Giving the Facts and Statistics!!

I think the best times to give facts and statistics are when you are either trying to prove a point, or make somebody aware of something. The only way that it works is if you can find information that will back up your speech. It is also a good idea to use facts and statistics is when you want to present an idea. Even though you may not be able to give facts and statistics about the “idea” itself, you may use facts and statistics to give the audience an idea of what could be. Thinking about it, most speeches would benefit from facts and statistics.

Giving facts and statistics would not be a good idea if you were presenting your opinion. But then thinking about it, you would need to find facts and statistics to back your opinion up. Maybe you would not need facts and statistics in your speech if what you were talking about is general knowledge, other than that, I can’t think of anything.

Speech Buddy Videos!! 9/22

In the first video, I observed that she had a lot of information to back up her speech. The first sentence was a little weird though because after her “hook” I spent at least a minute going “what???” I like that she incorporated her personal experiences and she did a lot of research and it seemed like she knew what she was talking about. The second video does point out how visual aids help out with the presentation. While I was watching, I imagined if he didn’t have anything to show. I think that without visual aid it is not as memorable and doesn’t bring the main point into focus fast. The third video was a bunch of information on how to organize your speech. I’m sure I will be using that information at some point in creating a speech. The fourth video was very useful. I’m not very good with transitions and it is very important when presenting information. Showed some very good examples.

1. Research Interviews

This reminds me, just last week in my health class I had to interview family about health history. It was not a big deal because that was pretty easy. I did not have many research interviews in school, mainly my family and that does not cause my public speaking nightmares to come crashing in. I did have some assignments that required being in an interview and then having to write about it, it did require a lot of research. The assignment was to prepare for mock interviews to prepare for future job world. We had to research what to wear, how to speak, how to fill out your resume, how to fill out applications, common courtesy. During this interview, I was shaking at first and when I got to know the other person, I became comfortable with speaking and sharing my thoughts and experiences. It does depend on how open the other person is, because I noticed that if somebody is talking to you and you feel like a mouse and hes the trap, it is hard to keep a friendly conversation going. This is my experience, not much but I hope it has some use.

3. Concept

There are many concepts to public speaking, but I picked the topic we read about in chapter 2 that will hopefully help me when getting up in front of an audience. The concept is Practice Your Speech. I will probably have to remind myself that an infinite amount of times this semester, but it really does help. I understand that I may not be able to create the conditions that the book suggests like practice in a place that is similar to the place you will be speaking and I may not be able to get an audience of four or more people who would be willing to sit through my practice speech, but I think it is a brilliant idea to practice. I know from personal experience that if I do not practice, my confidence falls, I will definitely mess up something that will be very visible, and sometimes it causes me to forget what I was talking about and I would venture into another territory that would kind of mess up what I was talking about in the first place. I remember when my brother took speech class and he would go into the garage and talk about his subject with such passion and he would do hand gestures to go along with what he was talking about, we all laughed and kind of poked fun at him at times, but now I understand how valuable practicing is and how vital it is to deliver an effective speech with less worrying and stress symptoms.

Speech Buddies!!

The Speech Buddy Videos are a great tool to learn from. The first video shows different ways to get over speech fear and present your material well. The methods are visualizing, relabeling, and relaxing.  I’ve always had a problem with the visualizing part. I try to imagine myself going in front of an audience and everything is going good, and then, all of a sudden, something horrible has to happen. But I definitely agree that it is a good tool if you know how to control how you imagine things. Relabeling comes to play when I get stressed out about going in front of a class, it is good to imagine that everything will be good no matter what. Relaxation always works about 20 minutes before the speech, and then it all flies out the window for me. But it is a great idea to actually pause before giving a speech and mentally relax yourself, and as the second video shows, get familiar with your surroundings. I never really thought about it that intensely, but it makes sense. If you want to be comfortable in your surroundings, get comfortable and get to know the place around you. I would say it’s like meeting new people. It is so much easier to talk to them once you get to know them a little better. These methods are great and I hope that I will one day be able to use the effectively and to my benefit.

1. Fear of Public Speaking

                Fear of public speaking is something that almost everybody can relate to. As you get up to speak, the shaking of the hands, legs, and voice becomes a familiar feeling. As I was reading chapter 2 in the book Public Speaking the Evolving Art by Coopman, they listed two reasons why people may be afraid to speak in public. “Fear of public speaking stems from two sources: your temperament and how you’ve learned to respond to uncertainty.” (Coopman, 26) For me, my temperament is a problem when it comes to public speaking. I am the kind of person who is very shy in front of people and get very flustered when it comes to getting in front of a group of people and everything that I had prepared would come flying out of my head, my voice will start shaking, I will laugh nervously, look at the floor hoping that nobody is looking at me. This all started way back in elementary school when I would get teased about my appearance and it made me a little shy and more reserved. I was afraid that if I would try to speak in front of an audience, I would get laughed at or teased. I spent most of my time reading books and would speak only when it was necessary. In the past couple years my fear of speaking in front of an audience has improved because I decided that I need to start facing my fears to get over it. Hopefully, one day, I will get up in front of an audience in total confidence and be able to speak my part with only the minimal symptoms of fear.