Persuasive Speech Reflection

            So last Thursday I gave my persuasive speech and I definitely think being in the second group this time helped me because I was a bit nervous about giving a speech on a topic where I had to pick a side about a topic and present it to an audience with my open opinion and stance. You never know how people are going to react or whether they’re going to think you’re wrong or your argument is stupid, so being in the second group and listening to Group A speak first, it reassured me that we’re all just talking about topics that relatively aren’t extremely controversial, and no one is being too aggressive with their points. I think that’s the right way to deliver a persuasive speech, not forcing your opinion down people’s throats but instead convincing them in a way they don’t realize they’re being convinced, which was what I really tried to do in my speech.

            When picking out my topic I was originally going to go with lowering the drinking age to 18, since it was a topic that had a lot of research behind it and after being in Europe during spring semester, I’m very for the idea. However in class, another classmate said that she wanted to do the same topic as well which of course is not a big deal, but I did want to keep the class in mind and choose a different topic that way people aren’t sitting through the same stories and ideas. So going off of that, I decided to a pick a topic that I am actually very passionate about which is the opinion that America’s celebrity based culture is extremely unhealthy for us as a society. As a person who works in the entertainment industry and very much enjoys attending shows and events, I have had my share of experiences with a crazy crowd and fan base. It’s been a thought I have had for awhile now so I thought it would be great to speak up on it and present the topic to the class.

            I was very surprised that there was actually a lot of research behind the topic! It looks like I’m not the only one concerned about the harmful effects of having a celebrity-obsessed society. I made sure to read articles that gave both sides of the argument because in a persuasive speech it is very important to address the opposing side as well so that your argument will be stronger. If you only talk about your side, you’re leaving your audience with the ability to create counter arguments. However, if you talk about the counterarguments, you can find ways to void them or let the audience know that even though it does have benefits, that doesn’t mean that those benefits outweigh all the negativity that comes with it.

            I decided to conduct a PowerPoint this time because I saw others did it in the first speech and it just seemed a lot easier to deliver this specific topic when I can show examples of celebrity in the media. I think I was more prepared for this speech than I was for the last one because I knew what to expect and I’m starting to get used to my audience. I also felt it was bit easier because my notecards were better and I was able to get my points across rather than last time where I forgot to mention certain things. I also tried hard to make sure that even though I was using a PowerPoint, that it wasn’t overpowering my speech or the main point of it because this wasn’t a visual aid topic. I do need to work on speaking more. I feel like sometimes I get a bit nervous and when I forgot a word this time, I sort of froze and completely blanked on the idea I was trying get across. If this happens next time, I definitely want to be more prepared with my ideas so that it’s not such a disaster next time. I will do this by writing keywords onto my notecards.

            As for the other speeches I think everyone did such a good job and picking topics that were relevant and easy to understand. I think that on Tuesday one of the best speeches I heard was Riley’s speech on becoming more ecofriendly. I believed she did a great job because of how passionate she felt about the topic and it made me feel passionate about the topic as well. By starting off with saying how easy it is to recycle and that there was no excuse for people not to do so it made me agree completely with the rest of her speech. She also mentioned how it was so unreasonable for people to use hundreds of paper towels and for some reason that stuck with me because by making the audience realize how ridiculous being not ecofriendly on things like using excessive paper towels, it makes us really think about the topic. As for Thursday, I really enjoyed Stephanie’s speech on adopting dogs! I think she did a wonderful job delivering the counterargument of buying from a breeder and then simply arguing why adopting a dog is much better. I was actually so convinced that I started looking into adopting a dog myself. She did a good job in listing the benefits of adopting dogs, and while there are a lot, she mentioned the most relevant and strongest points to us such as saving money and saving a dog. Overall, I’m excited for the next round of speeches.