Chapter 7 and 8 speech buddies

Watching the speech buddy videos for chapter seven helped clarify what our book was talking about when it was referring to supporting material. Seeing a visual of the material helped me especially since I am a visual learner. I liked how they summarized each different type with a pro and con and also emphasized that a mix of different type of supporting materials can be more beneficial to ones speech than if the speech only contained one type.
Chapter 8 speech buddy videos also did a good job summarizing the different organizational types. Unfortunately it was obvious on the video that the speaker was reading from a script somewhere behind the camera, which was very distracting. Observing this, I realize that it is important for one to make eye contact with their audience, because if it isn't done, the speech won't feel personal and close to the listener and cause them to be distracted.

Using Statistics

When using facts and statistics in a speech, the most useful and effective times to use them would be if you are giving a speech to persuade or to inform. Using facts and statistics appeals to the logic of the audience members, and it causes agreement among them, helping to unify them to your position. Using facts and statistics also increases your credibility, but only when coming from a reliable source. When trying to persuade someone, giving facts and statistics would help back up your position and give them something to ponder about. When using them in an informative speech it can help educate the audience member and bring them to a better understanding of the material that you are presenting. Some of the ways that facts and statistics could be detrimental to your speech would be to present so many that the people listening become overwhelmed and lose focus on what they are hearing. Presenting material with poor credibility and from a bad source could also hurt you. Also, when one starts to present facts and statistics that have no point in your speech, like giving statistics on the economy when you are talking about the ocean, people will be confused about the point that you are trying to get across.

Chapter 5 Speech Buddy

After watching both the speech buddies on light pollution and drinking, I probably got the most from the speech on drinking. The speech was very well put together, the logical thinking flowed smoothly and I liked how he kept breaking down the statistics until the reality of the numbers struck me: statistically, four people will die during the duration of an average college class period. Listening to some of the comments that he made, it is obvious that he paid attention to some of the points that the book hit on, he showed that he was aware of the age demographic of his audience and even threw in some statistics for them to show how his speech was relevant to them.


For the light pollution one, I think the one thing that I picked out that related to chapter five's topic was how she brought up one of the earlier discussions in the class. By doing this it helped unify her audience by bringing up a topic that they all participated in. Something that I think she did a little too much, especially with how early she was in her speech, was how she was looking at her paper almost the entire time she was talking. I can understand a little though, since I have a major problem with this. It will be something that I will be working on for the next speech. :)

The Importance of audience analysis

Audience adaptation is where one learns about the different values and characteristics of the audience and adapts the speech to reflect that. Audience adaptation is important especially when one is trying to persuade the audience of something, if the speaker does not know anything about his audience he will not be as effective at holding the attention and interest of the audience. Before writing the speech the speaker should take into consideration several aspects, like the location, the occasion, and the time of day that the speech will occur. The location could be in an auditorium, in a classroom, or in a conference room and could be a great indicator of what your audience will be and therefore, the speaker can decide how formal or informal the speech will be. The occasion can have two types of audiences: voluntary or captive audiences. Voluntary audiences will attend because maybe they found the topic interesting, or they like the speaker, but they will generally be more likely to listen to what the speaker has to say. Captive audiences are there because they are required to be there and so they won't be as willing to listen. The time of day is an important factor because the audience will have different distractions right before lunch than if it was a couple of hours after. Before lunch the audience will be hungry and have a lower blood sugar, so their attentiveness will be very low.
Some of the ways that I can use this for my speech next Monday is looking at these different pieces of audience adaptation - it's located in a classroom with a captive audience in the evening - and looking how I can capture, and keep, the interest of my audience.

Evaluating Research Materials

In chapter 6, one of the sections was talking about evaluating research materials. There were three criteria that the book listed: reliability, validity, and currency. These three criteria are extremely important, since the research put into an essay or a speech can make or break its credibility. Reliability is where the information comes from a credible course, like a peer reviewed journal or something that is commonly agreed upon among experts in that specific field. One of the examples of getting something from an unreliable source would be a student getting their research from Wikipedia, almost anyone can change the information presented there, so it is in no way reliable, although following some of the links provided on Wikipedia could provide a reliable source. Validity is where an argument or evidence supporting the argument is sound and logical. And currency is where the information is recent and up to date. Getting something with the most recent evidence is crucial. Any research should have these three things in mind. Without any one of these criteria, the person writing the essay or presenting a speech could provide false information to the audience that they are speaking to.

Week 3 Question 1

The only real experience that I had conducting an interview would have been for my nutrition class. The goal of the assignment was to kind of get an idea of what differences there are between peoples eating habits today and compared to 60+ years ago. The person that I interviewed was my coworker, who was a good candidate since she had lived in Kentucky as a child a long time ago. The interview went very well, I had several questions to ask her relating to the assignment, and she was very cooperative and answered the questions well. I interviewed her at her desk just before she left on her lunch break, and since I consider her a friend I wasn't nervous interviewing her. I think the only thing that I would have done differently would have been to record the interview, since I had to write down what she said before going on to the next question.

Chapter 6 Speech Buddy

Once again, I'm glad there was some speaking examples that was available in speech buddy. The example of the informative speech was helpful in giving me an idea about what an informative speech will be like.

One of the things that I thought was a good thing to bring up in the 6.1 video was going to a librarian for help. Some people might not think about that when they have questions finding reference material.  In one of my English classes I had to do a research essay and I wasn't having much luck finding the information that I needed on my own. After spending quite a few minutes at one of the library search computers a librarian came up and asked me if I needed help. Once I explained what I was trying to do, he immediately started writing down different keywords that I had not thought of to use in the search, and then directed me towards the best search engine to find what I was looking for. I found some of my best material because of that. Next time I have trouble finding reference material, I'll ask a librarian. :)

Building Confidence

One of the topics that the book discussed is helping build your confidence. The two points that I consider the most important from that section would be planning and preparing the speech early, and practice your speech. Since I am not the best writer, I need a lot of time to think about what I am going to write out for my introduction, conclusion, and main points. And of course, starting out on my speech early gives me a lot more time to practice! Practice is extremely important for me since I am pretty nervous giving speeches. Practicing allows me to memorize my speech a little bit so I do not have to focus as much on what I want to say, and instead give more of my energy towards making eye contact with the audience and staying relaxed. I also will not have to worry as much about stuttering and blanking out with my speech, which is something I tend to struggle with a little bit. I have definitely learned a lot in this chapter about helping with my anxiety, and I will for sure be trying to use what I learned in my speech tomorrow.

Speech Buddy

I really liked the Speech Buddy Videos, it provided a nice summary to the book as well as put it in visual and audio perspective, which are two of the ways that I learn well and am more likely to put the information to memory.

The "Intro to Jessica" video was very helpful to me, it provided me with a good example of how a speech should go. I even like how they put up the video regardless of a couple of mistakes that she made. Jessica recuperated well from a couple of stutters that she made and continued without bringing any attention to it, so by the time she ended her speech I almost didn't even remember that happened! It reminded me of another good point in the 2.2 video, never comment on nervousness! This will be one of the areas that I will try to improve on my speech on Monday, since I usually think that I have to explain to an audience that I'm nervous. Another thing that I liked about her speech was the way she was able to tie the conclusion perfectly to the introduction, leaving firmly in the memory of the audience the point she was trying to make.

Public Speaking Apprehension

There are several reasons why public speaking makes me nervous. The biggest reason would have to be that when I'm speaking in front of several people I have pretty much all of the speech anxiety symptoms that the book listed: quavering voice, shaky hands, mind going blank, increased heart rate, and trembling legs. I don't exactly know why I have these symptoms; even when I'm singing with my family in front of several people I get nervous, so I've always just thought I had stage fright. Another part of my anxiety is because I KNOW I'm going to be having trouble with these symptoms up front, which actually makes my symptoms even worse! All morning of the day that I'm supposed to give my speech I'll be nervous and worried that I'll mess it up. A couple of the best things that helps me to relax before and during a speech are practicing my speech until I know it by heart, and taking a couple of deep breaths when I feel my nervousness is building.