Informative Speech

I definitely am disappointed in how my speech went. I was way more nervous than I anticipated in the moments before I wen tup to speak, but once I actually went up to speak my nerves dissolved. I feel like I worked myself up too much and in that time, I should have been reviewing my note cards.
When I practiced in my room by myself, it was very easy for me to hit all the points I needed to make. However, when I spoke in front of the class, I was not able to cover everything I planned to talk about. Many of my points work together without anything needing to be in a certain order and I feel I could have organized better. My points kind of worked in a cycle and I felt like I was talking in circles at some point. That made me very self conscious and definitely threw me off a little bit. I felt as if the paper announcing that one minute was left also threw me off and a panicked, wrapping up immediately. I am unsure if my wrap up was well done because I just threw it together in what I thought was the appropriate amount of time. I wish I could have elaborated more on the negative aspects of being vegan and my own experience with that lifestyle. I thought that a powerpoint would help me but I found it kind of distracting. Additionally, I was not exactly sure what we were allowed to put on each slide. Words would have been more useful to me, but I did not coordinate the timing of the slides well enough with my speech.
I think that I did a good job with my topic choice, picking something that is relevant and interesting (I hope) to my classmates. I also think I do a good job at projecting and sounding confident, even if I am not feeling confident. I look forward to my next speech where I can time my speech better, make less points, and reference more sources.

Informative Speech Reflection

When I was thinking of topics for my speech the 2014 World Cup was the first thing that came to my mind because it was something that happened recently and that everyone was aware about. Since I'm from Brazil and spent all of my summer there, I was well aware of the details of the topic and I first handily saw how the event impacted the country not only when it happened but also during the prior preparation years as well. Therefore I had the idea of talking about the political, economic and social impact of the event on Brazil. Since it happened not long ago, it was hard to find scholar articles about the post-impacts of the event on the country so this was one of the problems I encountered. My scholar articles were mostly about the expectations people had of the world cup on Brazil so I had to rely on newspaper articles for the actual impacts and stuff. But, since I was there and I'm from there it was easy to narrow down what was good or bad information. I feel like my attention grabber of talking about how everyone was into the world cup during summer was good because I gave a situation that people related to.

I feel like my speech was very organized because since the beginning I informed my audience that I was going to talk about the three types of impacts the event had on Brazil: the economic, social and political impact. But, I could've given more information to the audience about each one of those things in the beginning of the speech to show my audience what to expect throughout my presentation. I was scared of running out of time so I rushed through my introduction and forgot to mention not only that but also the importance of me witnessing the government's priorities shifting to building infrastructure for the event. Towards the end of the presentation when I saw I was running out of time, I also rushed through my last third point and skipped some sub-points so I could get to my conclusion. Even though my presentation was organized I should've organized my time better to make sure I didn't leave anything out.

Since I was nervous I ended up speaking faster than I did when I was practicing. I also forgot to pause where I wanted to which might have made my speech look rushed. I feel like I could've also had more eye contact with all my audience instead of just fixing on the middle of the class. That probably happened since I was nervous with the time constraint and also wanted to say everything I had to. It was also hard to narrow down such a big subject like this one to three main points and a 7 minute speech since I had to make sure I wasn't making it to simple also.

Overall, it really helped to calm my nerves that I knew my subject well and cared about it a lot since it impacts my home country. Thinking positively about my prospects as a public presenter also helped me to feel confident about the presentation and that I didn't have to memorize the information but instead internalize it. I think I gave a good speech and it was good practice and I know that next time I will think about all these points and improve as a public speaker.

Informative Speech critique

There are a few critiques that I have on my informative speech. Firstly, I think that I should have had more eye contact with the audience. My introduction was fairly smooth and I think I properly engaged the audience. Half-way through my speech I realized that I was running out of time and that was when my presentation sort of fell apart in my opinion. Towards the end, I was rushing through the speech, became flustered, and relied too much on my note cards so that I could get through all of the information. While practicing at home prior to the day of the speech, I was under the minimum time of 5 minutes so, last minute, I decided to add a one minute clip at the beginning of my speech. For the next speech I want to focus more on practicing before the actual speech in front of the class. I was thinking about possibly practicing my speech in front of more friends or family so that I get a better feel for the time restrictions. Also, I think I could improve on how I refer to the people who wrote the academic journals during my speech. Looking back, I think that the audience may not have known enough information about the people I was referring to during the speech which may lead to confusion. Overall,  I think my topic was very interesting, I related it well to myself and the audience, and I had very good resources. My main focus for the persuasive speech will be focused more on practicing the speech beforehand.

julia tseng comm 204

I did my topic on whether or not student athletes should be paid because I feel that this is an interesting and controversial topic. This also has to do with the fact that I am a student athlete on campus, even though track is not the most income generating sport I still find it an interesting topic. I first researched this topic from sports sites such as ESPN and Fox Sports. I wanted to see what the reporters and critics are saying. Then I went to JSTOR and ProQuest to look for peer reviewed articles on this topic. I learned that this is a very popular topic and I had no problems finding sources.

During the speech, I felt that I was able to stick to my main points. I was making good eye contact, and I was looking at the entire room also. The things that I can work on would be being able to slow the speech down a bit, I felt like I was talking to fast. I also paused many times to look at my flashcards. I was still very nervous even though I had practiced the speech many times. I need to work on relaxing more. I also felt that my speech was under 5 minutes. I need ot work on elaborating more on my main points.

The challenges I faced were trying to figure out what is important and what was not ncessary to include in the speech. It was hard for me start the speech because I know so much about this topic that I had a hard time choosing which areas I wanted to focus on. I had to change the way I approached this speech because I had too much information in the wrong main points. Overall, I feel that I could've done a better, and I need to work on relaxing more and feel more confident about the topics I choose to do.

Julia Tseng comm 204

julia tseng comm 204 informative speech

I did my topic on whether or not student athletes should be paid because I feel that this is an interesting and controversial topic. This also has to do with the fact that I am a student athlete on campus, even though track is not the most income generating sport I still find it an interesting topic. I first researched this topic from sports sites such as ESPN and Fox Sports. I wanted to see what the reporters and critics are saying. Then I went to JSTOR and ProQuest to look for peer reviewed articles on this topic. I learned that this is a very popular topic and I had no problems finding sources.

During the speech, I felt that I was able to stick to my main points. I was making good eye contact, and I was looking at the entire room also. The things that I can work on would be being able to slow the speech down a bit, I felt like I was talking to fast. I also paused many times to look at my flashcards. I was still very nervous even though I had practiced the speech many times. I need to work on relaxing more. I also felt that my speech was under 5 minutes. I need ot work on elaborating more on my main points.

The challenges I faced were trying to figure out what is important and what was not ncessary to include in the speech. It was hard for me start the speech because I know so much about this topic that I had a hard time choosing which areas I wanted to focus on. I had to change the way I approached this speech because I had too much information in the wrong main points. Overall, I feel that I could've done a better, and I need to work on relaxing more and feel more confident about the topics I choose to do.



Julia Tseng comm 204

Informative Speech Reflection

When I started brainstorming ideas for my informative speech, I first considered covering a topic in sports because that is what I am most passionate about. However, I ran across some recent articles on the internet discussing the United States' response to ISIS with military drone strikes. I had done some past research on drone strikes and it interested me so I decided to cover something new, as opposed to something I already cared about. As I did more research, I became intrigued by the controversy surrounding the drone program and found the debate incredibly intriguing. This made the research process much less daunting as I grew in interest in learning more about my topic.

When my speech started I still felt extremely unprepared to deliver it. I had written my whole speech and had read over it, but I wasn't sure that I had it memorized. I didn't want to have to look at my notes, so I began to stress that I would get lost in the middle of my delivery. I wasn't nervous about delivering the speech itself, I don't mind speaking in front of others; my biggest concern was that I would lose my train of thought and completely blank midway through the speech. As my speech went on, I began to remember less and less of what I was planning on saying. However, I realized that through my research, I knew so much about the topic that I could just speak about it without knowing exactly what I wanted to say.

The speech didn't go exactly how I wished it would and I strayed pretty far from what I had written and planned on saying. However, I felt confident that I delivered my message well and clearly. I learned that I must spend more time preparing my delivery and memorizing the speech than actually writing it. I did not deliver my speech to a friend prior to class and it was a mistake to say it for the first time during class. Next time, I will absolutely have it memorized and be more confident.

Informative Speech Reflection

I learned that preparing a speech really takes a lot of work. The outline was definitely the hardest part for me. I had a hard time figuring out what I was suppose to talk about in an informative speech. My first outline that I completed for the peer reviews in class was too much of a summary but it was good to learn because I went home and re did my outline and think that it made my speech much stronger. I learned that even in an informational speech you need to focus on the impact of the subject, the relevance you yourself have to the topic, and also how the audience can connect to the topic. Through this assignment I also learned how hard it is to find scholarly sources. I had a really hard time finding sources because Every Fifteen Minutes is a program that has a website and also because it is a program for high school students so there aren't any books about it.

My topic was very important to me because my sister was the student that died in the Every 15 Minutes simulation last year and my old high school. I cry every time that I watch the video that is on youtube of the simulation, and it had a very big impact on me. Because it had such a big impact on me I thought it would be a very good subject to talk to with other college students because there are so many people in our age group that make the poor decision to drive while drunk and often times take there friends lives.

The things I felt that I could have improved on is in my speech was the organization.  I think that I wanted to talk about to much in the such short amount of time of 7 minutes. Unfortunately I did feel like I ran out of time and I didn't really get to touch on my last main point because I saw that I needed to wrap it up. So for my next speech I think I really need to run through the speech more before I come in to deliver it in front of the class. But I felt like I did a good job in knowing my subject. I never really forgot what I was suppose to say. I felt very comfortable and informed on my subject which made it much easier to stand in front of the class and talk.

Informative Speech Reflection

In writing and preparing for my speech, I felt confident. I knew a great deal on my topic (The #HeForShe Campaign) and felt that I organized my speech in a productive manner. I also felt that I practiced a solid amount, which would prevent me from getting nervous in my speech. Although I felt all of these things prior, when I got up to present I felt a rush of nerves and anxiety.

Right when I got up to the front, my heart started beating abnormally fast. While I was giving my speech, I could feel my body shaking and I felt that my speech sounded rushed and unnatural. After being up there for a minute or so, I began feeling a little bit more relaxed and my speech became easier. Next time, I need to start my speech in a more relaxed manner. I need to remember that I'm the only one who really cares how my speech goes so I shouldn't be nervous. I also think I need to work on making my speech more candid. I would stumble on my words when I realized I wasn't saying something exactly as I practiced it when it did not really matter as long as I was getting my point across.

I believe this speech was a really great learning opportunity because I have realized that I need to calm down and take a few deep and relaxing breaths before my speech starts. Also, I've realized that I need to be confident in my ideas so that they flow naturally rather than having structured sentence that I follow. I am going to try and work on both of these things and hopefully that will cause me to be able to present better next time.

Informative Speech Reflection

Prior to the informative speech, I had trouble deciding on a topic that I found interesting enough to compile into a 5-7 minute speech. There are many controversies currently in our media, so I decided to look deeper into these issues and research my possibilities. While the media has portrayed an ideal body image onto consumers throughout our history, it seems to be worse than ever today. I found a lot of information on the concept of photo shopping realistic photos in order to make them look as realistic as possible, with an unrealistic body size. This controversy can affect individuals world wide, specifically women, of which the majority of our class is, so I chose this topic.

Naturally, I tend to become extremely nervous and anxious when it comes to speaking in front of others, no matter what the topic is. I practiced my speech several times, and timed myself in order to make sure I was around the required time limit and seemed to be doing great (yet, this was all by myself). When my day came to present the speech I found myself becoming increasingly nervous and wanting to chicken out.

Reading over my notes and reciting the speech in my head boosted my confidence quite a bit, so I don't think I was as nervous as I expected once I was in front of the room. However, I tend to speak quickly when nervous, and I noticed that I hadn't received any of the time warnings ("2 minutes", "1 minute", "wrap it up"), so I decided to show my 1 minute video clip on my topic to give valid examples of the extremes of photo shopping to the class.

Overall, I enjoyed the Informative speech as it gave me the opportunity to research into a topic I may not have, and was able to test my nervous and capabilities and speak in front of the class.
Next time, I hope to gain even more confidence, and that my nerves will lessen with each speech given.

Informative Speech Reflection

I learned that you cannot put together a speech last minute. It's something that requires a lot of time and preparation for a presentation/finished product that is only a few minutes of your audience's time. My topic was meaningful to me because I really enjoy the idea of Disney and all it has to offer. I had only recently learned about Club 33 and because it is a part of Disney that is meant to be under wraps, I though my audience would find any information on the topic interesting. I think I provided my classmates with the most important aspects of Club 33 as there was a lot of information on the club (so much for being a secret, right?). I selectively chose what I found to be the most relevant and attention-grabbing information and it seemed like the audience was really interested in what I had to say so I think I did that part of my speech justice. I think I also kept pretty good eye contact with the audience. I also started off my speech with a question in order to immediately grab my audience's attention and allow them to interact with my presentation even with it being an informative speech.

I think there were times where I got nervous because I couldn't remember exactly what I wanted to talk about next and scrambled for a few seconds to find it on my index cards. It felt much longer than a few seconds which made me even more nervous. I also need to improve on mentioning more sources in my speech. I only mentioned two out of four of my sources. One really big challenge I faced was intertwining my academic sources with my speech. It just felt very forced and I think I need to spend a lot more time on this for my next speech. I really enjoyed researching my topic and I thought my classmates were really respectful while I was giving my speech as well as with providing me with feedback after. I definitely felt comfortable presenting amongst my audience, which I think made this process as easy as it could have been.

Information Speech Reflection- Sahar Khorramnezhad

Informative Speech Reflection

As the first speech of the semester is now completed, I must reflect to evaluate my strengths and my weaknesses. To start off, I don’t necessarily think the topic that I picked was the best topic because of the class’ interest in the subject matter. What I mean by that is that not many people seemed to be interested in what was going on and my speech might have been a bit too ‘researchy’ for them. The topic of microblogging although it has everything to do with our generation and the type of activities that everyone in the class engages with is not something that maybe my peers wanted to know but rather what researchers are more interested in. I must say however that I think I did a great job of linking it to twitter and evaluating the aspects of microblogging in relationship to Twitter to make it into a much more interesting subject matter.

As for the speech itself, I think I actually did a great job of engaging with the PowerPoint and the things that I wanted to say as a whole on my flashcards. At one point I did get nervous and rambled a bit so the speech rifted from the format that I had planned for it and instead I lost track of where I was going with it. Besides the fact that I rambled at some points I think I actually did a great job of introducing the subject matter and hitting all the points that I said I was going to talk about. Although I did use hand gestures they were in my opinion very natural and I was not fidgeting. I do think however that I stuttered a bit and used the word ‘um’ a couple of times and that just shows that instead of trying to be natural with my speech maybe it was very rehearsed on my part.

Overall, I am proud of myself for the work that I did and the way that I engaged with the crowd because a lot of times when one is nervous we tend to look down and the fact that I refrained from doing that is a positive. I have a long way to go but again am excited for my starting point to have improved.

Informative Speech Reflection

During the process of preparing for my speech on Tinder, I made sure to include what Tinder is as well as the pros and cons of the app in order to make it informative and not persuasive. During the process of preparing, I realized that the organization is extremely important. If the speech is well organized, it is not only easier for the audience to follow along and retain the information you state, but also it is also easier for the speaker to remember the main points and transition easily.

While giving my speech, I learned that eye contact and audience interaction is really important. Making eye contact with everyone made me less nervous and when audience members either laughed or nodded their heads, it made me more confident in what I was trying to say because I knew they were following along. Also, fidgeting a lot while giving a speech can be very distracting to the audience members. I also learned that slowing down while giving a speech is beneficial as it makes you feel and seem more confident which reflects back on how the audience’s feels about your speech.

My speech on Tinder was important because it is quickly changing the way people “date.” It is also changing the dating culture, as a whole as every thing is done online and interpersonal communication is minimal. Also, I thought that this was a good subject to cover since everyone in the class as either heard of Tinder and actually use it regularly to meet dates. Doing an informative speech on Tinder, I thought it would be very relevant to the class as well because the creators of the app were fellow USC graduates.

I thought that overall, my main points were valid and backed up with evidence. I was able to find scholarly articles and news articles that covered the issue of “online dating.” However, I thought that I could have spoken slower as it probably would have made me less nervous. A challenge I faced while giving my speech was that I realized that I was running out of time and found myself hurrying to finish in time. Also, I felt that not using a presentation was helpful, as it probably would have distracted the audience and me.

Informative Speech Reflection

            In my speech I spoke about hip-hop feuds and their effects on the genre. I really enjoyed the speech in terms of subject matter, and it gave me a chance to learn more about the famous rivalries in the research process. I believe that I picked a topic relevant and interesting to most in the crowd, either because it is music they have heard, or because it is pop-culture knowledge that they may have not previously had. I also think it was a good choice because these rivalries are essentially stories, which I believe made the speech more interesting.

            I knew my speech well enough that I barely looked at my flashcards, but in some ways this was a problem. There were a few moments were I skipped points. For instance I had a planned transition in which I would say something such as “Jay Z and Nas eventually reconciled, but this doesn’t always happen, such as in the case of 2Pac and Biggie.” If I had been looking at my cards, I probably would have remembered this. Also, because I wasn’t following along with my flashcards, there were points when I was holding the wrong flashcard compared to what I was saying, and when I needed to read a quote off of my flash card, I had to awkwardly flip and quickly find the correct one.

Informative Speech Reflection

            When preparing for this speech, I thought a lot about what I was interested in as well as taking time to consider what topics would capture the attention of my classmates.  I started with focusing on something that we could all relate too which proved to be hard considering we were a diverse group of people of different ages but we did share the characteristic that we were all USC students. Taking that, I thought a topic that was very important for me to talk about was USC’s newest project, University Village. Even if the project was something that most of us, including me, would never get to really experience since I would graduate by then, I knew it would still be something that concerned all of us because it is where our tuition money is going to and as a part of the Trojan Family, just knowing the future of our school is important to us.

            This assignment called for at least two scholarly articles and since the project is so recent there aren’t any articles available, I decided to focus on ideas that would work with scholarly articles. This is why I chose to speak more of why the reconstruction of University Village would be beneficial to college students because there are studies and journals on what improvements in social, academic and environmental atmospheres can do to help students get the best experience they can in college. I used mostly Google scholars to find my articles and I read through journals written by Psychology students and professors, then used their studies to help support points in my speech.

            I think that this speech went well in that I was knowledgeable about my topic and I genuinely reported it because I thought it would be beneficial to know. This makes it easier to talk about and inform people about the subject. I also think I did a good job in making the speech and informational speech and avoiding words that would make it into a persuasive speech. I kept the speech very nonbiased by simply reporting on the new features of University Village, why it would be important to students based on studies and what USC is doing to combat any criticism and concerns.

            What I think I can work on for my next speech is to spend more time preparing the speech. My speech was a little less than five minutes so maybe I can elaborate on more points, and slow down my speech to add more effect to my words. I also saw that other speakers used their sources actual names but I instead said them as psychology professor or news articles, so next time I’m going to say actual names and name the article that I am talking about such as, “Daily Trojan.” By adding these in I think that it will make my speech more credible.

Informative Speech Reflection

I know I probably don't have many people who see things the same way I do, but I really enjoy making speeches.  I felt very comfortable up there, and I made all of the points I wanted to make.  One of the most difficult parts about my speech was getting my message across in under 7 minutes.  It is an extremely complex issue that I had to make simple.  I had to cut quite a few important pieces of information out because of the time limit, most notably my opinion that these factories are far from perfect and there are certainly things that need to be addressed with them.  Maybe I will address what I had to edit out next speech.  :-)

I was a bit disappointed when I finished because I had about a minute left until the 7 minute 30 second limit.  I could've used that time to expand on what I feel to be one of the most important issues regarding these factories, the children.  While I would absolutely prefer these children being in school, I think it was important to communicate the reality of their choices.  Their choice is not work or school, their choice is work or starve.  It's difficult for most Americans to understand poverty at the levels it is seen at some of the poorer countries around the world, so I was very glad to find the photo I used in my powerpoint of the Smokey Mountain trash dump in Manilla.  These children don't go there to scavenge for food, they live there, that dump is their lifeline.

Overall, I think I did  pretty good job of taking years of research and putting it into a 7 minute speech.  I know I came across as somebody who has been looking into this issue for quite a while, but I am not sure if I came across as being condescending of the critics of these factories, which I do not want to communicate.  I know most critics of these factories genuinely believe they are acting in the best interests of the workers, so I don't want to ever attack them, I know their heart is in the right spot ... I want to attack their argument.  This is obviously an extremely important topic to me, my wife's family in Thailand is extremely poor.  But I tried my best to keep my personal emotions out of my speech and just deliver the facts, and I don't know if I was successful or not.  I think some emotion was mandatory to get my message across, such as when I made a comment along the lines of thank God the children aren't in the factory, while motioning towards the children living in the trash dump to survive ... but too much emotion would work against me.  Based on some of the comments made to me by my classmates, I think I used to right amount of emotion.  At the end of the day though, I was happy with my speech ... and I'm really looking forward to my persuasive speech, any guesses on what my topic will be? :-)

Finally, I want to say, I thought a lot of you (my classmates) did a great job.  Many of the topics were about something I had absolutely no clue about, for example, the Urban Outfitters controversies or the Birthright trip.  I knew Urban Outfitters was a clothing store, but not much else ... and I have never heard of Birthright before, which is odd because half of my extended family is Jewish.  So it was fun to learn so much from all of your speeches.  Thank you.

Informative Speech Reflection

The Informative Speech went pretty well for me. The research and topic selection process were enjoyable because I was thoroughly interested in my topic and I knew it was one that the class would find interesting, as well. As for the actual presentation, I was unfortunately very ill the week of speeches so my practice time was cut short. I was extremely nervous the night before and was afraid that I would stumble on my words a lot or forget what I had to say because we were only allowed 3 notecards. The day of I feel that I did pretty well. I remembered everything that I had to say. I know I did sound a bit nervous, but a lot less so than I had expected. I feel that I talked at a nice pace and had slowed it down a lot compared to my first practice run. I was nervous about being under 5 minutes, but I spoke slowly enough and had enough content to make it within the 5-7 minute mark. I feel that the class enjoyed my visual because they actually got to see what I was talking about, and because most of the class was familiar with Urban Outfitters, the topic was very relevant. Though the first round was scary (and made scarier by the fact that I was not at 100% health) I feel that it went relatively well!

Informative Speech Reflection

I believe that overall my informative speech went well. For the first in depth assignment for the class, it was a nice introduction as to what to expect for the remaining assignments this semester. I learned a lot in the process of preparing for my speech, especially through the outlining process. I have recently started making more outlines for speeches and papers in all of my classes, and I have found that it helps me a lot. I am able to organize my thoughts in a more clear and concise way, which also helps with my delivery. It was hard for me to condense my formal outline into a keyword outline and notecards.

            One of the biggest challenges I faced for this speech that I chose to give on Birthright-Israel, was timing. When I was practicing my speech and focusing on the outline, I was concerned that I would not meet the time requirement. Because of this concern, I ended up spending more time on my introduction and first point, and did not leave enough time for the rest of my points. For the next speech assignment I will make sure that I do not spend too much time on one point again. I did not go over time, but I regret not being able to go more in depth with the rest of my points. Overall, I would say that this speech went smoothly and I look forward to the opportunity to improve with the next assignment.

Informative speech reflection

From the start, I found it difficult to pick a topic for the informative speech. I wanted it to be about something that would interest everyone in the class. In the past, I've definitely sat through speeches where the topics were not very stimulating or applicable to me personally and will admit that I let my mind wander. I did not want that to happen to my audience. 

After I found my topic, Uber, the easiest part was deciding what I wanted to focus on as my main topics. It has been a topic of discussion in various business classes of mine and I wanted to break down why it was such a successful start-up. I also did not know much about the company; I've been on one Uber ride and it was a friend of mine who had the app so I really had no personal tie to the company other than the fact that I was curious. 

The formal outline had both positive and negative aspects for me. It guaranteed that I knew what I was going to talk about and almost forced me to find appropriate and credible sources, which was helpful. On the other hand, it took away from the extemporaneous aspect of the speech because I kept relying on my formal outline when practicing and had to try really hard to not memorize the whole thing. 

The powerpoint presentation that I made which was very simple and mostly comprised of pictures and info-graphics helped me organize my thoughts and guided me throughout the speech. I felt that the actual speech could have gone better; being the last person to present definitely put more pressure on me and it was difficult to focus on my classmates' speeches because I was worried about mine. The nervousness was increasing as time went by but once I started the speech, I felt much better. 

Something I need to work on is allowing myself to be less nervous in the beginning just like how towards the end of the speech I tend to relax a lot more.