Lucia Urdaneta Blog 1

   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 chapters in detail. The project managers said that the slides might have a little bit too much information, and that they were reading a little too much off the slides, so they recommended having fewer words, using index cards with notes, and making more eye contact with the audience. This was good feedback, and it stood out to me because this is something I struggle with, and it just requires more preparation to have fewer words on your slides and make sure that you know what to talk about when you read each point and how to expand on them so you can focus and connect better with your audience.

    Group 2’s presentation focused on preparing and doing everything that comes before the presentation/speech. Some of their points were how important it is to determine the purpose of the speech, to choose and develop a topic, research information, and organize points to cover clearly. One of the concepts that I thought was important was what type of speech it is: informative, persuasive, or special occasion. These different purposes can help us adjust our speech presentation to our audience. They also mentioned supporting material like narratives, examples, definitions, and facts. They also mentioned that sometimes, including stories can make your presentation more impactful, and using facts or statistics can make your speech more credible.

    Speech structure was also a point that I thought was important. A strong speech should have an introduction, body, and conclusion, and transitions to make sure the speech has flow through the different ideas. Working outlines, complete sentence outlines, and speaking outlines are ways that a presenter can take a research topic and make it into a presentation. It stood out to me how Group 2 had interactions with the class and examples to keep the audience involved. The project managers also pointed this out as one of the strengths of Group 2 because the interaction and examples helped keep the class involved and paying attention. They also gave them feedback on cutting some words on their slides so they’re making more interaction with the audience. This strategy was a good, useful technique to maintain the audience’s attention. Overall, from them I learned to have clear organization and an emphasis on audience interaction rather than reading off the presentation.

    Group 3’s presentation was about developing and delivering a speech. Along with having a strong introduction, conclusion, presentation, media delivery, methods, body language, and audience interaction. One of the ideas that stuck with me was how important the beginning and the end of a speech/presentation are. When starting, the introduction is our first impression on the audience, and the conclusion is the final message, making it an important, memorable part. Another thing that was also important is that the media we use should support the speaker’s points rather than replace them. Keep slides simple, and prepare using good visuals or flash cards for a better outcome in your presentation.

    Being part of Group 3, my section was speech delivery, which is something that I thought was very useful. I went over a bunch of different points, like memorizing and delivery, and both cover variety, eye contact, posture, and gestures. A big takeaway that I had for my presentation was avoiding using filler words like “um” and “like”. For me, this is one of those words for me that I tend to use without noticing, so learning to take those planned pauses can make a speech sound more professional and prepared. Project manager feedback was that they liked that your information was easy to follow and organized, but they did notice that some people were nervous and reading off the slides, so they mentioned having shorter points and practicing more beforehand to help engage with the audience and make eye contact. Going forward, I’ll make sure to practice my presentation thoroughly, plan pauses, not read off the presentation slides, and maintain good eye contact with the audience.

    Group 4’s went over a lot of different topics from previous presentations by showing how public speaking can change and be adjusted, depending on the purpose, message, audience, and setting. They went over informative presentations, persuasive presentations, argumentative presentations, media appearances, and special occasion speeches. One of the concepts that they went over that I liked was the difference between an informative and a persuasive speech. An informative presentation is mainly focused on explaining a topic to an audience and making sure they understand. A persuasive presentation will try to influence a belief or an action. The persuasive presentation section also mentioned that this kind of speech should be based on ethics and shouldn’t rely on manipulation or misleading information.

    I thought the argumentative section was also informative and useful because when mentioning a strong argument, that is something that needs to be backed up by evidence and reasoning. Another topic was just speaking, and that’s a great example because for us we have class over Zoom. Even if we are presenting through a camera, a speaker still needs structure, confidence, posture, vocal variety, preparation, and presentation. Another thing was how special occasions, speeches, and when they can be used, like tributes, toasts, acceptance speeches, and even professional elevator speeches. The project managers mentioned that they really liked Group 4’s creativity and the visuals that were incorporated into their presentation. It stood out to me that the creativity and visuals from Group 4 showed that a good presentation visually helps keep people entertained. My takeaway was that there’s no one way to present a speech. It has to be adjusted by many different factors, by adjusting delivery, organization, evidence, and tone, depending on who your audience is and what you are presenting.

    The project managers wrapped up our first round of presentations by reviewing all four groups and discussing the strengths and things that we could improve. Their feedback was constructive. For Group One, they liked the creativity and how thoroughly the information was covered, but did note that the wording should’ve been a little more concise. For Group 2, they liked the interaction with the audience because it helped keep people entertained. For Group 3, the delivery of other information was organized and easy to follow, but did note that some people in the group could be more prepared due to nervousness. They recommended using index cards and improving their eye contact and engagement. For group 4, they liked their creativity and use of visuals. I really like how their constructive criticism was presented positively and how we can improve in the future.