Thursday, December 2, 2010
Self Assessment
Please post your experiences in this course. I want you to compare your first day back in July to the end of the semester. What things are you taking with you with regard to speaking skills and attributes like confidence, organizational abilitie etc. Process your learned strengths and the areas that still need improvement... this post should be at least be 250 word. Due on Tuesday, December 7th.
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I really enjoyed this class. There were some good days, and there were some bad days. But in the end, this class was a memorable, useful experience. There are a lot of things that have changed since the first day of class in July. As stated in my award’s speech, I was a mess coming into this class. The things I’ve worked to improve on are my visual, vocal, and written presentations. During my first speech, my visual presentation was poor. My attire was unacceptable, my hands were shaking, and I didn’t bring that look of confidence to help my delivery. Another problem during my first speech was that my vocal presentation was poor. I was not sounding the way I needed to sound for the whole class to hear me and understand my message. Another problem during my first speech was that my written presentation was poor. I did not cite much information for my first speech. I was just throwing out information with no credibility. I immediately began working on these weak points in my speech. After my second speech, you stated that compared to my first speech, it seemed like I switched the light bulb from off to on. Towards the end of the semester, these downfalls have become strengths for me. My visual presentation has been top of the line. I come in looking like I’m actually going to give a good speech. This was shown best in my interview speech. My vocal presentation has become excellent. I speak with complete confidence and delivery my speeches with passion. This was clearly shown in my entertainment speech. My written presentation has become on point. I cite everything I say and make sure there’s good credibility to make sure everything I say is believable. This was displayed in my informative speech. That is why I gave myself the “Complete Package Award.” One main attribute that I will be taking with me from this class will be confidence when I’m speaking. Ever since I gained the confidence to give a speech in front of the class with self-confidence, my speeches have become much better. I will take this with everything I’m presenting. Some of my strengths, other than the ones mentioned, would be my delivery, eye-contact, and creativity. Some of my weaknesses, other than the ones mentioned, would be citing on the power points, relying on the power points too often, and time put in for research.
ReplyDeleteI have changed so much since the first day of EOP summer. When I heard I had to take a speech class I was really nervous. Not only did I have to present in front of the class, I had to do so in front of people I did not know. After I did a couple of speeches I got use to my audience and got confident for any coming speech. I learned a couple of things from speech class. I learned how to be a good public speaker and learned how to take critiques.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I learned in speech is be a good public speaker. I learned all the parts to making a good speech. I learned how to do research on my topic and how to cite the information as needed. I also learned to control myself while I speak. I do so by not using too many “umms” and make eye contact during the speech. It is one of the only classes I feel I will use every day of my life.
Another thing I learned in speech is to take criticism. The first time I did a speech when I got my critique and I was crushed. I was told I did not make eye contact, said no cites, but I did have good volume and projected my voice well. I completely missed the last part and only heard the bad stuff. Now I am able to take the good and the bad parts of the critique, take them into account and change my delivery for the next speech. I believe this was a biggest thing I learned from speech. Everyone walks out of speech a better speaker, but being able to take criticism is something I could not do. So being able to do this is a big thing for me.
Speech is was one of my most hated classes because of my nerves, but looking back on it I am going to miss it. It was one of the most interesting classes I have ever taken. Being able to pick any topic and then talk about it was huge for me. All of that freedom was too much for me, but I got use to it and got better. It was defiantly one of my favorite classes.
When I first heard during the “EOP Summer” that I was going have to take a class that was solely devoted to writing and presenting speeches I immediately found myself nervous. I have never liked speaking in front of people; even now the idea of doing speeches, though considerably less than in the summer, still makes me anxious. But now, as the semester closes, I can truly say that I am not the same speaker that I was during the summer. Probably because I know everyone better now than I did before, my eye contact has improved, I have learned how to navigate academic sites and do research on and verify legitimate websites, and my confidence while presenting something in front of people has gotten a bit better. My biggest problem with speaking in front of the class was looking at my audience/ taking my eyes off of my note cards and putting emotion in my voice while presenting. I guess it was more comfortable not to focus on the people in front of me, but I know the importance of looking up and paying attention to the people that I am presenting to. The importance is that I must establish a connection with my audience by showing that I feel comfortable with the material that I have put together and to show that I have a firm grasp on my topic. I still have a lot to change and improve on in regard to speaking publicly, but I am happy that I am not the speaker that I was over the summer but also accomplished the goals that I set for myself in the beginning of the semester.
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ReplyDeleteWell basically, the first day of class was very uncomfortable because we had to make speeches to introduce ourselves and I did not expect to make a speech on the first day we met. That speech, I remember, was very difficult because I was not familiar with the audience and I did not have a lot of time to prepare my speech so I was not sure what to include and what not to, but I got passed that. The next couple of days flew by rather quickly until the week of our first official speech, that week was very stressful if I remember correctly. Picking my topic was very hard, I was not sure if I should pick an easy topic or a topic I was passionate about. But in the end I chose a topic that I was passionate about and I learnt things about it while doing the research for it. The research took some time but it was not that bad, but make the outline was. The practice sessions I had with my speech buddy went well, but they didn’t make me lose the stage fright I had. I didn’t have a lot of confidence when I got up there to speak but that changed for the better after every speech I made; today I feel like I have a lot of confidence and the degree of stage fright I feel has decreased so much.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got asked to speak for an audience in the past, I just read it off my paper; I have never done public speaking with just the use of a couple of note cards before this class, but now after the experiences I had in this class I have the upmost confidence in myself to go in-front of people and talk without looking down at my paper and make eye contact and have positive body language. I just made a presentation the past week using the skills I learnt in this class. I stood up straight (I wasn’t leaning to one side), I was making eye contact with the audience, I had an attention getter, and also I was dressed properly.
My confidence, like I said, is the biggest improvement for me. I do not get nervous when I get in front of people, now I kind of don’t mind when I am asked to make speeches. I am glad I took this course, I needed it. Before, I was not very brave to go up in front of people and make speeches, but now I feel like I am brave and can handle it. When I was asked to make speeches, I made it a very big deal in the past; but now, it not that big of a deal; I treat it just like any other assignment. All these improvements came about thanks to you for teaching me all the skills and methods there is to know about public speaking and the people in the class (including you) for giving me positive criticism and for complementing me on things I did well and for telling me to “keep it up”. I’m not saying I am a perfect speaker today, I still get a little nervous and don’t have a lot of confidence in myself sometimes, but I can say that I am nowhere close to the person I was the first day of eop, well in regards to public speaking.
Once I saw that Speech was one of the classes I had to take in the summer I was nervous. I had never liked nor was I any good at public speaking. The moment I stepped into the class I was already dreading it. When I was working on my first speech, I knew that the content of the speech was great. I never had a problem researching or writing but when it came time to practice for my speech with my speech buddy I was horrible. I could barely talk in front of a small group of people without stuttering over words or rushing through. I had a lot of stage fright. But when it came time to present I somehow managed to hide that fact and present my speech properly. As the semester went on, my speeches got stronger and so did my public speaking abilities. I am way more confident to present speeches. Even though that my confidence showed throughout all of my speeches inside I was always nervous but now I can say that I am barely nervous when it comes to presenting. This class allowed me to strengthen my organizational skills, my researching skills, and my public speaking skills. I feel like I improved a lot and to my surprise I can actually present a speech in front of a whole class without having this feeling of nervousness. If there is one thing I can improve on is just to keep working on my public speaking skills. Keep practicing and get more comfortable about talking in front of an audience.
ReplyDeleteBack in July when I began the Com 104s speech class along with my Eop family I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into. After many months of taking the course I now realize how much I have actually learned and accomplished in such a short amount of time. When I did my first speech “Have you ever noticed?” I wasn’t confident, I was told that I needed to stop fidgeting so much, and I wasn’t totally prepared for it, but then the next speech I did better on. One thing I realized is that I kept excelling and getting better and better the more speeches and I did and the more practice I got. I found that the speech class not only helped my ability to not be afraid to speak in front of an audience, but I now know how to speak to an audience and command attention from the start of my speech to the finish of it. On my “Entertainment speech” which was the first speech of the fall semester, I didn’t do so well, which was a total bumber for me because I had worked so hard in the summer-time and got my speech skills up and then In my mind I failed which made me realize that I CAN’T slack on my speeches because no effort shows when you are in front of an audience. Another thing I really had to work on was not using note cards so much when doing my speech. On every speech I did I felt I used my note cards a little too much, and it held me back from connecting more with my audience visually, and mentally. I think I used the note cards as an outlet for my nervousness to show, but my last few speeches I improved greatly and I barely used my note cards. I have to say that the few speech buddies I used along the way also helped me to become a better speaker, and for that I am very thankful. Most importantly I would like to thank Professor McM for being such a great speech teacher and helping all of us in your class become better speakers. Without your tough critiques I don’t think I would have excelled at all in my speeches. This class has helped me a lot, and I am sad to say goodbye.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first stepped foot onto the rider campus I knew that this was going to be way different from high school but whether or not I was ready was one of many questions running across my mind. When I entered my first Communications class I was anxious to get started and hoping that I will do well in all of the course that were pre selected for me during my EOP summer. My first speeches were successful and I knew that this speech class was something that during the year I would be excellent at, this was soon confirmed by professor Mcmanimon her self at the end of our EOP summer program. Now at the end of my first semester I can say that I can see the improvement within my self. I have learned what it means to work diligently, take time to research and have sources for everything. I now know that in order to have a well planed out speech you must use organization. Over all, out of all my speeches that I have given I know that the things I must work on are, one to practices more you can never have enough practices when it comes to being prepared, two never wait until the last moment to do a speech because it will show and, three make sure your passionate about the topic that you choose. Even through I must work on these areas there are also area such as my conversational style and my presents in front of the class that are my highlights and I know that I must also work on these areas so that they can be even stronger than they are now. During this year I have learned many things from how to persuade my audience, give an award speech, how to conduct and interview, as well as how to give an entertainment speech in which I talked about “Top 10 reason why I’m single” which was an hit with the class. This commutation class is a class that I would recommend to any incoming freshman because it will teach you skills that you can use and any class form the research skills to presenting in front of a class. I truly enjoyed this class and have learned a lot and I will take what I have learned with me throughout my years at rider.
ReplyDeleteI can say that I actually enjoyed this class very much and it taught me a lot. Although coming into this speech class I already had experience working in a communication class I knew that there was still more I needed to work on. Our first speech “Did you ever notice that” was very interesting to me. At first it was hard to pick a topic that I would like to talk about but once I figured it out finding all the information was easy for me. The hard part was presenting the speech to the class. When it was my day to go I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. I went and presented my speech. After I was done it was time to critique from day one I was told that I have a very conversational tone to my voice and a smile like no other. That gave me confidence for my next speech, but then I was told that I speak with my hands too much. That was something I really needed to get rid of. Another problem I had with the delivery of my speeches was sucking my teeth. Without even noticing I was sucking my teeth after everything I said, that was not acceptable. I think the turning point for me and even for others was the persuasive speech. That speech boosted my confidence to the highest level because it was the most serious and most personal. I felt that I really connected with the audience. Coming out of this class I believe I have more self confidence with speaking in front of people no matter who they are. It will not be perfect but I know that I can do it. I will not be as nervous as I was before speaking in front of strangers because of what you have taught us. Thank you for making this class an enjoyable and memorable to me!
ReplyDeletePublic speaking was always something I dreaded. Whenever I was required to do a presentation in front of class in high school I would panic and feel like I failed. Most of the time I did not care about how nervous I was, but it just bothered me that I was not able to get my information out to my class. One thing that I have learned in Com 104s that will always follow me is how to be confident and deliver information in bite size pieces for your audience to take in. I have researched many hours, many sites, and many opinions to come up with the information that I delivered in my speeches. I have learned that I have to be passionate about what I am presenting in order to forget about my nerves and just have fun in the front of the class. I love to have all the attention on me and the front of the classroom is the perfect place for this; even though I did not realize it until this past semester. I learned that it is alright to be nervous and sweat a little while presenting. It is human nature to be nervous, but I have learned to not worry about it. Sweat is just sweat and I am in the front of the classroom for a reason, and I am not going to waste it just because a little sweat wants to drip. I have learned to be confident and realize that the most important thing of my speeches is getting my audience connected and ready to receive my information.
ReplyDeleteMy college career will have many opportunities opening doors up in front of me over the next four years. It is at this time that I realize how much this speech class has given me the chance to rise up to the occasion and walk through them. Over the summer my public speaking skills were at a very abrupt halt. Having been captain of various sports teams, I was always fond of the leadership role and confident; however, when it came to victory speeches I was never up for the challenge. I did not like speaking in front of crowds of people and was never organized enough to do so. Over the summer I used disorganization as an excuse for prolonging speeches and procrastinating until the last minute. Given the first speech over the summer, I feel that I might have changed my topic about a hundred different times only to put off practicing in front of the E.O.P. students. There was really no reason to change my topics or take so long to practice; it was nearly just the fear of speaking in public. However when speaking for the first time, I can look back on how bad it was and I am needless to say very embarrassed about how bad of a speaker I was. I find the fact that we came into the summer program unexpectedly giving a speech and having no room for procrastination is what gave me the motivation for improvement. It was a class where most of us were at the same level of stage fright, some more than others. Seeing that we all started on the same block, it was easy to cope with the stage fright as the semester came along. As all of us have improved greatly from the summer program until now, I still see some areas that need a little more effort. Although throughout the semester Professor Mcmaniman had flawless and easy to follow outlines, my organizational skills are not up to par. I find most of my outlines to be completely different from what I say up at the podium. Although my main points have always been strong and found their way out of my mouth, the supporting details have weakened and are constantly getting lost in my brain. I look forward to taking another speech course with you Professor Mcmaniman, and appreciate everything you have done for us. Thank you class of Com 104! And Thank you professor Mcmaniman for a wonderful semester. Love Always, Geno Sidders.
ReplyDeleteWow, I really cannot believe that this is the end of speech class. It does not even seem like I’ve been in this class that long, but it has been a rough six months. When I first found out that I had to take a mandatory speech class, I automatically shut down because I knew that I was not a good public speaker at all. It was going to take a miracle for me to pass this class. Even then, the first day of speech was rough because we all had to stand up and freestyle a speech about our self and it was really a dread. I remember sitting quietly and hoping that they would not pick me to present. So much tension and anxiety was running through my body at the time, and since it was only the first class, I knew that I would never make it through the summer, but boy was I wrong!
ReplyDeleteI believe that I will be taking back a strong sense of confidence with me because I feel as though I have overcome an obstacle that I have struggled with for the longest and I am proud to say that I have faced the common fear of public speaking and I am now ready to tackle bigger goals. Having confidence alone promoted other skills such as the quality of my voice and a great deal of eye contact. I think there is nothing that I can’t accomplish when it comes to a speech. All I really need is a sufficient amount of time of practice, good visual aid, and sources, and then I will be on top of my game. I believe that there is still much work to be done, that is why I will be taking another speech class to further enhance my skills and hopefully reach a rhetorical level. I think the good thing is that I believe in myself a lot, and that is all it takes for me to endure.