SPC2608 7220 800 AM Group 3

  While I’ve known how important voting is for the country and my future, throughout these projects I've learned that voting these elections play a crucial role in creating government, public policy and the everyday lives of citizens. I knew voting was essential before learning about this topic, but I didn’t know how many aspects of our society are affected by election results. Elections influence decisions on education, the economy, immigration and many other issues that effect people’s lives, from the local community to the federal government. Studying elections has helped me understand what it is to be a responsible citizen and why we should vote. One of the first things I understood was the difference between state and local elections. In local elections leaders are chosen, like mayors, city council members, school board members, and county commissioners. Elected leaders make decisions that automatically impact communities such as public transportation, public ...

Blog 2 Group 1’s presentation on the electorate and election process helped me understand that elections aren’t just about the candidates. The laws also shape how voters express opinions and, later, how these votes turn into results. An example that stood out to me was ranked-choice voting. Voters are able to rank candidates in order of preference, rather than just picking one candidate. The group also talked about and compared the way other countries, alongside the United States, run their election and voting systems, making us see that there is more than one way to run it. Something I also liked about their presentation was how they explained what we do on the ballot instead of just what it is. Something that stood out was how the government professor they interviewed made the point that it is important to know how our government works to properly participate. One thing that could be done to make this section even more visual and clear would be a picture of a sample ballot with hypot...

 In general, I believe that all groups were successful with their presentation. All the groups tried hard and it was obvious that all the groups made some research about the topic, organized the information and prepared slides. It was nice to listen to the various presentations as each group talked about something unique and thus I had a chance to learn something new for myself. It was also nice to see how everybody presented their information and how various groups used the Power Point to talk about their topics. There is one thing that I found common in many presentations and that is the excessive use of words in the slides. In my view, the presentations could have been further improved if people had limited their slides and concentrated on the essential information. In many cases, there was just too much information included in one slide, making it really hard to figure out which parts deserve your attention. As far as I am concerned, PowerPoint slides should serve only as an ai...

   Blog 1 Reflection   Group 1’s presentation was about the foundation of public speaking and how to help establish effective communication. One of their main points was that public speaking is more than standing in front of someone and just talking. It’s a skill that takes preparation, practice, understanding your audience, and adapting your presentation to all work in harmony. The group also talked about how internal and external factors can affect your speech, like the audience being distracted or you not being well prepared. Logos, pathos, ethos, and mythos were some useful ways that a speaker can connect with their audience.      Another topic they covered was public speaking, anxiety, and confidence. They emphasized that becoming a good public speaker isn’t just about not being nervous because nerves are good, but learning how to prepare and build confidence over time in your skills. For Group 1’s presentation, I really liked how they covered their ch...

  From the group and project manager presentations, I learned that an effective speech is about much more than just talking to an audience. There are some things that you can do to prepare a good presentation. I listened to each presentation and was interested in the importance of knowing your audience, preparation, managing your nerves, organizing your thoughts, and using presentation suggestions well. Several things caught my interest. One presentation that stood out to me was the importance of thinking about the audience. Before I heard the presentations, I thought it was important for a speaker to talk about what they had to talk about. But I also realize now that it is crucial to pay attention to the audience. The speaker should also consider the expectations of the audience, what they expect from the speech, their requirements and their background. This point was interesting to me, since the same topic can be approached differently depending on the audience. In the future, I ...

     In high school, i took public speaking as a class so i have somewhat an idea of what this class was to entail. I do think i can learn many new things from it that i hadn’t learned before. During the project i thought the slides that i contributed were pretty good and i was confident in them. I was also confident in my speaking ability when it was my turn to present. I think in general my whole group did a great job in presenting and how they ended up finishing the powerpoint.      One of my favorite parts of the project was actually presenting. It felt like a big weight was finally taken off my shoulder and i felt a bigger surge of confidence once it was all said and done. The chapters were easy to read and i felt as if i definitely learned from them.      Overall i believe that our presentation was very solid. I found myself interested in my own powerpoint aswell as the powerpoints of the other groups. We can still learn a lot but at th...