Journal #1

The biggest takeaway from chapter 1 in “A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking” is that public speaking is a vital skill. It can truly shape the way others interpret conversations and speeches, and can leave an impression on employers, patients and the-like. For me specifically, I know that as a student nurse, the way I speak to patients, other students and nurses that instruct me carries value, and I truly want to attain the skill of being a good public speaker. The canons of rhetoric, originating in Greece, provides a 5-step process on delivering a speech: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. These steps can lead speakers to produce speeches in a format that lead to democracy due to a strong public speaking forum. Another big takeaway from chapter 1 is that public speaking includes interactive conversation. This format introduces the idea of a source creating (or encoding) a message that can be decoded by the receiver, or audience. This interaction allows for feedback and shared meaning that can lead to a goal and outcome being met. After reading the chapter, I connect the most with the interaction conversation, because I realized how truly incredible it is that a speaker can connect and deliver their thoughts so well, that it creates a shared meaning/understanding with the audience. I definitely want to build my skills to achieve this ability because it would increase my chances of connecting with more people.

Journal #2

I have chosen a keychain as my small object for this assignment. This small object is attached to my keys, and goes with me wherever I go. It was a 2018 Christmas present from my mom. It features a small map of the coast of Maine, with “Scarborough” emphasized. It is shaped like a half bubble, and has a metal back.

This was given to me even before I knew I would end up living in an apartment in Pine Point Beach, Scarborough my junior year of college. I had some of the greatest memories of my life in my apartment, and it was the perfect place to study, relax, and hang out with some of my favorite people. This keychain is special to me because I will keep it forever, and will always remember where I spent my favorite 2 years of college with my favorite people. Plus, it was given to me from my mom, who I love very much.

Journal #3

The biggest takeaways from chapter 11 and 12 include the elements of what makes a speech really good and easy to follow. For example, it has been proven that most audiences can only retain two to seven main points. This fact shows that making main ideas and points clear can lead for a more engaged audience that is receiving the feedback well. Plus, another important thing that I feel I connected with was the use of transitional words. I genuinely feel like when speeches include these terms it helps with flow, organization, and overall understanding of the points being made. It almost strings the speech along. I also found it interesting the different speech patterns that can be used for different points made in a speech. For example, a narrative speech will have a different way of leading into main points compared to a problem and solution based speech. Using these patterns can definitely increase the feedback received between the speaker and the audience.

Journal #4

Some things that went well for me in speech #2 were that I was able to form a strong introduction with description of the object, and include a body of the speech that explained why the object was important to me. However, I can definitely agree with my peers when they gave me feedback on my organization. Towards the end of the speech, I was stumbling through my words, thus making it harder to follow. However, I revised the speech after hearing my peers thoughts and worked on adding a clear, direct conclusion.

Journal #5

The biggest takeaways from chapter 13 that I got were that outlines are extremely important in the process of creating a speech. Outlines aid in improving the fluidity of a speech, the organizational pattern of a speech, and overall performance of a speech. The overall performance of a speech is aided by outlines because they highlight keywords, which allow for our speech to be delivered in a manner that requires little eye contact to remain on the outline due to the keywords ability to jog the speakers memory on where the speech is going. This leads to maximum eye contact with the audience because the speaker won’t have to continually be gazing over at the outline; they will remember the way the outline goes. I connected with this chapter because it shows how the preparation of an outline (both a working and speaking outline) can truly aid in the delivery of a speech, and maximize engagement with the audience. I will definitely work on the development of providing more in depth outlines, because I really think they can help me with my delivery of speeches, and also help with my conclusions that I still struggle with.

Journal #6

I think the best part of my teaching a skill speech was how easy it was to set up. I feel like there was a lot of background that went along with my skill to ensure that I made the 3 minute mark, which in the beginning I was slightly worried about. I feel like my eye contact has gotten better throughout the course, but definitely need to work on setting up my outline in a better place. It was positioned downward so when I looked at it for keywords it was obvious and distracting, so I want to work on a setup that is at eye level. I also received good feedback which both helped my confidence and helped to develop even more detail. Initially, I had a really hard time filming this speech because since it was longer, I had more of an opportunity to stumble over my words. It took many tries to get the full speech in one take because I kept messing up. But, eventually practice makes perfect. Overall, I am getting the hang of the process of brainstorming ideas, writing outlines, practicing, and putting together speeches.

Journal #7

I think the most important aspects of chapter 25 were to identify the type of audience, setting, and occasion before giving a speech. For example, a speech to commemorate someone at an awards banquet is going to have a different goal and elements of humor than a roast. In addition, I never knew how to properly introduce someone; in fact I always thought it was annoying when I would look at a speech line up and see someone speaking just to introduce the speaker. However, I now understand the meaning of it is to let the audience understand why that person is qualified to speak and give their own take on what they are discussing. I also really liked reading the speech done by Will Ferrell; plus, I had no idea he majored in Sports Information originally. So it was interesting to see how his life turned out differently than he expected it would, especially given how successful he has become. Overall, this chapter really helped me understand the different moods and reasons for speeches regarding occasion, setting, and audience.

Journal #8

After doing speech #4 and reviewing it, I think it would have been better if I was standing. And moving forward, I need to stand when I give the rest of my speeches. I just know that I perform better when I’m sitting, but I need to get better about making myself uncomfortable in order to get out of my comfort zone. In regards to feedback, I got a lot of comments on organization, and I think I did a good job at making it better. I understood that it was difficult in my dry run to get the thesis because of the way I delivered it. However, by the final cut, I think I worded it better so that it was much more present in the speech and easy to follow. I also liked the feedback I received on how I sounded very casual, because I do feel like I usually come off as stiff. Overall, I think from the dry run to the final cut, I modified this speech the most and rather than not thinking the original was good enough, I feel proud that I can see the feedback as what it is: something to improve my performance.

Journal #9

The biggest things I connected with from chapters 23 and 24 include how in order to be a strong persuasive speaker, one must use logos, ethos, and pathos. I remember learning about this in high school as well, but as I got older, I forgot the meaning of them in regards to persuasive arguments and the importance of them. As I read the chapter, all I could think of is the current state of America and how different news outlets can tell the same stories, but with different emphasis on claims of value, fact, and policy, and how they use those along with ethos, logos, and pathos in a persuasive format. I think knowing how to correctly address each aspect of a persuasive argument is a strong tool in engaging an audience and truly getting one’s point across, especially when you are trying to change someone’s mind. Plus, addressing the counterarguments in a speech is important to an audience because it shows you are open-minded and can see different perspectives. I believe that helps an audience change their minds when listening to a speaker.

Journal #10

I believe my biggest strides between dry-run and final cut were from my mean to me speech. After reading the feedback on from my peers, I agreed that it was definitely evident that my thesis and main points were not clear in the speech. Plus, this is something that I have come to notice, but I genuinely feel like pulling my hair up and away from my face helped in my performance. I was able to start telling the stories about my boyfriend James at (0:44) in a smoother and cleaner transition than of the dry-run speech. Overall, I completely changed the organization of that speech which allowed for the content to be better and more clear to my audience.

Journal #11

My secrets to success speech was a very honest reflection. I opened up about how I had fears of sounding stupid when speaking to others, and how nervous and frustrated I would get at times, but still persisted throughout the class. Also, the delivery of this speech I believe was the smoothest I’ve ever done. I feel like I truly didn’t stumble over my words more than once at least during this speech which is really good for me. I also think the development and organizational aspect was solid because I planned out this speech in a new way, but it definitely worked for me. I think the biggest things I need to work on in the future is still confidence (though it has improved GREATLY from this course) and forming a good conclusion.