Kevin Aviles

 Reflection Blog 1 

My first group of classmates introduced the concept of public speaking. The speaker should take an audience-centered approach when communicating information to listeners. The speaker should not sound like they are reading off a piece of paper, the speech should have a conversational tone that connects with the audience and makes them focused on what the speaker has to say. The information should be engaging, so that the speaker can grab hold of the audience’s attention. Communication is dependent on the cooperation between the speaker and the audience. The first group talked about tips to improve as a communicator and public speaker. A person delivering a speech should place a strong emphasis on being a good listener and maintaining eye contact with the people in the audience, being organized, and having a confident approach and demeanor when speaking to the audience. All the attributes discussed in the presentation by the first group will help me and the rest of the class improve and deliver great speeches and learn how to engage with our audience. The first group also spoke about the fears of public speaking. Speech anxiety and a lack of confidence in speaking in front of an audience can hurt the speaker’s credibility with listeners. A few strategies to fight the dangers of speech anxiety are breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to overcome the fear of public speaking. The first group in my class provided helpful tips that are surely going to be used by me because I get speech anxiety quite often.  

The second group in my class delivered a presentation on developing the purpose and topic of your speech. They talked about the importance of brainstorming when formulating ideas for your speech and determining the topic ideas for your speech. The second group mentioned the importance when picking a topic, it is vital that you consider the audience and your own interests, so you are confident in what you are speaking about. It is important to put yourself in the audience’s shoes and consider how relevant the information and topic of your speech are to the audience. What the speaker is trying to achieve when delivering a speech is to get the audience engaged with what they say, and the topic must be related to the speech's purpose. The second group talked about practicing the speech and emphasizing the topic with its purpose. To build credibility with the audience, you must find sources that support the speech's information. Group 2 talked about diverse ways to find sources to help your speech. To help with your research you can use internet sources or library sources, and credit the sources appropriately to avoid plagiarism. Avoiding plagiarism is such an important note to make because academic dishonesty can ruin the reputation of an individual in academia and sometimes can have more serious legal consequences. Group 2 mentioned the various parts of the speech such as the introduction, body, transition, and conclusion. The introduction of a speech is meant to grab the audience’s attention immediately and it is best to establish credibility and mention sources in the introduction of a speech. Introducing the main thesis of the speech is also done in the introductory phase of the speech to let the audience know what the main purpose and topic of the presentation will be. The body of the speech is the longest part of the speech and includes the main supporting information that establishes robust evidence related to the main thesis. The transition parts of a speech are the phrases or keywords that allow the speaker to move to other parts of the speech, it is important to practice transition parts of the speech because they will seem more natural when delivered on the day of the presentation. The conclusion is the closing part of the speech and is used to revisit the supporting details from the body and provide closure. Organizing your speech before the day to speak in front of the audience is important to make sure you are comfortable, and the audience can focus on the information you are communicating.

My group was next, and we discussed the strategies to begin and end your speeches. The beginning of the speech is the part most people in the audience remember compared to the speech's body. It is important to make a good first impression when delivering a speech and a couple of strategies to make a good impression is to mention an interesting fact or ask a thoughtful question. At the beginning of the speech, you should introduce the sources you will be referencing in your speech to communicate to the audience that you are a credible speaker. Credible speakers demand the attention of the audience, so that is an effective way of grabbing hold of the audience’s attention. The end of the presentation is where you restate all the main points of the speech to make sure the audience retains the important information from your speech. Leaving a lasting impression in the end of your speech is important to help the audience retain information. My group also spoke about language and the importance of using appropriate language to avoid distracting the audience from the main purpose of speech. The language used in a speech must not offend audience members. My chapter was about the use of presentation media and their role in public speaking. Presentation media is used to support the speaker during a presentation. The important aspect of presentation media is to support the speaker and the speech and not distract the audience. The presentation media should be concise and simple for all audiences to understand and the main focus of the speaker should always be on the audience and not on the presentation media. The speaker should always be prepared to present a speech even without presentation media if technical difficulties occur. The following member of my group talked about delivering speeches. Impromptu, manuscript, memorized, and extemporaneous delivery are different kinds of speech delivery. Extemporaneous delivery is the most effective for public speaking because it makes the speaker seem the most knowledgeable.  

Group 4 talked about the different types of public speaking which were informative, persuasive, and special occasion speeches. They talked about ways to form strong arguments and strategies to prepare against counterarguments. Informative speech’s main purpose is to educate the audience and teach them valuable information. Special occasion speeches are created for celebratory events such as award acceptance speeches and ceremonial addresses like the ones given at a commencement for a graduating class of students.  

Overall, I learned so much from the presentations provided, and I hope to implement these tips to improve my public speaking skills. I have to improve a lot to feel fully comfortable speaking in front of an audience and these are good suggestions to start developing my confidence when speaking in front of other people.