Our first in-class speech was an introductory speech about ourselves, a topic that I am happy to say that I didn’t have to do much research on. In preparation for the speech, I read over the guidelines, made a note of the directions and any suggestions that I should consider. I especially liked that Cynthia put down certain questions that we should think of when preparing for our speech, because it helped me construct the things I wanted to talk about. I thought it was especially important to keep in mind that I didn’t know anyone in the class, give or take a few people, and that we were only given a minute to speak, so it was vital that I introduce key points about myself that would give everyone a better idea of who I am. Obviously my name would be the most important and then where I’m from since I do strongly identify with being a Californian and I think that says a lot about me. I wanted to announce my major, minor, and what I was aspiring to be since being a senior means that I’m graduating and entering the real world. I then thought it would be nice to mention that I just turned 21 because my birthday was a huge part of my summer and it would be a nice introduction into my study abroad semester. My semester in Amsterdam is very important to me and is something I think other college students can relate to especially if they traveled abroad as well, plan to do so in the future, or know people who have.

            There were a few challenges I had to overcome which was mostly the time limit. Not that I’m saying I have a lot to talk about, but trying to keep within the time limit proved to be a little difficult since I had no idea how much time was passing. Also since I had already thought about what I wanted to say, I found myself trying to recite my words in the exact way that I practiced it and when I forgot, I stumbled a bit. I think to overcome these challenges in the future I will remind myself that I don’t have to recite the notecard exactly the way I practice it, as long as I mention what I want to say it will be fine. I will also practice more, and give myself time in order to fit within the time range.

            On the other hand, I think I did well to memorize as many big ideas as I could about the things I wanted to talk about without reciting off of a piece of paper. For some reason I wasn’t as nervous presenting as I was when we did the pop speech probably because I had time to think about the subject, the speech didn’t come as a surprise to me, the subject was something I was very knowledgeable about, and I was about to recite it many times in my head.