Self-Evaluation

As I was presenting my speech I had a clear idea of the overall information that I wanted to cover, and some finer details that I would have like to cover.  My endeavor was to acquaint those that were unfamiliar with the sport of archery, to its history, mechanics of it, and its use in our culture today.  I feel that I accomplished this purpose during the duration of my speech.

Primarily because of the time limitations I was a tad nervous.  There  was a lot of information that I could have presented so choosing what was priority was probably the hardest part.  This is because I knew that I would have to cut off information that I found interesting but wasn't necessary to the fulfillment of the speech's purpose.  Knowing how to quickly eradicate unneeded information is a skill that will be developed through more practice.  The actual act of talking in front of people doesn't bother me at all. 

Preparing for my speech is probably the biggest area that I would change if I had it to do over again.  I was unable to practice delivering my speech at all which probably would have eliminated all nervousness if I had. The flow and organization of the speech seemed to be consistent.  I think the delivery was a bit lacking since I could feel that I was nervous although others say it was unnoticeable.  Although I did cite 4 references I did forget to mention them verbally.  This is the main way that I could improve on the support aspect.

For my next speech I will do thorough research to ensure that the content is all that I desire it to be. I am very familiar with the subject matter so having enough content will not be an issue.  For improving the delivery I intend to be more interactive with the audience. After I gave my speech I realized that I said "um" a lot.  Using "non-words" is something that I try to avoid so I will attempt to be aware and correct this in the next speech.  Although I don't have a video to watch, from my recollection I think I can safely rate my eye contact at a 7..  It is an important aspect to connecting with the audience and something that can always be improved upon.  As far as verbally mentioning sources, I know I mentioned at least 2 of the 4 sources that I had cited.

If I were viewing myself and had to give myself a grade it would probably be an "A".  I presented the material according to the guidelines.  I had a clear flow with an introduction, body, and conclusion.  My main points were clearly stated and explained.  My demonstration flowed well with the rest of the speech and fit well with the allotted time.  Although at times I probably came across as being a bit nervous, I feel that I sufficiently presented the material regardless.  The biggest areas of improvement that I feel I had was to verbally mention all citations, make more eye contact, and eliminate the "non-words."