Alondra Martinez Blog # 1

  Alondra Martinez 

Blog #1 - Public Speaking

 Watching everyone deliver this first class presentation was encouraging and made me realize we all have things to learn. I think all four groups did great overall and made everything work out as smooth as possible to deliver their presentation clearly. I think group 1 as known as my group did very well. I know for a fact we were all nervous or not 100% confident but made sure our point was thoroughly made. I believe we had a great introduction and outro, there were some difficulties yet in the end everything was resolved and nicely done. This group covered the importance of confidence in one’s speech which was ironic since we lacked it but finished off more confident than before. We also covered how communication has been of importance for centuries as a tool for survival and now to bring people together through many types of forms, such as virtually. Building credibility is a big one too that was brought up and very important since the audience is the main focus. Its their reaction that we have to look out for in order to see how we change the delivery of our speech and their attention. Since its a class presentation, most or all cameras were off of the audience so we couldn’t put in practice that attention to the audience and in the end no one asked any questions but in any speech I believe one should always be prepared to do so, which we learned. Another group covered the process of turning an idea into a clear, purposeful speech. The presenters gave simple examples such as giving a graduation toast as a special occasion. These examples made the speech/presentation less abstract since real life connections were made. A strong point was brainstorming, which they emphasized writing down everything without judgement. I found that important not just for public speaking but any projects. It brings in that creativity from within and helps us refine our own ideas into quality presentations, etc. The group later talked about how good speaking isn’t just about how you perform, deliver, etc, its about again, the audience’s needs and what they agree/disagree with. They also introduced a well-known rule but to always connect back to the central idea through out your speech. This group did exactly that, they spoke well and vocally clear. Presented their points well and made back to back connections throughout. Another group focused mostly on research, organization, and evidence which are also crucial to building credibility as well as strong speeches. Katina explained how to build that credibility by preparing to research your topic, balance multiple resources and valid evidence. She also discussed plagiarism and the importance of citing correctly. I thought she presented with confidence and love that she stressed integrity as part of being a great public speaker. Jenise then introduced supporting materials such as stories, testimonies, facts and statistics. This was a very engaging part of their speech since they gave examples that made it easy to see how these tools enhance a speech. One short example I liked was about telling a short story of a stressed student who felt better after running, compared to just stating that exercise reduces stress in people. This demonstrated how storytelling can help connect with an audience. Juan finished off the group’s   presentation with his section on outlining, I liked how he used a bridge analogy where he compared each part of the speech to building a structure that carries the audience from beginning to end. He emphasized a strong intro, clear thesis and a conclusion to structure a speech. His energy and metaphor stood out very well.  I think all group’s can work on confidence, but I do believe this project boosted it. I think more audience engagement is preferred and that goes for me too. Its of course about trial and error and learning from it. But I believe that by encouraging more engagement, that that practice of pushing ourselves to do what we dont really want to helps a tremendously. Aside from presentations, I for example lacked confidence and that alone had me all over the place and had me lose my point or train of thought. I should have been more prepared in that area like have some flash cards with any points I didnt want to miss or by practicing before hand. I do believe that how we deliver our speech and even our own confidence affects how the audience views us and our credibility. I believe next time we should have our cameras on just to fully put into practice all these skills that we mentioned but didnt use. I believe people should ask questions even if it’s a simple question for that audience engagement practice. In my case, I believe it would have helped me make my point more clear and clarified anything I missed or didn’t explain. Aside from the technical difficulties, every group made an effort to keep it going and in the end most were more confident and came out learning something new. I think by the end of the semester this class will advance and grow so much. I think and hope we leave with a new skill or one thing we learned at least so we can put it into practice. I hope I grow in the sense that I can maintain eye contact, be more direct with my message and be more confident when making my points since I think that lack is really not helping me in my speech. I will try to incorporate audience engagement by asking questions myself and also making real life connections since it helps connect with my audience too. I recommend to myself to learn or accustom myself to how one of my classmates said write anything and everything down and then re organizing those ideas into a clear focused speech. I will try my best to use these skills everyday personally including with my friends and my work place (im a server), and at school especially since it will help me graduate with important skills that can come in handy in many occassions.