Speech Comments

So we've finished our second day of informative speeches. One person whose speeches always stand out to me are Gina's speeches. She has such a great formula for delivery, always all this energy and enthusiasm and she really knows her outline so she makes great eye-contact with the audience. I think her speech really exemplifies what a well-prepared rhetor should be. Props to Gina. I think that the only thing that needs to be worked on, in general, with the class is just trying to eliminate the "um's" and the "uh's". A few of the speeches tried taking on a very casual and informal tone, which is good, but as a result you get alot of those "um's" and "uh's", and it's really distracting.

The Scars of War

So last night I went slept over at Babson College becuase it was my best friends birthday and I promised him I'd hang out with him. Besides, I wasn't about to miss out on an awesome party, but that's besides the point. Today I gave my speech on the Lucifer Principle, while I was horribly hung over. I must admit, I think I did pretty good considering the circumstances. I really wish I had practiced it, just so I wouldn't have fumbled up those few times that I did. All and all I think it went really well, I managed to get it down to 5:30 which is good considering all the information I had to cover. I'm just concerned that the audience might have gotten lost during my speech. But, whatever. As long as I can get a good grade on it I'm not too concerned. Greg brought up that my speech was a good "appetizer" which I think is true. I adapted alot of the Lucifer Principle into a 7 page essay for my expository writing essay so I think that will be good.

A little more constructive criticism

On Monday we had our 2nd group of speech givers and there was one speech in particular that really stood out to me. It was the one the Italian aunt/grandmother I can't really remember. I really enjoyed the delivery of that speech because it had alot of energy and it was very descriptive and she did a great job of voicing the characters in her speech. There were maybe 2 speeches (might have been just one) in which the rhetor tried to take on a sort of casual tone and voice throughout the delivery but at times would stray away from the structure of their outline it seemed so they would have to pick back up where they started or tell ur something that they had left out. I don't have anything against trying to take a more casual tone when giving a speech just as long as you adhere to your structure, becuase if not, little mistakes like those can take away from the message or become distracting to the audience.

Overall: Everyone did a great job on their first speeches.

A little constructive criticism

So last class we heard the first group of speeches and there were a few things that I liked and other things that I didn't really like too much. I really enjoyed the delivery of Rachel's speech. The way she described everything and her subtle gestures with her hands and her tone and voice really added a great touch to the speech. It felt somewhat inspiring at times, especially when she was talking about the tree they saw and eating the most delicious apple in the world. Rachel's speech was a really good example of a pathos and ethos. One thing that I thought some speakers could have improved on was staying still and making good eye-contact.

Rhetorical Problems

So I've come across my first major problem while writing my speech, and that is a problem of topic/subject. I've decided to change the topic of my narrative from a story that I had found online to a personal anecdote about an incident I had on Wednesday. My topic is probably not the most appropriate for a classroom setting but I think that it can convey a very important message. I didn't really have any strong convictions about the story I was originally going to tell and I feel that it is crucial that you have some sort of emotional attachment to the story you are going to tell.

Bat Country: Population: 1

"Wait! We can't stop here!
This is bat country!"
~rip H.S.T.

My blood was too thick, for the navada desert.

For those of you who are familiar with the work of Hunter S. Thompson you'll understand my reference. So this is my first official blog, which I have created solely for the purpose of Speech Class, but who knows I may get creative with this. So now I'm basically supposed to tell you what I expect to learn and get out of this class. To be perfectly honest I don't expect much except to learn whatever it is this class has to teach me, and learn it well. I guess I'd like to work more on my formal-public speaking skills.

Cheers to my professor.
The aptly named, Dunn.