Portfolio Podcast

Well, here it is. Our last speech. Kind of bitter sweet.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B59y-sNxGD-PeXNuQXRyM25BNk0&usp=sharing

Start, Stop, Continue: The Dump

3 GROUP MOVES:

1) TAR-OFF: The genie's catchphrase. It was cheesy, but the cheesy catchphrase is a convention of infomercials. We could have incorporated our tagline: "dump your child at the dump, and leave your worries behind." We wanted to incorporate this phrase, but when we wrote our script, we forgot all about it.

2) AI: the video with the fun edits. I liked how they brought humor into their presentation. The vape clouds with the music made it super entertaining. The way they presented the "sharks" with the photo shopped pictures and their funny background story really added to the believability of it being a shark tank pitch. I think we brought a little humor into our speech, but it was all channeled through Steven's characters.

3) TOWBE: I really liked how they had the prototype there with them to present to the sharks. I also liked the video they had and how they showed how hard it was to change with out the Towbe and then how easy it was with the Towbe. We wanted to have a printed ID card to hold when I talked about our high-tech data scanning system, and pamphlets to pass out to the "parents" but we ended up not having time print out our props.



START:

-Smiling more. In previous speeches I smiled much more than in this speech. I did smile a few times, but that was when I was breaking character. Steven's revolving characters were absolutely hilarious, and I couldn't help but laugh.

-The best thing I could do for the advancement of my public speaking skills is to embrace the essential scariness of speaking in front of others and just combat it head on with confidence. I tried to really keep myself calm before we started our speech. I think I did better at staying calm for this speech than in previous speeches, but I was still freaking out inside. I don't know what this freak out comes from but I think I am getting better. I need to start being confident in the face of my speech anxiety.





STOP:

-I fidget with my hands. I do this when it isn't my turn to talk. Like I have said in previous reflections, I believe this is a coping mechanism due to my intense nervousness. I don't realize that I am doing it. Since I have written about it a few times now, you'd think that I would be aware enough to combat it, but that apparently isn't the case.

-I said "um" a few times and this really upsets me when watching the video of our speech. It is upsetting because this was something I really focused on when practicing. I was so tired when we rehearsed before class and I was nervous because I was forgetting a few of my lines. I think the "um"s came out because I was second guessing myself. I tried to slow down so I could think about my next line, but somehow a few "um"s still snuck in there. It was a serious let down to watch the recording and hearing myself say "um". Not proud of that one.

-I said "like" in a few places where I hadn't planned. One instance: "We were just, like, kibitzing one day" and another was, "so I was like, that is a great idea". It sounds uneducated and unprofessional. "Like" is not a good pausing word, and sounds terrible when used in replacement for "I said".

-I broke character a few times when I got distracted by Steven's character, which I referenced in the "start" portion of my reflection. I should have avoided looking at him while I was speaking, because those hats were pretty distracting. It was hard to keep from cracking up when I knew certain lines were coming up. The anticipation of his silly characters hyped me up, but I am glad that I didn't let that trip me up too much. Although Steven's hats distracted me, I think I recovered pretty well.

-I looked at my notes a couple of times, which I really didn't want to do. I wrote them right before we went up to present the speech because when we practiced, I was having difficulties with a few lines and I was terrified of completely spacing out on those lines in front of the whole class.



CONTINUE:

-This speech I really tried to actively use my hands when I was talking. I think this came across. I don't think it looked the most natural at times, but I was attempting for my hand gestures to make me come off as more animated and relatable, rather than dry and impersonal. I counted on my fingers for points I was making. I referenced where the pool and the boys and girls club is in proximity to the local middle school and high school.

-I attempted to make great eye contact with my audience (Steven- PTA parents). I actively engaged with him and gave him lots of feed back like, "I'll handle this question" and, "That's a great question" in order for my delivery to be more believable. This is how I imagine people interacting in a PTA meeting.

-I naturally lead, and I think this has become a characteristic of mine that has grown on me. I used to see this characteristic in a negative light. I saw myself as bossy and controlling, but now I see that as a strong initiative to lead. This helped our group immensely because my drive to "boss" people around made it easier to work as a group. Instead of us all looking around like, "uh, I don't know, what do you think?", I would take the reigns and then say "does that sound good to you guys?". Handling the group project in such a way made us cover a lot of ground at a faster speed. The first time we met up, we all just kind of sat around and dumped ideas on a paper, but no initiative was taken on which direction we were going. It was obvious that we needed one person to guide us all into the right direction. I just accidentally fell into that position, but it worked out smoothly for all of us... Or at least that is how I viewed it from my perspective. I hope that my group felt the same way.

-I looked more comfortable up there in this speech than previous speeches and this is something I am really proud to see when reviewing the video. I looked confident and composed. Although that is not how I was feeling, it was very convincing, and for that, I am very proud of myself.

-My favorite portion of my lines was when I described the ID card. When watching this I am in awe at how smooth it sounds and how knowledgeable I appear on the subject. When I lost a word, I slowed down and took a second to pause before I spoke. I made it all the way through with only one "um" (there was one um at the end of this section, but it wasn't very noticeable). I am so amazed because this was the portion with the most information, so naturally, I felt like this is where I might stumble the most, but instead, I NAILED IT.

Start, Stop, Continue: Radical

Marriage should no longer be a legal matter.

3 sweet moves presented by my classmate’s radical speeches:

1. Connor =Back to Barter: throwing the change

Effective because: Connor played on the senses of the audience. It was loud, and shiny things were bouncing everywhere; It was a well executed attention grabber. After he dropped that change, it was impossible not to be compelled to hear what Connor had to say. All drifting thoughts were brought to a halt and my attention was all on Connor.

2. Jake=Value our Vets: emotionally charged

Effective because: Jake’s emotional pauses and thought provoking questions (that actually guided one to the answers he wanted the audience to come to) had a lot of persuasive power. I could feel his passion about the subject, and because it meant so much to him, it pulled me in, because anyone who cares that much about anything deserves an audience to at least hear the man out.

3. Ben=Criminals go to College: very informational, but not boring.

Effective because: Ben’s approach of using interesting, hard-hitting facts drew me in. I felt like I was learning, and being invited to really think about the problem, rather than someone just posing their opinion. This way, Ben was presenting me with the power of coming to my own conclusion based on the facts, but in a way that I came to the same conclusion that he was presenting.

Start:

      Being calm and confident:

I don’t know if I will ever get over the stage fright, but what I want to learn most from this class is to be confident while presenting in front of an audience. I have always had a problem presenting to the class as far back as show-and-tell days of elementary school. I used to be really shy, but I have really come into my own through my adolescence, and have become very comfortable talking to people, mostly due to practicing. (This transformation can be explained by a long story, but the abridged version is that my best friend in 3rd grade helped me learn that talking to people really isn’t that scary, and after a few skills she taught me, I can’t seem to shut up.) Stage fright seems to be my biggest hurdle for this class. I feel as though I am a very confident person, but something comes over me when I stand up to present. I have anxiety, and I have worked very hard to battle my triggers as I have grown up, but something about presenting sends me into panic mode. I have a whirlwind of thoughts attacking my mind, and they seem so chaotic and I can’t seem to hone in on any one thought in particular. I know that talking is easy, but as soon as I have a script to remember, I freak out. I try to rationalize and calm myself down logically, but this only leads me further into the black hole of overthinking and angst. This is the only time in my history of anxiety that I have felt like, “damn, maybe I really do need xanex to calm my crazy-ass down”. I have always just tried to battle my anxiety without a prescription because, let’s face it, drugs are fun, and I don’t have much self discipline. All joking aside, I felt so much better this last speech. I had a shaky start, but after about halfway, I felt the tension ease up as I felt myself on the downhill slide to the end of my speech. If only I could start my speech with that kind of serenity, then maybe presenting wouldn’t be so scary for me.

Stop:

    Um/ Uh:

It only takes 7 seconds into my speech for me to falter and hit an “um”. I counted 12 “um’s” or “uh’s”, which is unfortunate, because that was the number one thing I wanted to avoid in this speech. Even though I was trying hard to remember not to use those space holders, I ended up using them when my mind was turning a million miles a second. They don't sneak in there when I am actively engaged in the presenting of the speech, but more when I am nervously trying to gather the information in my mind for the upcoming subject change. When I am on a roll about a certain segment of my speech, there are no “uh’s” present; It is when I am changing gears into my next thought that I am going to present.

    Tongue clicks:

We approach my first trademarked tongue click at 1:23. Before, when analyzing this click, I thought it was because of discomfort, or maybe used in place of a sigh due to a lack of confidence. In this speech, I think it is just a way I am trying to get more comfortable and to feel more real in the moment. I’ve been paying attention to when I click my tongue, and I have noticed it is often followed by a head tilt, and what I have noticed is it is usually a reaction due to something funny, cute, or a comedic let down (ie: trying to fill the puppies dog dish and when I picked up the bag the bottom broke and kibble went everywhere= true story while puppy sitting this week.. the tongue click and head tilt followed seconds after the incident). It’s almost like a self coping mechanism that I have installed as a way to bring humor into situations that I would like to turn from uncomfortable, to humorous. When this tongue click happens in this speech, I am approaching a serious matter that I would like to view as funny, being: consensus of wanting to get married changes when we view divorced individuals. Serious subject matter, but with a humorous take on it.

    Looking at the screen (when I don’t need to be):

I tend to look at the screen a lot. I believe this is because every time I have presented a speech thus far, I have missed entire segments that I felt were crucial to the speech. In case you were wondering, I did miss a chunk on this speech as well. It was about people choosing to marry for reasons other than love. The big focus of this chunk was on people marrying for financial stability and status and not for love. I keep checking the screen to keep on track, but I purposefully try to make my slides minimalistic because I do not want to depend on looking at the screen. Obviously this tactic does not work, because I still cannot manage to look away for the screen for more than thirty seconds at a time.

Continue:

An action that I had practiced a lot for this speech was utilizing more space. In this video I am happy to see myself turning my body from left to right as I face the audience for a better, more comfortable stage presence.

On the same point of utilizing space, I tried walking back and forth from the computer to the more open floor. I wrote about this in my previous speech analysis. I wrote about how this was a move I really liked of Daisy’s. I really wanted to incorporate that move into my next speech, which I tried, although I do not believe it looked as smooth as when she did it.

    I like how I use my hands to gesture to the screen, or to emphasize a point. Shows that the wheels are turning, and seems like a more natural speaking approach than in previous speeches, where I bring my hands together. I have noticed in my previous speeches that I nervously hold my hands when I speak. I only revert back to this behavior when I played my Chris Rock clip, and I believe that was due to standing up there and trying to calm down. It is a bit weird to be up there and not talk while a clip is playing. I can just hear my inner monologue: “What do I do with my hands?”, like in Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights. When I realized that I was holding my own hand, I tried to correct myself smoothly. But I wasn’t very smooth. The camera caught me holding my chest and trying to calm my nerves.

My favorite part about looking back on my speeches is that I smile a lot. I don’t intentionally do this, but I like it because it makes it appear as though I am having a good time presenting. I think that is a good quality to have as one is presenting a speech; That the presenter is interested in actually presenting the information to the audience.

Although I did not feel as if I nailed this speech, I am very proud of myself. When I look back at my other speech reflections, I can say that I am hitting all of the points I have made in my “start” sections. I am speaking up and enunciating. I am making better eye contact, although there is still plenty of room for improvement in that department. Also, I am moving around more and using more space while presenting, which I could also improve more on as well. My point is, I am making steps in the right direction, even if they are baby steps. I am still working on more confidence though, but I believe that aspect is slowly improving as well.

Radical: "Marriage should be outlawed"

ESTABLISHING CONSENSUS:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/117328/marriage.aspx

“When a man and woman plan to spend the rest of their lives together as a couple, how important is it to you that they legally marry?”

• 2013, June 20-24:
• Very important: 43%
• Somewhat important: 21%
• Not too important: 16%
• Not important at all: 19%
• No opinion: 1%
• 2006, June 8-25:
• Very important: 54%
• Somewhat important: 19%
• Not too important: 13%
• Not important at all: 12%
• No opinion at all: 1%

Only 19% of people in 2013 (12% in 2006) believe marriage isn’t at all important for a successful relationship or moral highground.

“When an unmarried man and woman have a child together, how important is it to you that they legally marry?”

• 2013, June 20-24:
• Very important: 38%
• Somewhat important: 26%
• Not too important: 15%
• Not at all important: 20%
• No opinion: 1%
• 2006, June 8-25:
• Very important: 49%
• Somewhat important: 27%
• Not too important:12%
• Not at all important: 11%
• No opinion: 1%

Only 20% of people in 2013 (11% in 2006) believe marriage isn’t at all important for a couple to have children together.

“Would you like to get married someday, or not?”

• 2013, June 20-24:
• Yes: 78%
• No: 19%
• No opinion: 3%

Only 19% of people in 2013 don’t plan on getting married.

“Would you like to get married again someday, or not? (asked divorced individuals)

• 2013, June 20-24:
• Yes: 37%
• No: 58%
• No opinion: 4%

58% of people learned from a failed marriage that they would not marry again.

SPEECH:
(slides #2,3,4)

The consensus is clear that most people agree with marriage, and that it is important for couples to be married if they are having children. It is widely agreed upon that people would like to get married, or see marriage as a goal of theirs. It is only when it comes to divorced individuals that we see the consensus change, where the majority of people polled would say marriage isn’t the best route to attempt again.

(slide #5)
**according to: American Psychological Association:
"Marriage and divorce are both common experiences. In Western cultures, more than 90 percent of people marry by age 50... However, about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce. The divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher."

REASONS TO NOT GET MARRIED:

https://dontmarry.wordpress.com/

http://www.avoiceformen.com/sexual-politics/marriage/11-more-reasons-for-a-straight-man-to-avoid-marriage/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2195230/10-reasons-NEVER-married--Online-presenter-taking-web-storm-offers-unique-wisdom-getting-wed.html

1. Divorce (43% of western marriages end in divorce)
1. Expensive
2. Breaks up families
3. Traumatic
4. Causes trust issues
2. Disappointment
1. “To make one feel whole/complete”
2. Seen as an end to all means= not true
3. Added responsibility of another person and their happiness
4. Sacrifice and compromise on life goals and desires
1. Compromise on religious beliefs (or any other important beliefs they may not agree on)
5. Confusing one’s own journey with the needs of significant other’s journey
6. Self-esteem
1. Partners have extreme potential to cut one another down (deeper and more often than other people close to them)
2. Criticisms
3. Adhering to gender-roles
7. In-Laws (as if dealing with your own parents wasn’t troubling enough)
8. Working longer hours at work to compensate for extra costs of having a partner or family. (This leads to less time to actually spend with one’s partner or family)
1. Less flexibility and more responsibility
9. Having to ask permission before acting (because now, one’s actions affect their partner)
10. Less alone time/ access to one’s individual interests that aren’t shared by partner.
11. ONE PARTNER FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
1. This isn’t always the case, but often the spouse would prefer to be the only one their significant other gazes upon
1. That means no more porn
3. Cost
1. Women (or partner in lower financial bracket) often come into marriage with very few assets
1. Often come with substantial debt
2. Man (or breadwinner) is now responsible for fixing significant other’s financial problems
3. RING (often a fraction of the cost of the actual WEDDING ceremony and reception and HONEYMOON)
1. Gifts
1. Birthdays
2. Anniversaries
3. Vacations
2. “Necessities”
1. Home
2. Car
3. Clothes/ other goods
4. Children
1. One parent might quit working to raise the kids
2. Must come up with extra income for food and other necessities for child
3. College tuition fund
4. Daycare/ preschool ($1000+ a month)

COUNTER-ARGUMENTS:

1. “So I won’t die alone”
1. Most likely, one spouse will die alone.
1. Hospital/Retirement home visits
1. But you could both die simultaneously in an accident
2. “I have someone to grow old with”
1. Stats say that 43% of married couples in North America will become divorced
1. Then you get to enter your twilight years broke and alone
2. Many married couples grow apart and learn to dislike one another even if they decide to stay married, they might as well just walk away from it.
3. “I’ll get regular sex”
1. Sex in marriage often depletes after 10 years.
1. Most western, married men will have more sex with their western wives in the first six months of their marriage than they will in the next 40 years. OUCH
2. Becomes a once in awhile thing, rather than a regular thing.

1. “Special occasions”
1. Having children can lead to infrequent sex (once or twice a year)
2. A tactic some spouses use is actually withholding sex from their partner to manipulate them into doing something they wouldn’t be able to get their partner to do otherwise.

Start, Stop, Continue: Genre Speech

START:

• First and foremost, I need to start being more confident
• I almost start to go into full panic mode when I get up in front of the class. Every part of my body is telling me not to do this. I don’t know where this fear comes from, because when I just think about it, emotions aside, I don’t even understand what is so scary. It’s just a class of my peers who are all going through the same thing as I am. I can’t seem to put my finger on why public speaking shatters my high level of self-confidence that I have worked so hard these last few years to achieve. All I can think is that it is just an irrational fear of mine that I need to face head on so that it no longer controls me.
• The audio could be terrible on my phone, or the more likely scenario is that I need to start speaking louder and enunciate my words.
• This shouldn’t be a problem for me because Iam commonly asked to “quiet down” or “take it down a notch” due to my booming voice, but this does not come through in my speeches. I felt as though I was reminding myself to speak loud so everyone could hear me during my speech, but I think the nerves got the best of me. I tend to second guess my natural self when I feel under pressure, nervous, or anxious. I just need to be more mindful of my volume. Also, I need to not run through my words so fast. This is also do to nerves. I need to take my time and enunciate my words.
• It would be better if I were to scan the room for better eye contact.
• It is not as though I don’t look around, but I notice I really only hit a couple people with my direct line of vision. I don’t even notice this while I am up at the front of the classroom presenting. Something to remember when presenting would be to constantly be scanning the room for eyes, rather than a few locations. This would appear more inclusive to my audience and appear more friendly and professional.
• I noticed that I do not move around very much. It would be better if I used a little more space when presenting.
• Staying stagnant in one place shows insecurity, and doesn’t demand as much presence or attention from the audience. To move around shows comfort. When the presenter is comfortable, the audience is more likely to listen to what they are presenting rather than picking out quirks about the presenter.

STOP:

• I caught myself saying “um” and “uh”
• instead, pause until the thoughts have been gathered and then start talking again, leaving out the “um”s and “uh”s.
• STOP clicking my tongue.
• I click my tongue instead of sighing, and it shows as a lack of confidence.
• This, to me, sounds like I'm disappointed in myself. This is not the kind of message one should be conveying to the audience.
• I often find myself putting my hands together: Rubbing my hands together, holding them together in front of me, and always returning my hands after gestures back to that comfort zone.
• This is a coping mechanism to feel more comfortable because I am so uncomfortable and nervous, I am doing anything I can to distract me from the sheer terror I am experiencing.
• I noticed on my elevator pitch I would grab my forearm instead of my hands like I was doing in this speech. I think this is another coping mechanism for myself. Touch seems to comfort me.
• Looking at the screen
• again, for comfort. I knew the material, but I referenced the slides too much, and it actually messed me up
• Improvising       
• I noticed that I did not stick to what I had written and previously practiced. I think this was just because of the nervousness, and I wanted it to sound natural and     not scripted. This lead to more “uh”s and “um”s and “likes” which made my speech very unprofessional. The tactic of improvising-a-little, blew up in my face and did the exact opposite of my intention. I came off unprepared and more nervous than if I had just kept my script the way I had practiced.   

CONTINUE:

• One thing I found that I liked was when I introduced myself
• I could see my stress level peak right before I began to speak. After I introduce myself confidently, I seem a bit more at ease. I don’t know why this is, but I think it is an important aspect that I need to keep in my speeches.
• I’m happy every time that I get up there and don’t completely freak out.
• When I stand up there to present, I feel like I am going to have a full on meltdown. It feels like the makings of a panic attack, but instead of letting it take control and freak me out, I power through and attack it head on.

STUDENT MOVES:

• LaQuey had this move where he summarized what his speech was about and delivered this summery before and after the body of his speech. This came off as very professional and clean. The audience knew what LaQuey was going to present, and once all the information was presented, he reminded the audience of what his speech was about. This tactic really drove home his key points, because after clearly stating them like that, there was no way the audience didn't pick up on those points.
• Daisy had a great move which was mirroring the energy that she had emphasized in her speech. Not only did she describe what a tour guide is, and how their energy is important, she showed us. This made the speech seem more real and relatable. The audience walked away with more than just information on campus tours; We left with an impression of what a college campus tour actually would feel like. Feelings are harder to convey, and I think Daisy did a very good job of conveying the campus tour experience.