Speech is the ability to express one’s thoughts as well as feelings in a formal address delivered to an audience. When preparing a speech, one of the most important factors to consider is whether one wants to entertain, inform, or persuade the audience. Not only does this help to develop a speech but it enables the exploration of self-confidence. It can also be used to analyze and examine other public speakers’ presentations, which can help to form proper and effective communication skills. Throughout this class, I was able to evaluate my progress in regards to preparing and delivering my speech through small group workshops, peer evaluation as well as class discussions.
During one of the workshops, my peers and I were able to discuss three aspects about our lives that have a great significance/value to us. One of my group members mentioned that she has a sister which is something that I was able to relate to; as a result of this, we were both able to talk about how they made a positive impact on our lives as well as influencing us to become better individuals. We both talked about how incorporating our siblings into our speech would be suitable for this type of assignment. Being able to converse with other students allowed me to clarify my own ideas as well as gain a new sense of comfort.
Giving my first speech in class and afterward observing others as an audience member was an interesting component in this class. Regarding to delivering a speech, this class did not initially introduce anything unfamiliar to me, in regards to speaking in front of an assembly. However, the procedure for formatting my speech was new; In this class, my cards consisted of an eye-opener, introduction sentence, three main points, three quotes, research, and a concluding sentence in a larger font than usually used and double spaced. This structure made practicing and delivering more effective considering the fact that it was easier to read and only included the essential components for a speech. Subsequently, I realized that I did not concern myself with the speechmaking tools that have been discussed in this class, but rather trying to manage to state all my information within a certain amount of time. Based on my performance and peer evaluation, another aspect that I need to improve upon is the task of balancing eye contact, referring back to my notes, all while ensuring that my speech is uninterrupted. After delivering my speech, I was informed that my eye-contact was inadequate, instead of choosing two focal spots my eye movement was sporadic. Executing these three things simultaneously was a difficult task because I primarily focused on not messing up. After receiving constructive feedback from my peer and professor, I have become aware of the certain areas that I must improve upon in order to become a successful speaker.
As a student of communication and fundamentals of speech, I find that time management is an important skill to possess. Time management is the process of learning how to condense one’s time between different activities. Being able to have good time management allows one to execute efficient work at a quicker rate as well as allowing one to spend time on the things that matter most. When preparing for my address, I was concerned about the success of my speech because excluding information that supported my main points would make the rest of my talk incoherent or incomplete.
It is clear that a well-crafted speech consist of numerous components such as one’s purpose for their speech, the preparation and feedback given from others. Throughout this assignment, I was able to reflect on my performance through both self-evaluation as well as peer-evaluation. In addition to learning how to create and deliver a speech, this public speaking assignment has helped me to incorporate research and relate it to my personal life.
