Self Eval #3

First off, out of all the other speeches that I have done for this class, I haven’t been more proud of any of these speeches except for this most recent one. I believe that the purpose of my speech was well presented; I worked really hard to make sure that I got my point across to my audience. I also felt the most comfortable; I didn’t really get nervous before I went up to speak to the class. If I were present this speech over again, I think I would have added photos to my PowerPoint to make it more eye catching to my audience. I didn’t have any photos up on my PowerPoint. What was different from the last speech to this one was my over all comfort level. During the last two speeches I felt the nervousness in the beginning. This time I just wanted to get it done, I also didn’t want to end on a bad note for my speech class. Another thing that was different from my other speech was that I talked about a topic that involved everyone. I understand that my informative speech was about the evolution of hip-hop, but I do know some individuals in the class that don’t know anything about the subject – and let alone care about the subject. I don’t feel like I did anything that was distracting. I remember my classmates telling me in the little slips of paper that I swayed side to side last time, so I tried to eliminate that in this recent speech, and also eye contact. I feel that when I have note cards I rely too much on them. I made a stronger effort to master my speech without my note cards, and overall I would have rated my eye contact to a 7/8 because I didn’t use my note cards after the second one, and the only thing that I feel I should have looked at a bit more was my PowerPoint before. I think at times I started to look too much at it. On a scale from an A to an F I would agree with Professor Perez, by giving me a solid A. I feel that I did research and worked really hard to get to level that my speech was at. I know I worked more than I did on this speech than any other that we had to deliver. The only part that I flawed on that I kept working on during my preparation, yet it still came up during the class presentation was the timing. I did go over twenty seconds. I figured if I sped through it, it wouldn’t have been overall as effective as I wanted it to be. I would also give myself a solid A because I cited all four sources and used sources that were credible. I learned that hazing is a large part of a college campus and that many websites and government sponsored studies are conducted every year just to see if the statistics are rising or falling. I knew if I used these types of sources then my speech would be much more valid and credible to the audience.

week of 12/7-10

Question: What are you going are you going to take from this class that you think will be helpful in future endeavors?

I feel like I’m going to take a great sense of confidence from this class in public speaking. I have to do many speeches for my job at the middle school campus. I need to present myself well to parents, so they are comfortable leaving me in charge of their teenager after school. During my time of being in the class, I can tell that I have gained this confidence because I recently gave a speech in front of many parents of my students at work, and many of them were coming up to me saying I did well and that they saw a large amount of improvement in my public speaking skills. They said I looked for comfortable. I think overall, confidence is the best thing that I had to gain from this class.

week of 12/7-10

Question: Which speech was your favorite and why?

My favorite speech was my persuasive speech. It was the speech that I got the best grade on and I feel that I presented myself the best. Since I was trying to persuade people, I feel that I had the easiest opportunity to let my personality come out. This is because I try to persuade people in general for a majority of the things that I do; motivate kids to do their best in school, and train counselors for my church camp to be the best they can be. In addition, I feel like I had the most structure in this speech and I researched it the most. All together, I showed everything that I learned throughout this semester in one speech.

week of 12/7-10

Question: What concept or concepts from the class that you thought was the most helpful in preparing your speeches?

From this entire semester, I think that there were many things that were very helpful in preparing for my speeches. Although, some were of more help to me than others, one thing really stands out to me for helping me better prepare for speeches. Not so much a concept that we learned from our books, but something that was implemented in our class meetings. It was the little strips of paper that we received at the end from classmate that evaluated our speech. I believe hearing input from a large group of people made my speech more effective in my next one, especially since it was from people who have seen my progression throughout the class.

week of 11/16-22 #2

Question:Reflect on a recent discussion you’ve had in which you tried to persuade others to accept your point of view. What type or types of reasoning did you use? How well did your reasoning work?

I can recall a time when I was leading a meeting with my staff at work, and I needed to persuade my staff to take my side in a certain sign-in and sign-out procedure. The whole time I was using deductive reasoning by giving then specific examples explaining why the new procedure would best fit our after school program.

Usually students don’t sign out when they leave our after school program, and according to the state of California that is not ok. Since California has a strict policy with the sign-in and out procedure we changed our old procedure to fit the requirements of California completed. But this took a lot of convincing from me to my staff, this is because the new procedure required us to have more work put on our shoulders.

week of 11/16-22 #1

Question: Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

After reading chapter 15 I read something that I would hardly think to be something of importance in the past. I learned how the topics of a persuasive speech are broken up in different ideas. What I mean by this is that the argument is not something that is one sentence and is only used to prove that. I learned about a premise – something that gives a reason to support a conclusion. In English, I’m learning that your thesis is broken up in sub-thesis’s to provide a fluid argument or claim. I find it the same concept in public speaking. I’m coming to terms that the more I understand in the structure of a speech, the more I feel like I can better deliver it. I hope to bring in premises into my persuasive speech. I want to create different points to why hazing should not be used at all. I feel if I can make premises about my topic I can create a more effective and bite size speech for my audience.

Question: Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

After reading chapter 14, I have been moved to really take on a more passionate role towards my persuasive speech. After interviewing my father in his hazing experience in his pledging process while trying to become a member of a fraternity, I have really thought about using hard evidence (from the reading) to use in my speech. My father was referring to me about how there weren’t any hazing laws in the time when he was pledging a fraternity, this made me realize that I should tie in the hazing laws that are in every different state or universally throughout the nation. I feel if individuals are just educated then they can feel or get steered into my opinion about hazing.

11/9-15 #2

Questions: How are you immersed in a sea of persuasion? Give some examples of persuasive messages you’ve received in interpersonal, public speaking, and mass media contexts. What can you do to become a more critical consumer or persuasive messages?

For the past two years I have worked with Junior High Students in an After School program that assists students in their homework. In addition, I teach extra-curricular activities to them after their tutoring sessions. Today, of course, was Veteran’s Day and I had to go into a training at the district office that I work at, and the whole training was centered around how to make tutoring sessions more effective and even how to create more original enrichment classes. Towards the end of my training we had a teacher come in to speak to us about how we are influencing the lives of Junior High students all over East Side Schools in San Jose. Some of the things that really stood out to me when I was listening to this powerful speaker were her dynamics in how she spoke. She emphasized the points that she felt were the most important, and that should stand out to us. Also, the fact that she used universal terms to make her speech feel like it was catered to every single person in the room. I noticed she used the words “us, we, and you” to make us feel a part of her speech. By using these two concepts and just passionate emotion in her speech, it really drew me to her and touched me to want to make a difference in my student’s lives even more. I hope to make some form of impact on someone’s thoughts during my time of presenting my persuasive speech on the day we meet.

11/9-15 #1

Question: Update the class on your speech progress. What are you researching? What are your main points? How do you plan on beginning and ending your speech? How are you going to persuade your audience towards your point of view (hint: use the assigned reading to help you answer this part of the question).

My progress in my speech is going well. My topic is about hazing and why it should be banned entirely from our military system, and other private organizations. I have started researching the laws that have been established throughout the years to ban it, and personal experiences from people that I know have been exposed to hazing. In my speech I hope to cover the conflicts that hazing brings to people, what has been done to try to eliminate hazing, and what individuals can do today about the situation. I hope to persuade my audience towards my opinion by engaging them in evidence that shows the terrible outcomes of hazing. In addition, I would like to bring personal narratives from people that I interview about the outcomes. For example, my father, a member of a fraternity, pledged during a time when there were no hazing laws – it was a prime time for hazing and my father experienced every bit of it. I plan on using his personal experience to draw in my audience.

Week 10/26-11/1 #2

Question: Speech Buddy: Review the following Interactive Videos, 11.1 and 11.2 on the Interactive Video Website. Respond to the ideas in the videos. What did you learn that could be helpful in your next speech?

After watching the speech buddy videos, 11.1 and 11.2 about using visuals in a speech, I feel that I have a more developed knowledge on how to put together and even deliver my speech with visuals. In the speech buddy video 11.1 they discussed the importance of making powerpoint slides simple, and this is something I was take under consideration. From hearing many different speeches in my lifetime with powerpoints I could see where some individuals have lacked on this aspect of simplicity. From having slides that are too overwhelming I would tune out a speaker on occasions, or even tune them out all together.

From the speech buddy video 11.2 I witnessed different variations of visuals and how to utilize them. My favorite type of visual is the powerpoint, simply because I feel i can make it look the cleanest out of any other type. The other kind of visual I would consider using would have to be the large posters, as used in the speech about “eye chips”. I think this method is also effective because it’s big enough for the audience to see, a speaker will just have to make all pictures or words large enough. Overall, from both speech buddy video’s I have learned that when it comes to creating visuals one must make them simple and large enough for the audience to see.

Self-Evaluation Assignment #2

Comparing my demonstration and informative speech, I can say that there was a massive improvement in many different angles, but there were also some downfalls that I wish to fix in my upcoming persuasive speech. I feel that in this speech I did get my purpose across to my audience just as well as my previous demo speech. Overall my comfort level has improved, I believe that since that the demo speech was my first delivery to the class I was not aware of the atmosphere the class was set for each other. I now know that our class has set a mood that is accepting to all levels of public speaking, and that I won’t over exaggerate if I mess up on an aspect of my speech. Of course, if I were to have time to go back and fix what I felt I did wrong with my speech, I would have practiced my structure more. I wish I did not say the word “um” as much. I think it’s a habit that I develop when I feel unprepared, so the way I could eliminate this is if I were to practice and bring up my confidence in my information overall. In addition, I think I would have practiced so much to the point where I felt comfortable without note cards. In the past, I was someone who used to lead my military class, and I would not facilitate events with note cards. I feel that if I were to have note cards in my hands then I would just have someone else to take away from my eye contact with my audience. That’s exactly what it’s doing in public speaking. This is my goal for my persuasive speech, to not have note cards to act as a safety net. Specifically, I think my organization and transitions were a lot better on this speech then the last. I believe it was because I had a powerpoint to go off of. Although I did improve, I feel that I did equally as bad on my pauses. Looking at my note cards is a large problem that I have, I hope to fix it in my next speech by not using note cards. Overall, I would rate my eye contact with my audience as a 7. I still felt like I looked at my note cards too much. I would have given my performance a B-/C+ grade. I feel that I did improve for the last time, but not drastically enough to the point where I would be out of the C range. This is because some of the problems that I had in the past speech were repeated in this last one. I feel that it wasn’t much of an improvement if I repeated past mistakes. I added in all 4 of my verbal citations. I know I improved on this aspect of my speech because last time I only mentioned one source. All in all my speech compared to last time improved and I feel content with my last performance, but I still have much to improve on to make my speeches into A material.

week 10/26-11/1 #1

Question: Reflect on a public speaking event that you have attended recently, or one that you recall particularly well, in which the speaker used presentation media. How effective was the speaker's use of presentation media? How did the media add to the speech? Were there ways in which the presentation media distracted from the speech? How might the speaker have improved his or her use of the presentation media?


The last public speaking event that I attended was during the spring semester of 2008. I am in a sorority so it is mandatory for all Greeks to attend informative events where a guest speaker will talk about a topic relating to a students success in college. In particular, I remember this one about a college student’s diet and the unfortunate results that can happen to a student that does not take care of his or her diet. Throughout the speech I was floating in and out of focus. This is because the public speakers setting was in a large room with only a few number of students. This caused a large gap between the speaker and the audience. As for a visual aid, the speaker did not use anything that would be appropriate for the large room she was supplied with. Instead, she brought papers that she held up (containing charts, statistics, facts, etc). To my misfortune I was not close enough to the speaker to notice what she was trying to present to us. This caused me to tune out the speaker even more, because I was trying to read what was on her posters but wasn’t able to make them out. By the time I finally gave up I was not on the same page with the speaker any longer, I had taken too long to understand the posters. The piece of advice that I would have given the speaker would be to know what kind of resources she would be provided with. For example, a projection screen and a computer - she did not know this source was widely available to her.

Discussion week 8, #1

From the book I learned about many components that belong in an introduction and conclusion for a speech. The components include, primary effect, attention getter, indicating your purpose and thesis, establishing credibility, and previewing all the main points that a speaker is going to cover. For the conclusion the components are, reviewing your main points, reinforce the purpose, and providing closure to your audience. With both the introduction and conclusion you preview the main points in your speech, I think that is very important because at any point if your spectator loses you, for any reason, the previewing and reviewing the main points is vital for the life of the speech. Along with listing points for a speech, the thesis is very important. It is the heart and soul of your speech, and everything that is asked for question will sprout directing from your thesis. Thesis is the most important, because everything else revolves around supporting your thesis and making sure its credible.

Facts and Stats. #1

Question: When do you find facts and statistics are most effective in a speech? When are facts and statistics not as effective?


Throughout my whole life, I’ve listened to many speeches and come across speakers who use data effectively and not so effectively. I have come around to learn how statistics and facts can be used to create a strong foundation for a speech, and on the other hand when it can be used and be totally invalid. I believe that when a speaker is giving an informative speech and persuasive, it would be the best time to bring in statistics on a subject. For example, if your trying to convince teenagers that smoking is bad for them, an individual can give statistics on how many teenagers who smoke have lung cancer in their adult years. Although, statistics and facts could be used in situations where they are not so useful. When giving a speech on a personal experience sometimes statistics and facts wouldn’t be necessary in your speech, since all the important information is coming from you.

Self Evaluation #1

After watching my video from our demonstration speech, I was taken back by some of the things that I did. While your actually presenting your speech, you sometimes feel as if your doing fine, or you don’t think some of the mistakes you do are as noticeable as they really are. I noticed that for myself in some cases. For instance, the amount of times I looked at my cards was a great amount of time. during the speech, I didn’t feel as if I did look at the note cards as much, but I can see that I did after watching the video. I believe when I know I have something to look at I feel like I have something that I can rely on. it’s a safety net. Usually when I make public speeches I don’t make long pauses simply because everything is coming from the top of my head and I’m not too busy relying or focusing my attention on something else. This is what I will try to tackle on improving in my next speech.

One thing I did notice that I did well with was keeping my voice loud enough so the whole audience could hear. I feel that since I was projecting my voice, I must have felt comfortable up in front of the class. Although, I seemed comfortable with myself, another thing I did poorly on was verbally citing all my sources. I was giving a decent speech but with nothing to support what I was saying meant nothing. I said one source throughout my speech. This is something I must fix on my next presentation. I’m planning on looked up many books and magazine articles about my topic.

If I were to rank my eye contact with audience as well from a one to a ten, it would have to be a 6. I believe I didn’t do totally horrible, but there is definitely area’s where I can improve on: eye contact being one of them. Another thing I wish I could have done instead was place myself in front of the table rather standing behind it. My speech was about setting a volleyball, I should have just stayed in front so I could effectively set the ball. I found myself going back and forth during the speech.

I also think that based on all that I stated just now and what I have though about personally, I would give myself a grade of a B- or C+. I believe sighting your sources are very important to establish credibility, and not having long pauses don’t deserve to be considered anything above B-. A person who does not look at their note cards constantly also deserves something above that grade. I think with better preparation (practicing more out loud) will solve my problem. In addition, I plan on practicing in front of a mirror to see what my body language is telling me. I want to look like I’m more interested in my speech. Hopefully I could get the audience more into my speech then I did last time.

Speech Buddies Chapter 5

From watching the speech buddy video’s I noticed that in the first one, Light Pollution, that she would catch herself from talking too fast. Also, she would relate her audience to her topic whenever possible. For example, she knew that her whole class could identify with learning about water and air pollutants, since they learned about it in class. Therefore, she tried to expand their knowledge to a topic related to something they already learned about. In the second speech buddy video on drinking, the speaker draws in his audience right from the beginning, by making a gesture that many college students have seen or have even experienced. He also draws in his audience by relating statistics to his peers. They are the statistics, college students.

Audience adaptation, Audience Analysis

Question: Discuss the importance of audience analysis and audience adaptation in the speech development process. Also, discuss how YOU plan on using audience analysis in your speech.


From learning about audience analysis and audience adaptation, I figured out that individuals in my audience can come from different cultures, back rounds, and all together walks of life. From audience analysis, I realize that I need to pay closer attention to my peers when they are writing in their blogs. I need to try and find out all the information about each individual as possible. Some of my strategies that I have already thought of to connect my audience to my speech is by not just trying to tie in my sports fans to my speech, but also the individuals who just value hard work. At some point in someone’s life a person has accomplished something that was a difficult process. I’m trying to connect common values through out my audience.

Speech Progress

So, the topic of my speech is “how to set a volleyball”. I figured that this would be something easy for me to be passionate about, since I have been playing for more then four years. I have been looking up specifics online on how to set a volleyball, and even talking to my old varsity coach in high school. As for visual aid, the only thing I can imagine bringing is a real volleyball.

For my main points, I think I will cover..


1. What a “set” is in volleyball.
2. How to properly do a “set”.
3. What are the different kinds of sets.
4. Demonstrating how to do a proper set.

My hopes are that I can successfully deliver this speech, but from the looks at just the topic, I am in a good position to do well on this speech.

research interviews

As far as research interviews my experience is at its minimum, I would say. When I was younger my research interviews consisted of me asking my parents about their culture from homework assignments, I would need to write about my family history in elementary school. At that point, I never saw pro’s or con’s about the situation, since they were my parents. Recently, I had to conduct a research interview with Asian American’s about their past for my Asian American studies class. This was, what I would say, my only real experience with research interviews. When interviewing these people I would stutter a lot with my words, I had a fear of wording questions in wrong ways that could possibly offend them. (the interviews were about their past heritage concerning their acceptance here in the USA) Eventually, I had found a comfort level with interviewing these individuals, and left with a rewarding experience. Interviewing each person turned into somewhat of a fun game for me. I found out information from every person, and I was attracted to the fact that each one was unique.


Some Advice I would consider giving someone while conducting research interviews is…


- Make sure your clear with your questions so the person could respond with the best answer possible.
- Make the person your interviewing feel comfortable, allow them to finish every sentence, and don’t interrupt them.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification on an answer. Every person can interpret an answer differently.
- Have fun!

One concept from the assigned reading

From the reading, as simple as it is, I kept thinking about the fact on how passionate I should be on he subject I am discussing in order to give a well developed speech. Out of the speeches I have given in the past, I could distinctively tell which ones I was more comfortable with delivering over the others. They were all about subjects that I was very passionate about. I felt like I had so much information I could talk about to the audience that I wouldn’t even think about having spots of awkward silence or stumbling upon words. For this class, I hope to pick topics that I am passionate about, so I can have an easier time controlling my feelings before I go up on stage to present my speech.

Speech Buddies 2.1, 2.2, Intro Jessica

After watching the three speech buddy video’s I can see the different practices that individuals do in order to deliver a speech as best as they possibly can. From the first video, 2.1, I loved the breathing exercises. Honestly, I tried some out since I had to say a speech at work today in front of many parents of my students, and they helped! I realized that I had tension in my shoulders right before I say a speech, and just by focusing more on my breathing and putting my hands on my rib cage it eased my shoulders out. I even had many parents telling me I did a good job. For the other two videos I noticed how each person had different ways to tackle their speech. For example, walking around during a speech to calm your senses is something I can relate to because any movement can ease my nervousness at times. In addition, with Jessica’s introduction speech, I noticed she laughed at what she was talking about at times. Just laughing at yourself can be a little reminder that everything is just fine, and that you will eventually be done with your speech soon.

Participation Week 2, #1

Question: What makes you apprehensive about public speaking?


Judgment and incompetence are my two largest things that make me apprehensive about public speaking. Although, I have had a background with speaking in front of large crowds, the feeling of being judged and showing a lack of competence in the subject I am discussing is in the back of my mind at all times. As Author Stephanie J. Coopman writes about in chapter one of her textbook Public Speaking: The Evolving Art how it is very easy in this day in age to deliver information and have the audience judge you based on whether or not you are correct. Simply because, our resources are so large and broad that audiences can search a topic online, through DVD’s, a pod cast, or even television and get a different answer. The technological boom works with us and against us at a bittersweet pace, providing us with vital information that can be used against us or for us. This provides me with a large burden on my shoulders, always making me think I missed something important in my speech. In addition, this burden brings with it the feelings that I will be judged by my audience because I am possibly delivering a speech that lacks knowledge.