I did not have to continue to look at my script. My speech would have sounded better with more practice. Yes, I did practice, but I think with more practice my speech would have sounded better. As a whole, it could have been worse, and I think for my first speech it was not all that bad.
During my speech, I believe that I sounded a bit shaky, and I got more nervous towards the end of it. Although I had enough time, I overthought and believed that I wouldn’t have enough so I rushed it. I know the content in my speech answered the prompt as well as making good details for a good speech, but I feel that the way I delivered it was not the right way. The way I organized my bullet points could have also been more prepared and a little more descriptive to help me remember my speech. I tried to rehearse and practice as much as I could, but I feel that I didn’t rehearse or practice enough. As for the audience, I was nervous about speaking in front of a larger class. All the classes that I have presented for were only about 15 people or so. Therefore, that was the biggest amount of people that I have presented in front of. I think the best part of my speech was probably the introduction because it provided a background as to why I have a difficult time public speaking. I think that it was also a good lead to get some people interested in my speech.
I feel like my speech went fairly well overall. I was incredibly nervous to go first since I had no one to base myself off of or any idea as to what to expect in terms of audience reaction and such but I think it was good that I went first as I was able to get it “over with”, for lack of a better term, which meant I didn’t have to deal with my nerves just building the entire time I waited. I would definitely like to work on making more eye contact with the crowd which I think comes with more practice ahead of time and also just experience overall with giving speeches. I thought I did a good job projecting my voice and everyone seemed to be able to hear me but I’d love to ask someone at the back of the room their feelings on that. I think I can definitely work on my confidence level, which I am self aware of as I talked about it in my speech, but this also comes with experience and just getting more comfortable with the group. My biggest take away is probably that I think my notes helped me but there is room for improvement and I would definitely like to learn about other ways to format them and try different things throughout the semester to find what works best for me, whether that be what I started the year with for something else.
After delivering my first speech I felt accomplished. It was not as scary as I expected it to be and I felt as if I had rehearsed it well. I thought that I did not deliver the speech too quickly and I was speaking at a good volume where the entire class could understand what I was saying. However, there are always things that could be improved. I believe that I could have looked up at the audience a little more than I did. Looking up makes me uncomfortable and I did not want to mess up by looking up too often and losing my place in my outline. Another thing that I want to improve on is making my speech flow better. During the middle part of my speech I kind of just stated facts and it could have been a little more interesting if it flowed nicely and maybe if I added in some more personal elements. I got some good feedback from my peers, I was definitely glad that I addressed how communication will be important for my future career because I got a positive response by adding that in. I also think it could be fun to add a little humor into my future speeches but I still want it to sound like me so I would not want to go over the top. Overall, I am very proud of my first speech, I was able to keep it within the time range and stay on track until the end of the speech.
After doing my speech, I felt as if I did ok. I wish I didn’t mess up on so many words but that was because I was nervous. I feel that I did a good job making eye contact and that I didn’t use my paper as much. I did feel as if I went a bit out of order giving my speech. I would go to one topic and then I forgot to say something about the other topic so I’d go back. I just feel that I need to be more organized with my speech so I don’t feel that I need to go back to a topic I already spoke about. I felt proud of myself that I was within the time range of delivering the speech. I was worried I was gonna just speed through it and it whined up being too short. However, I finished it in 1 minute and 36 seconds and I think that’s amazing, just 6 seconds over the minimum. For the next speech I give I know what things I need to improve on and what things to keep doing correctly and I think I will do very well.
When looking back on my impromptu speech, I felt I did well preparing and establishing a connection with the audience. I was able to write a detailed outline to help me move through my speech fluently. I wrote down a greeting and introduction, followed by what I felt I was good at as a public speaker, then what I believed I could do to improve my speeches, and lastly, I ended my outline with a line that I thought concluded my presentation nicely. I was able to practice this over and over again to help memorize what points I wanted to make during my speech while also meeting the time requirement. After hearing feedback from my peers, the part that resonated the most with the audience was my introduction. I did a good job introducing myself and establishing credibility with the audience, but at the same time, I was able to make a couple jokes to ease the stress that came with giving a speech in front of the entire class. An area I could definitely improve on is my body language. While I stood tall, I could tell I was fidgeting with my hands a bit as I talked. I also noticed that my voice was pretty shaky when I was giving my speech, so I would like to work on that so that I sound more confident in what I have to say.
: Giving my very first speech of this class so early in the semester was definitely always going to be a challenge for me because it felt like I was being thrown immediately into the deep end, but I am someone that can handle stuff like that because of my upbringing. I come from a pretty medium-sized town and growing up, because I was normally the socially awkward and shy kid, I relied on my abilities to go out of my comfort zone, take more risks and grow stronger as a person in all aspects. When I first started planning this speech, I wanted to connect the idea of first impressions to my communications because I am someone who has struggled with first impressions my whole life. I am overweight, I have a high pitched voice and I have a speech impediment, which is a slight lisp, as well as a stutter in my voice. People almost never take me seriously because of this and I couldn’t change their minds on me no matter what, and that stuck with me. Whenever someone had a bad first impression of me without fully getting to know me, it killed my confidence and made me lose a lot of social skills, so I wanted to abolish that idea and show people how smart and professional I can be. I came into this class on the very first day and I knew immediately I was the odd one out and I noticed a few people giving me looks. My determination in life comes from me wanting to kill the stereotype that fat and autistic people aren’t what everyone says they are. I know how I am as a speaker and I am a lot more intellectual than people give me credit for. That was the whole goal of this speech, to prove to everyone in the room that I could do it and that I am a talented speaker. This speech gave me the confidence boost I needed for the rest of the semester because the response I received after I was done was everything I wanted, and I felt that I finally left a good first impression on people, while at the same time, breaking the mold and showing everyone just how skilled I can be. Was I nervous? Absolutely! Who wouldn’t be nervous doing something like this in front of people you hardly know? But fear is the mind killer, and my adrenaline took over and I wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. I wanted to show people how much I improved over the last 11 years of my life and how talented and skilled I truly am. There have been times where even members of my own family doubted me and saw only what was on my outside, and that has stuck with me my whole life. Now that I am almost 20 years of age, I have a mission to fulfill MY dreams and MY passions, as well as improve as a person, as a student, as a brother, as a son and as a man, and I felt this speech was the motivation to keep on going. I am beyond proud of myself for not letting my nerves take over me and I was able to stay within the expected time frame, I allowed my speech to flow very smoothly, I didn’t stutter or have a lisp at all either. Every word I said was clear and concise and despite being so nervous to the point that my entire body was shaking, I didn’t let it show. People in the class told me that they couldn’t even tell that I was nervous and that made me so relieved. My biggest fear was having people think I was unprepared and nervous, which would prove all first impressions about me correct, but I kept my composure, I said every word properly and I spoke clearly and loudly enough to get my point across. I spoke with confidence and assertiveness and I let my speech flow clearly and concisely. I used the idea of not thinking before I speak to transition into my worst case scenarios and I used a touch of humor to make it stand out. I kept myself organized the whole time and I was proud of connecting the main topic to a topic that hits close to home with me. Obviously, I was not perfect but I felt so relieved that I delivered my speech the way I did because it gave me my confidence back. I do however wish I didn’t talk as fast but I think that was due to the stress of being in the timeframe, but overall I think that is pretty much the only thing I wish I could change. Besides that, I got everything I wanted out of my speech and I delivered it the way I wanted to, I got my message across and I learned that I don’t have to be scared. I am braver than I thought.
For speech 1 it was definitely a learning experience. I think it opened my eyes to what skills come naturally and what skills that I need to strengthen. For our speech, I did come up with an outline but I also had prepared a speech. I felt like this way for me was easier, and that I just have to read that and know that I got everything I needed to say down. I feel like writing out a full speech from start to finish also helps me with timing compared to an outline. It would take me longer to figure out what to say next and make sure that everything I say is cohesive. I think that speech 1 showed me that I need to practice my speech more than what I did. And also to practice in front of some sort of audience to maybe combat some nerves, I will have while presenting to the class. I think I could also take my time and focus on what I am saying whether it’s going based on an outline, or a prepared speech. Listening to other people presenting their speech also helped me see what they did well during their speech and see if I could apply that to me. I think that aspect of listening to everyone else can be beneficial. I think overall for the first speech I did alright, I think that I was a little unprepared and could dedicate more time to practicing and ensuring that when it comes time to present our next speech I will be satisfied after I presented, and feel like I got everything that I needed to say out and my point across.
I was incredibly nervous in my first speech as I had never spoken in front of these people. During my speech, I tried to pace myself and focused on projecting my voice. By focusing on this I got a tiny bit less nervous, however when I stopped focusing on these techniques during my speech, I found that I would focus more on how I couldn’t catch my breath and my heart pounding in my chest. I think I can do better next time by opening up my body language more so I am not as closed off. I think that the hardest part of this speech for me was trying to talk about myself. I always struggle when it comes to talking about myself, whether that be in interviews or with peers, it makes me feel awkward. I also think that I can organize the way my speech was delivered better to draw the audience’s attention more. I think I had a strong opening, catching the audience’s attention however I feel as though the attention fell off throughout the speech. A way that I can better grab my audience’s attention is to appeal to them whether that be through emotional connections or humor.
I have two experiences when it comes to rehearsing and practicing at something so I can become better at it. The first was during my junior and senior years of high school when I practiced coding with both Javascript and Python so I could get my certifications for both. It took a lot of work and memorizing what you were and weren’t able to do with these different coding languages. We also only had a few months to prepare ourselves for the exam. For my senior year of high school, when I first took the exam I had failed by only 20 points. I worked with my teacher studied coding and tried my best to memorize the functions of each variable. Doing this helped me pass and get my Python Certification. I am very proud of this achievement because I was the only one in my friend group who was able to get the certificate. Going back to practicing and reviewing the material helped me pass the exam and have a better understanding of what I was doing. Even though I do not want to pursue a career in coding, this experience showed me that if I want to have a good performance or outcome I have to work hard and try my best to memorize the material.
Today I gave my first speech of the class. I am very relieved that it is over. I think I tend to get anxious over things like this when I have to think about them for long periods, but now that it’s over with it was not that bad!
I practiced my speech a lot and got the timing down. I knew I would talk fast when I was up there giving my speech so I tried to add more content to it. I think my speech was a little bit shorter than it was supposed to be. l talked very fast but I still felt like I had some positives overall in my speech.
One thing that I think went well during my speech was the volume of my voice, I felt that I projected very well. I also think my speech was very organized with an introduction, supporting points, and a conclusion. I was prepared and knew what I was going to say and when. My outline was strictly bullet points and not full sentences which I think helped me with eye contact as well. When I gave presentations in the past, I had my whole speech written out. This caused me to read off the paper more than make eye contact with my audience.
After my speech, some students commented on my content and the energy I brought to the presentation. It was nice to have some positive feedback right after my speech!
After delivering my first speech, there were multiple feelings running through my head. Relief, excitement, satisfaction, and more. I am normally not nervous when it comes to public speaking, just because I have had a good amount of practice and experience. However, for this speech I felt a bit anxious before due to lack of preparation. Listening to everyone go before me helped because I was able to see the wide variety of types of speeches, as well as see what I wanted to do more of, and what I wanted to be aware of not doing. The class environment also made me feel comfortable and less anxious, which I was quite grateful for. During my speech, I think I did a good job maintaining eye contact with all over the room, maintaining a good pace while speaking, and I gave off a happy, positive vibe while talking. However, some things I could work on are making sure I don’t say “um”, and making sure I stick to the correct time frame, since this past time I was five seconds short. I also want to improve on not worrying about what my audience thinks of me. Overall, I was pleased with how my first speech went. I stayed true to myself, covered everything I wanted to say, and although there is always room for improvement, I still walked away feeling good.
For speech 1, I feel that, for myself, I did pretty well. I have a ton of anxiety around speaking in front of people as I used to have a bad speech impediment, and I still stutter sometimes, when I speak I get a lot of anxiety around trying to speak clearly. I think something that went well during my speech was that I hit all of my talking points in the order I wrote them. I was worried that I was going to skip things and rush through my speech. I ended up going a few seconds over, but I think I talked a bit slower than in my practices. I think I can work on being calmer and more confident, I felt good about my memorization of what I wanted to say, but I got really nervous when I was up there in front of everyone. I felt that the organization of my speech was really good, and I got some good feedback from the audience that said my speech flowed from point to point really well. I was also told that my voice was calming and smooth, and I’m glad it came across that way because I feel it masked some of my nervousness. Overall, I can improve upon my delivery of my speeches, as well as become more confident and calm while speaking.
Honestly, I think my speech went pretty well. There are —that some parts and thoughts were really well emphasized. For example, I know I need to work at my pacing and not ramble on and I also know that I need to work on my eye contact and just interacting with the audience overall. I think that my projection went well, and I feel as though I speak clearly. My classmates also commented on my projection and speaking. Giving this speech was not nearly as horrifying as I made it out to be and I genuinely am looking forward to seeing what else we do in the class in the future. The content of my speech, however, I felt was kind of week. I really only talked about stuttering and did not cover many other topics, topics that could have improved the speech drastically.
Journal 3
For my impromptu speech I feel as if I did really well. I think I stood up there with confidence and just really owned being up there at the stand. I didn’t stutter over my words. I feel like I kept a calm base in my voice so everyone could hear me. I also feel I kept a steady pace with how fast I was talking. I think I also covered everything that I wrote down on my paper. I feel as if I covered everything. That made it so I didn’t have to look at my paper a lot and I could stay connected with the audience. I think I also delivered the speech fairly well. Something I think that I could improve is talking for a little bit longer. In my speech I talked about how I could talk for a very long time but it felt as if I was not up there for the whole minute thirty to two minutes. The audience seemed to like it. They gave good feedback and said they liked what I talked about.
Overall, I was happy with how Speech 1 went. I was happy with the delivery regardless of how nervous I felt. Particularly, the fluidity and the transitions felt smooth. The content of my speech focused on what it was supposed to and the organization felt right. There are a few improvements I would like to make for the next speech. Despite practicing it so much that I had it memorized, I still looked at my outline for fear of forgetting what I would say. It’s helpful that the outline is there, but going forward, I would like to rely less on the outline to ensure eye contact and a connection to the audience. I would also like to scan the room more instead of just looking at the back of the room. When practicing, I timed myself and it was always closer to the maximum time limit of two minutes. When delivering the speech, it was a minute and a half. I was very nervous and talked faster than I typically do. I want to avoid this going forward so that my voice is clear by taking a deep breath before starting and taking smaller breaths when I pause between parts of the speech.
During my speech, I was very nervous. I thought my introduction went well but as I was speaking, I lost my words. My mind went completely blank. There were times when I completely lost my train of thought and took long pauses. I spoke to fast at some points, which made my speech 10 second shorter than when I practiced. I don’t think i spoke my words very clearly and I need to project my voice more and focus on taking my time. I think I had a well-written speech, but I think it was my execution of delivering the speech that needs improvement.
I approached for my first public speaking engagement, the lectern, and anticipatory palpitations raced through my heart. I had prepared myself well enough, but it was still a bit unnerving. With each word, I felt a surge of confidence, and soon I found myself immersed in the flow of my presentation.
I was eager to meet the eyes of the audience during the speech and made some asseverations with the help of gestures on the most important points. Though in some instances, my voice wavered signaling my excitement. I pressed on however because it was a speech that had been well-researched for facts.
My review of the experience exposes areas where I need to improve. First, I should control my nerves and bear in mind that on no account should I lose the steady voice all through my speech. Second, I will look forward to sprucing up my speech with more fascinating visuals or anecdotes that will glue the listeners to what I am saying.
With all these areas for growth within me, though, the sound of applause at the conclusion of my speech was definitively rewarding. And it also has taught me some valuable things about public speaking as well – I can’t wait to capture in practice some of the insights gained from this meeting toward giving perhaps even more effective speeches in the future.
Reflecting on my first speech, I believe that my content was up to standard and well rehearsed, however there is great room for improvement with the delivery aspect of my speech. I think I understood the prompt for the speech and spent the proper time rehearsing my speech. I think the quality of the speech that needs the most improvement is how I delivered my speech. I believe that my voice was shaky and I spoke a little fast, however this can be improved by becoming more confident in my public speaking. I think the audience reacted well to my speech. They seemed interested in the way I tied my need for developing my communication skills with my future career. One thing I can do to better prepare myself for the next speech is to rehearse it in front of a larger group of people rather than a small group of one to two friends. This along with having one speech under my belt will ensure I’m better prepared to deliver the next speech.
Casey Jordan
Journal 3
Speech One Self Reflection
My first impromptu speech was intimidating and I’m glad I got it out of the way so now I can focus on what I need to improve on. I believe the speech had its high points and low points, some of my strengths during the speech was the pace I was moving at while delivering the speech, and also my voice level. With that being said there is lots to work on, from a delivery standpoint I believe I can display myself more confidently even if i’m not feeling the most confident. As I said in my speech, body language is a large part of how the audience perceives you. I also need to have more eye contact when giving my speech and try to let words come out naturally as I scan the room instead of being buried in my outline. My speech was also a little bit short, and while I believe my content was good I can make the speech longer by adding in good natural filler words and sentences that aren’t on the outline. I believe My outline was well organized but i’m going to continue to refine it and experiment to make it as streamlined as possible.
Honestly, I think my speech went pretty well. There are some parts and thoughts that were really well emphasized. For example, I know I need to work at my pacing and not ramble on and I also know that I need to work on my eye contact and just interacting with the audience overall. I think that my projection went well, and I feel as though I speak clearly. My classmates also commented on my projection and speaking. Giving this speech was not nearly as horrifying as I made it out to be and I genuinely am looking forward to seeing what else we do in the class in the future. The content of my speech, however, I felt was kind of weak. I wish that I was more intimate with my audience, however I was not. I really only talked about stuttering and did not cover many other topics, topics that could have improved the speech drastically.
From my impromptu speech I felt like I did okay, I definitely could have done a lot better but also could have done a lot worse. I feel as though I could have made my speech a little longer and could have connected it to more points such as background with public speaking and how it affects more than just my academic life. I feel as though I kept a steady pace throughout the speech and got most of my points across while also keeping the audience engaged which to me was an accomplishment in itself. I definitely anticipated this speech to go a lot worse than it did. I expected myself to stumble over my words, speed up my pace, or just forget everything I wanted to say in general. I think taking a deep breath before I started my speech helped a lot with calming my nerves and being able to keep a steady pace with talking. I think another thing I could have done better was outline my speech in a better format such as bullet points. I think how I formated it in more of a paragraph form was more difficult to follow in the sense of unless I was actively following my paper I would lose my spot in my speech which made me more nervous.