Speech evaluation #3 -Final ONE!!

This speech is a culmination of four months of hard work and preparations. From the first vulnerable presentations to the nit picky details and fluidity shown in the final presentations, I did not see just another speech, but I saw an evolution from myself. Throughout this particular speech I tried to keep in mind what I was passionate about. I kept in my mind those people who grew up with a lack of social skills. I gave this speech for them. Overall, I think I did a fair job of presenting my case to our class. It definitely could have been more persuasive. As far as comfort goes, I think I was more nervous about this speech more than any other speech I have done in class. The reason was because there was so much more information that had to be presented and supported by evidence. I had some doubt that I could present my knowledge in a way that could persuade and at the same time was logical in organization. Having been in this situation in the past, I knew how to handle myself. I did go overtime, but I kept my focus on finishing up my points in a concise manner.

In retrospect, there were several aspects of my presentation that could have been clearer. I wish that I had devoted more time to preparing the information and its evidence in a more persuasive manner. For much of the time, I felt like I was just throwing out information that my colleagues had to gobble up. I know that the logic of my argument was clear to me but I’m not sure I conveyed it persuasively enough to my friends. I think that the differences between this speech and last speech were that in my last one, I had too many confusing and complex topics that people had to comprehend. So, I think I did a better job at simplifying my arguments as much as I could. In this speech, I had a bit more control of my body movements and the speed of my voice.

I will admit that the comment I keep on getting from my peers is the lack of control of my hands and arms. A lot of people said that my arms were a big distraction to what I was presenting. I can admit that the reason that I overact these gestures is because I’m nervous. Hopefully, people could see the improvement from speech to speech. I calmed myself down and allowed my arms to relax more than in months past. My eye contact was involuntary this time around. I’m sure I looked at many different people. On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate my eye contact a 7 because I didn’t have as much control of it as I would have liked.

I think that I am deserving of a “B” because I think that my speech could have been more polished. I presented great arguments, such as “social skills should be taught in schools so we can limit violence and death due to ignorance and stereotypes.” However, the lack of persuasive value in my delivery, and the fact that my audience was more or less seemed to not be convinced seemed like a downer in my eyes. My presentation was solid, but it did not get people to really believe what I was saying. Each of my last two speeches had good and bad tastes, however I think that this one was a little bit worst because I had trouble keeping within the time frame, and I did a mediocre job of completing my objective which was to persuade the audience. In my informative speech, I was on point, and I really felt I did a great job of informing my audience about NLP.

In my show, I mentioned five sources that backed up my main points. I think the use of sources from a variety of types ranging from newspapers and journals, to the internet really benefited my credibility. Out of all of the speeches, I think I performed my best work on the second speech. I had a comprehensive and complete outline. I had a week to practice the delivery and critique the final product, and I felt like it was a walk in the park. I did not even realize that I had given the speech until the end. I practiced so much that it felt like I was a spectator watching my own performance from a TV.

As a final thought, I want to say that my first speech was the funniest, the second was the best, and the third really taught me a lot on what I can improve on in the future. I know that my biggest problem is to control my frame, my body movements, and delivery. I will continue to improve in those areas. It has been a thrill to hone my skills in front of 25-30 of my friends, and I hope we can all take what we learned and use it to our advantage in our lifetime. Thanks again Carol and my classmates for the criticism and the help.