Persuasive Speech

My topic choice was relatively easy as I have been following the debate over the payment of student-athletes for months. In the off-season of college athletics, it dominated the sports coverage and a new opinion/report was written almost every day. I decided it would be interesting to read more about the topic for myself and also a topic that the class would find interesting as many of their peers are student-athletes, even some of our own classmates.

During my research, I found many articles debating the payment of college athletes. Both sides of the debate have been thoroughly defended, so picking a side and forming an opinion was slightly difficult. Preparing my speech was initially frustrating as I could not decide what to use as my main points, considering the topic has so many aspects and variables. I decided to focus on one aspect of the debate and argue in defense of student-athletes. I was far less nervous to deliver this speech than my informative speech as I had been through the process before. I also felt far more prepared having practiced my speech, something I did not do with my first two speeches. I forgot some content and statistics while I was up there, but I felt comfortable.

I went slightly over-time, something I did not consider when I practiced, but I felt good about my overall speech. I need to be more conscious of my time management before my next speech and practice more diligently.

Thursday: I found Sunny's speech on philanthropy to be incredibly engaging and interesting. Coming from a very philanthropic family, my parents have always made it a priority for me to commit time to charity while growing up. We would attend soup kitchens, participate in city clean-ups, and spend time with under-privileged children amongst other activities. Having known many people who simply donate to large charities and well-known causes, it is interesting to hear about the money allocation and action behind donating. I agree that the best way to give back is to donate your time and energy and found her reasoning to be moving. She noted that it is still very important to donate and give money, but emphasized the value of spending time.

Tuesday (11/4): I found Jeffrey's speech on ending world poverty to be very engaging. I enjoyed listening to Jeffrey's speech in particular because it was on the same topic as his informative speech. Having heard his informative speech, it was interesting to see the persuasive aspect of it and how the topic can be flipped from informative to persuasive. He is also very emotionally charged about the issue and the conviction in his voice is a great verbal aspect of his speech. I particularly enjoyed the end of his speech as he finished with a great call to action.