The biggest challenge I faced while preparing for my speech was choosing the topic. I started off with the idea of speaking about the towering influence of Jimi Hendrix on popular music. However, I changed my mind when I realized the lack of scholarly sources to substantiate my claims for this topic. Subsequently, I changed my topic multiple times. The reason I finally decided to talk about Aaron Swartz is because I am a strong supporter of the open access movement and thought it is a cause worth sharing with my classmates. The fact that I had prior knowledge about the topic helped me gain the confidence and clarity required to speak in the extempore style. In the end, I think the speech went pretty well and I hope I was successful in keeping everyone engaged.
Overall, I took away a lot from the experience and was allowed to gage my strength as a public speaker. The speech went better than I thought it would go. Prior to giving the speech, my biggest fear was that I would not be able to structure the speech according to the time and would fail to finish it within the stipulated time limit. Thankfully, I finished within the time limit. The speech was a great learning experience, as it helped me understand the process of researching for, writing and delivering an informative speech. It also helped me practice the use of a visual aid while delivering a speech. I realized while delivering the speech that giving a speech to a live audience is very different from practicing a speech on your own. I also found out what I can do better next time - hesitate less frequently, conclude convincingly and explain things in greater detail.
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