Discussion #1 - 10/12

Response to Speech Buddy Interactive Videos

9.1

This video really highlighted what was also mentioned in the book about having an effective introduction to really capture the audience and ensure that they comprehend the rest of your speech. Getting audience attention is vital in setting the mood of the speech, and engaging the audience right from the start. I tend to use humor or trivia (or both) to start most of my speeches. Currently, I'm working on a speech about different kinds of fear. I'm thinking it'll be fun to start the speech by listing a whole bunch of really interesting types of phobias! Stating the thesis and introducing the main points of the speech are also really important in an effective intro. The thesis provides a central idea that the audience and even speech-makers can hold on to throughout the body of the speech. And the main points offer a clear road map of where the speech is headed.

9.2

Conclusions are equally as important as intros. Organizationally, the conclusion is just a reversal of the intro. You start by recapping the main points so that the audience can start to tie in all your supportive info to the central idea. The central idea, or thesis, is restated to accentuate your message one last time. And finally, to gain closure you must leave the audience with something that relates to your speech and leaves them with something to think about.

13.1A

Evan's speech on Techno music was indeed informative. I thought that his speech was organized, easy to understand, and filled with lots of information that at least I didn't know about techno. I did notice, however, that Evan didn't state all of his main points in the introduction. In this particular speech, I don't think it took away heavily from the speech itself, though I feel stating all the main points in the intro would have helped me understand his central thesis better. Also I realized that towards the end of the speech Evans became a bit sloppy with the conclusion in that there was none! He was talking about trance music one minute and then he just closed his speech by asking the class if they wanted to hear any clip again. Towards the beginning, also, the transitions were smooth. Towards the end I didn't hear any transitional words that would have helped me realize he was moving from one point to another, or from the last point to the conclusion. All in all, I learned that conclusions are as important as the attention-getting intros. If we lose structure in the end of the speech it wastes all the efforts of capturing the audience early on.

13.1B

Janine gave an effective presentation on cameras and photography today. The intro was attention-getting with the camera flash and the unifying statement. Janine used some important transitional words to tell the audience when she was giving background/historical info. However, she didn't use smooth transitions all the time. Even though her speech organization was in a chronological structure, Janine still should have used obvious transitions to ensure that her audience knew what she was talking about at all times. All in all, I feel that Janine, too, was organized and coherent. However, I think she should have stated her main points in the beginning of the speech. Her conclusion was effective.

13.1 Use it!

This speech had a great intro! Katherine introduced the key concept of Kosher by giving an example of how one may have heard the word being used. She established credibility by explaining her personal experience with Kosher cooking. And she also listed what information she will be giving later in the speech. I also appreciated her useful visual materials, and the smooth transitions she made during her speech. All in all, the speech was very informative, coherent, and well organized!