Speech Progress

Speech Progress

     Hello, this is Camila Sanchez and welcome to my first blog. 

     Stage fright is one of the most common symptoms I had and still do have (sometimes) when I present in front of a whole class or anywhere where there is a large crowd. But, once I get the hang of it, speeches will come as counting from one to a hundred! This blog will hit points concerning how last week's presentations helped me learn how to become a better speaker and a few of my interests within the presentations my classmates in Introduction to Public Speaking (SPC 2608-5988) with Professor Sherri Sinkoff. 

     When Group 1 presented, they began with what the worst-case scenario is when presenting which is quite literally "What could go wrong?" It is funny to relate it to that but in reality, people have a tough time when presenting and could possibly see it as an impossible thing to do. So, those people might start to get sweaty, jittery, anxious, dizzy, tongue twisted, dry mouth, and maybe even vomit and ways how to avoid that are preparing and going over the lines with people that you know, breathing in and out, and being positive. 

     Another component they talked about was why public speaking is useful and a skill you will be using almost everywhere. By that it means that public speaking skills can be used during job interviews, in school, in group projects and meetings, and of course other places. The group went over the seven components of the communication process which are the basic elements of public speaking and situations that can occur in the presentation itself. 

     They continued by saying that the topic you choose is very important for your speech. It is important because if you choose a topic that is out of the people's interest and not appropriate for the event, the people will lose their focus and not the speech would be irrelevant. So, it is preferred for the speaker to choose a topic that is correlated to the specific event that they are speaking at like a business meeting or to choose a topic that they are knowledgeable about and that you are passionate about. IF you choose a very common topic, what is preferred that you do is to find new information that can be introduced to the audience. This will attract the audience and will make them more interested since they are learning something new. 

     Depending on the type of presentation you are presenting depends on how you develop your speech. We were taught the three types of speeches which are informative, persuasive, and special occasion presentations. The objective of the informative speech is to teach the audience about a certain topic that you learned about or commonly have experienced. The informative speech is to inform and avoid persuasion towards the audience. The objective of a persuasive speech is to inform and influence the audience to change their attitudes, mentality, feelings, and thoughts about the topic you are presenting. These types of presentations are made to not force but gently nudge the audience into a different perspective. And finally special occasion speeches are as the name says for "special occasions". Their object is to be presented in a special event that is correlated to the same event that is happening. The example they gave was a wedding, if you start talking about a business proposal that wouldn't be part of a wedding speech because it doesn't click with the event but for example the dad or mom gets up and says something sweet to the groom and bride then of course that would be a special occasion speech. 

     And towards the end, the importance of being a good listener. By becoming a good listening you need to pay attention to what is being presented, ignore any judgment towards the speaker and focus on what the presentation is about, "focus on the main idea", try to find the message of the presentation, try to remember main topics, ignore any distractions. When it comes to a person presenting to my class or wherever in am, I like to drop what I am doing like if i was talking to someone or if I was on the phone to direct my full attention to that person because I remember someone telling me "would you like someone to be distracted and not paying attention to your presentation that you found important?" So to be respectful and ethical, I intend to receive what i give to my classmates and the person who is presenting anywhere I am at. 

     The presentation that really caught my eye was from Group 2, specifically Chapter 7, which talks about how to deliver your speech. The first thing the group member mentioned was when delivering our speech it must go with the flow, meaning picking a topic we are passionate about, and depending on what type of speech it is then it must go flowingly during the presentation of the speech. And with this, it is followed by the foundations of the basics of presenting which include the ability to have eye contact, nervous behavior, and good vocals that can be clearly understood by the audience. 

     Relating to myself, I used to have horrible jitters and huge stage fright when it came to the present. Up to the point where I would rather receive a Zero as a grade because of how much fear I obtained. But, seeing how everyone in the class and in the groups were so calm and collected and ready to present, made me want to present the same way. So, seeing my peers present their speeches motivated me to present the same way and release my nervousness and anxiety, exchanging it for readiness and connecting with the audience while still making my presentation a learning experience. 

In overall, all the presentations have helped me learn how to become a great speaker and presenter. Between everyone who presented, we can see the start to the finish of the presentation process and how to master your speaker skills.