Speech Evaluation

Bethany Brauer

Instructor Akins

COM 105-122

14 April 2015

Informative Speech Self-Assessment

Ironically I chose my topic thinking that I would inform people the dangers and the effects of stress on the body. Instead, I put myself in a never ending hole of stress and I'm honestly surprised I did not go into cardiac arrest while giving my speech. I am ashamed of this about myself but I am the queen of procrastination. I literally waited till the night before the day I gave my speech to not only do the research but also write my outline. Procrastination bit me in the butt because my speech outline wouldn't save properly and I had to end up taking pictures of my outline and printing it off because I didn't have time to redo it for the fourth time. The day of my speech I had every intention to get all dressed and at least look presentable. Well, I woke up late and had to rush to my 8:30 class basically the way I woke up. After my government class I had to run to target to get notecards so I could write my speech on the notecards. As I was driving to speech class i dabbed concealer and put a few strokes of mascara on. So, needless to say I was incredibly stressed and unprepared for my speech. I am not one to make excuses and I completely take full responsibility for the ways things worked out but I can honestly say I am also surprised that it wasn’t terrible.

Let’s start with the negatives. First of all I obviously was not prepared. I had a poorly written speech and did not make time. I added new information into the conclusion (I did it in my cultural speech as well) when I should have made it a main point. I should have included ways to relieve stress in my main points and written a proper conclusion. If I had done so I believe I would have made time. Next time, I WILL finish my outline early and have someone review it or even go to the writing center for help because I have made the error before and it pretty important to have a properly written essay.

Another negative would definitely be my lack of eye contact. At the podium I feel like I made good eye contact but in the video I came to the realization that I barely looked up. This is once again due to the lack of preparation. I just need to KNOW my speech. I need to practice it over and over again instead of literally glancing at it once before I spoke. Next time, I will be prepared (at least I plan on it) I just need to get my act together and become a better more efficient student instead of just “getting by.” I also used my visual aids poorly which also reflects my lack of preparation once again. Preparation is key to success. Since I wasn't prepared I only used one of my visual aids and I basically forgot about my other slides. I just need to stop being an irresponsible student and start preparing and practicing for my speeches.

Now that I have covered my negatives, I would like to pay attention to a certain number of positives I did while presenting my speech. Well actually i can only shine the light on one thing. I had good voice. When I was in High School I was in the FFA and competed on many leadership teams. One was radio team. I know how to present my voice properly and clear and add impact to the message through annunciation and voice changes. Being on radio team, I was always behind a door and never in front of anyone so i got use to reading off of my cards. Although I believe having a good voice is good it doesn't really matter if the presentation has poor eye contact.

I clearly have room for improvement but at least I can't get worse on my remaining speeches, well hopefully. I need to get my life together and become more organized and honestly that will improve my speaking skills because I will be able to complete the assignment properly, have more eye contact, use my visual aids better and impact my audience through my voice and my presentation. I know where I need to improve, I just have to make the effort.