Self Evaluation: Informative speech

Looking back at my speech on Monday, I would have to say that I was very pleased with how it went. I usually have a lot of trouble with my mind going blank on me when I am up front, but it only happened to me once and even then it only lasted for a brief moment. I felt more confident than the last two speeches, with my only nervousness happening while I was waiting to give my speech and as I was walking up. Some of the ways that I feel that this speech went better than last speech include saying "umm" a lot less, being more prepared to give my speech, I felt less nervous while giving the speech which allowed me to think more clearly, I transitioned better between topics, I feel like my introduction went better, I did not have to use my notecards at all, I did not have any of the nervous gestures of tucking my hair behind my ears, I went less over the time limit than the last speech, and I was more clear to the audience. One of the reasons that I think I did better this time was the fact that I practiced a lot more and was constantly reviewing, in my head, about what I should say and how to transition. Before, I just thought that all I needed to do was go through my speech once or twice to show that I knew how to do my speech, but what I didn't account for was the fact that I would be nervous and shaking which would cause me to blank out and my speech to fall apart. I also think that the powerpoint helped a lot with keeping me on track. I feel that my powerpoint was fairly well put together so that it helped the audience with visual aid. Using the laser pointer that I had brought with me also allowed me to direct my audiences eyes towards the area of my powerpoint that I was currently talking about. Some of the ways that I feel my speech did not go as well as the previous speeches? I had a lot less eye contact with the audience since I was using the pictures on my powerpoint to explain some things, and I talked a lot faster. I also feel that my conclusion could have used a little more work. This was the one area where I blanked, which would not have happened if I had remained in the time limit that we were given. I had looked up and saw the five minute card displayed which caused me to panic and then blank out. Two things that I would have done differently If I could redo my speech would have been to practice the conclusion more and maybe shave off a little bit of info in the speech so that I could have stayed in the time limit. I would have also practiced my speech a little more while using the powerpoint in order to be as comfortable as I could be with the information presented on the powerpoint so that I could focus more on making eye contact with the audience.