Book Presentation Reflection

   Book Presentation Reflection

     Public speaking has been a wonderfully informative class so far this semester. A great reason to this is because of the presentations in which every student presented and taught a chapter of the book itself to the rest of the class. Through these presentations I obtained much knowledge and understanding about public speaking and connected to my classmates simultaneously. 

   To begin with, group 1 opened with discussing the art of public speaking and the importance of building your confidence. Christopher mentioned that public speaking is an everyday tool. He expanded this idea by explaining that public speaking is greatly valued in school, work, and our social lives as we may use it in school projects, work meetings, celebratory speeches, and more. He emphasized that public speaking could cause great change in society as it is used in city halls which may push laws or regulations which sculpt societies into what they are today. Christina carried on by discussing how to overcome speech anxiety and build your confidence as a public speaker. She claimed that the root of speech anxiety can be the speaker questioning his or her abilities or skills. Furthermore, she expanded that helpful ways to tame speech anxiety may be by gaining sufficient evidence on your topic in order to be able to respond to any questions and go through your speech in a smooth manner. Additionally, some tips which I myself will use on a frequent are to breathe, maintain eye contact, and practice mindfulness. 

     Next, Group 2 introduced the idea of developing your purpose and topic in your speech. Gayelle began to speak on the brainstorming process on deciding what matter you would like your speech to address or claim. She states that brainstorming is a process in which one casually lays out all of their ideas without implementing criticism, judgement, or barriers. Brainstorming is merely just the commencement of a much larger process in which one would shape and refine their speech. Next Jephte introduced the main points of an outline which are as follows: Thesis, Main Points, Subpoints, Evidence, and explained how critical this organization can be on the day of your speech delivery. Kaylie later described how to conduct research on the topic you have chosen. Steps mentioned may be as follows: Reflect on what you already know about your topic, gain information from different or multiple reliable sources, look out for multiple perspectives on your topic, and finding relevant and credible sources. Kayling explained something very critical in her presentation and that was plagiarism. She defined that plagiarism is to essentially taking someone else's idea or work and claim or present it as if it was your own. Additionally, that some ways to prevent or avoid plagiarism are to paraphrase and cite your sources. Juseth addressed the different parts of a speech which are as follows: Introduction, Transition, Body, Transition, and lastly the conclusion. Further explanations on each part of the speech were mentioned, however one that resonated with me was the fact that it is within the introduction is where you grab your audience's attention in order effectively commence your speech. 

        Furthermore, Melissa began Group 3's presentation by discussing the elements of an introduction. For example, some of these elements are grasping the audience's attention, briefly reviewing main points, establishing credibility, and indicating some sort of purpose to start off the speech. next, she spoke on the components of a conclusion which are to review and re-address the main points and provide a clear sense of closure on the matter to the audience. Something that stood out to me was that an effective way to end your speech is to tie up all loose ends and ensure that the audience truly receives the full picture and that you as the speaker have hit all your points which you introduced in your introduction. Mykell described the importance of what language a speaker may choose to include in their speech. Slang is to be highly avoided as Mykell states it can damage your credibility and hurt your argument or message overall. However, the stimulation of imagination is highly encouraged through the use of descriptive and vivid language in order for the audience to picture certain scenarios or circumstances in their own thoughts as the speaker talks. I believe that this is an amazing tool of language that can greatly impact and intensify the connection between the speaker's message and their audience. I really agree with Melinda's points she made regarding using presentation media such as videos or images. The points in question would be that using presentation media can draw attention to your main point, highlight and clarify ideas, and support your argument. I personally believe that if I was sitting through a presentation and the speaker included colorful images or videos regarding their topic in question, I would be more invested in what their argument or topic is. 

        Group 4 was commenced by Sury, speaking on informative speaking and characteristics of an informative speech. These key points she talked about helped me identify and picture what an informative speech should actually look like. She mentioned elements such as: having a clear purpose, have factual content, and have an engaging delivery. She also encourages speakers to select a topic that they value or that has impacted their life in some sort of way. Roger said something that intrigued me and it was to essentially not scare your audience with facts, and instead to control what evidence you present to your audience and still have strong support to your argument. I learned a great deal while preparing to present my own presentation. I gained an abundance of understanding on ideals such as, ethos, pathos, and logos which have molded my perspective on what an argument really should consist of. 

        Overall, I learned a great deal from all of my classmates and presentations. I can now truly say that I have a much greater understanding on what the ideal speech should look like in any scenario or occasion.