Speech Preparation

Identifying the general purpose was the most helpful aspect of preparing my speeches.  Most of the subjects that I chose I could easily talk about for hours.  However, talking about them with a certain intention, for a certain purpose, or to get a specific result required more fine tuning.  It forced me to consider and think about my topics in ways that I possibly had not ever done before.  By determining if I was going to discuss the topic with the purpose of informing, persuading, or entertaining helped narrow down which aspects of my topic I would address.  It forced me to eliminate some information that I would have spoken on otherwise and add information I would have normally ignored.  Of the different types of general purposes, probably speaking to inform was my favorite.  I like to teach and increase the knowledge of others just as I like to increase my own knowledge.  By speaking to inform, I am able to allow a little bit of my knowledge to rub off on others.

Affect on future

Prior to taking this class, I really never gave any thought into all the precise details about my speech.  Things such as considering the time and audience, making sure to give a preview of the main points as well as a review, the fact that there are different types of speeches, utilizing presentation media with a purpose, ethical responsibilities, different types of reasoning, etc. These fine details are probably what will most influence my speech giving in the future.  I would typically just jot down ideas that I had whenever I previously gave a speech and then just talk about them randomly.  By creating an outline with an introduction, main points, and conclusion, even if it is only a mental version of it, creates a flow of speech that I haven't had before.  Having a purpose and ensuring that all aspects of the speech revolve around that particular purpose and its success is what I will endeavor to do in future public speaking engagements that I have.

Favorite Speech

My favorite speech was the demonstration speech.  For this speech I demonstrated how to shoot a bow.  I think it was an excellent type of speech for the first main speech as it gave those who were a tad on the nervous side something to hide behind.  However, I liked it just because I enjoyed having something visual to reference.  I felt that it helped me connect with the audience much more than having just a power presentation or some other kind of media.  I am very experienced with public speaking and have found that the audience tunes in much better at the point that a visual aid is used.  There is so much media used today that I think traditional forms of digital media are mostly washed out and don't help the audience connect.  However, visual aids are something that most of the audience can typically relate to and therefore it does a better job of getting their attention.