Michelle's Speech blog

2006-04-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

Overview of experience

I have enjoyed the experience of researching the topics that I choose for this speech class.

The only draw back to taking this class via the learning center was not being able to do my speeches in front of a "live" audience. However, I did have the opportunity to do a "live" speech where I work for my 2nd informative speech which I was really glad for.

2006-04-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Informative Speech #2

I had the opportunity to give an imprompu informative/demonstration speech where I work on the use of pen/thumb drives.

This was great for me to be able to speack to a "live" audience instead of talking to the video camera!! I really enjoyed the interaction and question and answer part of giving this speech.

2006-04-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

Persuasive Speech #2

The 2nd persuasive speech I did was on foster parenting. May is foster parent recognition month and I have 3 friends that are foster parents and they all have such heart wrenching stories of the children that need this care.

I know that most of the students at CCC are not in a position (myself included) to be able to be a foster parent but I just wanted to put the idea in the back of everyones mind if they are ever in the position to be able to help these children.

2006-04-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

Maslow's Need Hierarcy

I again choose the Total Gym. With all of those fit people in the commercials they sure do nook like they have a sense of self-esteem.

This commercial covers the need for esteem. A person in shape by using the total gym would offer a fit and healthy body that would offer the person a sense of self-esteem. It would make the person feel sefl-confident and valuable as a person.

2006-04-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

Monroe's Motivated Sequence

I choose the Total Gym. It is always interesting for me to watch these commercials because they really motivate me to get into shape!

Attention: Beginning shows a room full of fit people using the machines showing what you can look like if you use their equipment.

Need: Show real people talking about how they had been before using the equipment and the after affects of using the equipment. This shows the need to make a change.

Satisfaction: They provide a solution by telling them to order the Total Gym.

Visualization: Show fit everyday people using the gym.

Action: Give you ordering information.

2006-03-26T12:09:00.000-08:00

Persuasive Speech #1

It was fun looking up all of the information to put together my persuasve speech - "Why Go To College". It was amazing for me to see the different pay rates as you progress through the different degrees.

2006-03-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

Preparing for Informative Speech #1

It was fun for me to do the research and to be able to talk about something that I find very interesting.

2006-03-21T14:33:00.000-08:00

“Not All Presentations are the Same! How to Tailor Your Presentation by Size and Space” article can be found at
http://www.dorothyleeds.com/articles/tailoryourpresentation.html

As the author of the article, Dorothy Leeds, says in her article, successful public speaking depends on mastering the constants and copying with all of the details. No matter the size of the audience, you must gain and keep the attention of the audience.

We all speak in varied situations and size of audience.

She suggests that one should analyze the presentation in relation to: Preparation, stage managing, delivery and visual aids. Ms. Leeds then goes into detail on how to analyze these in detail.

Another article by Ms. Leeds that offers a lot of information on public speaking!!

2006-03-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

“How to Prepare Effortlessly With 6 Easy Questions” article can be found at
http://www.dorothyleeds.com/articles/preparationisquestions.html

How do we prepare to give a presentation? As Dorothy Leeds suggests, we need to ask ourselves questions before the presentation to ensure that we will be “performing” at our best.

Following are some of the key questions:

- What is the purpose behind this speech?
- Who is the audience and what is their main interest in the topic?
- What do I already know and believe about this topic as it relates to the audience? What additional research can I do?
- Have I written out all my major transitions and planned the minor ones?
- What supporting information and stories can I use to support each of these points?
- What visual aids – if any – do I need?

You can never be too prepared!!

2006-03-21T14:31:00.001-08:00

“Body Language: Actions Speak Louder Than Words” http://www.dorothyleeds.com/articles/bodylanguage.html

As Dorothy Leeds, the author, states in this article about body language, we can be the best visual aid – or the worst!!

Communication consists of so much more than what we say to each other and our tone of voice, posture, clothes, our car, may say more about us than we could ever express in words. People start to make judgments based on our body language the moment they see us.

Ms. Leeds offers some great tips for informal meetings and formal presentations.

She gives us several steps to help improve our body language in a formal presentation we can use in our public speaking. Such things as: be prepared, make an entrance, make eye contact, control our hands, and our use of facial expressions.

Read the complete article and you may too get some great tips!!

2006-03-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

“Answer Questions Like A Pro” http://www.dorothyleeds.com/articles/answerquestionspro.html

As the author of the article Dorothy Leeds says in the article, the manner in which you accept and answer questions is even more important than what you actually say. If you’re not quite sure what the other person is asking, get clarification.

She also give some great tips on coping with commonly asked problem-causing questions, such as: the laded questions, personal opinion, you don’t know the answer, you know the answer buy you are not allowed to say, open-ended/vague question and multi-part questions.

This is another great read and very helpful to increase question and answer sessions during a speaking event.

2006-03-21T14:29:00.000-08:00

“Smart questions=Smart Listening” article can be found at
http://www.dorothyleeds.com/articles/smartquestionssmartlistening.html

Out of the total amount of time we spend communicating, 22 percent is spent in reading and listening, 23 percent is spent speaking and 55 percent is spent listening according to the U.S. Department of Labor study.

Listening has 2 major aspects: listening to others and getting others to listen to you.

This is a great article! A must read!

2006-03-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

“Nebraska Lottery uses new advertising strategies” article can be found at
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/01/25/43d708e02eb8b

When we are doing a speech – even if informative – aren’t we using a word of mouth marketing strategy to get our audience to look into the matter?

2006-03-21T12:37:00.001-08:00

“Is honesty always the best policy?” article can be found at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002785084&zsection_id=2002119995&slug=skube05&date=20060205

As the author states, he often sees people who tell “the truth” without noticing there’s a human being on the receiving end of their communication. He recommends choosing words that are kind. To me this also goes to our speeches. We need to choose our words carefully to be honest, but not too harsh. People may not react to well to frankness.

2006-03-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

“Business Communication – Emails preferred over phone at the office” article can be found at http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/13796980.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

With so many people using email at work, versus in person or phone communication, it tells me that we are loosing some of our verbal skills. The makes me wonder if we are losing out touch at public speaking as well? And if it is making it more difficult for us to get up in front of an audience or even to work in small groups?

2006-03-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

“Workplace Etiquette – Sloppy speech says a lot about you” article can be found at http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/113463931925020.xml&coll=1

As the article says, we communicate in 3 ways: what we say, how we say it and what we look like as we speak.

We need to remember to not use the “huh”, “you know”, “like”, etc. when we are speaking either in personal conversations or in public speaking. These are used so that we can allow our mouths to catch up with our brains, or to be sure the audience as had a chance to at least try to attempt to get the meaning of what we are saying.

One tip given is to record ourselves. Just turn on the recorder and go about our normal activities to see just how many times we use the “huh”, “you know”, etc. and try to correct our sloppy speech.

2006-03-21T12:32:00.001-08:00

“The power of politeness” article can be found at http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=267551&Category=5

The article talks about how to be polite at work, but many of the suggestions also correlate to public speaking.

Things such as: use polite words, don’t put people down, do no curse, greet people and be considerate when sharing space and equipment.

2006-03-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

“Abusing the Freedom of Expression” article can be found at http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/26466

As the article states, media has the capacity to shape public opinion and perceptions. This is also true of presenting information via public speaking. We need to be sure to avail disrespect of any fail, culture and race.

Offensive caricatures, or any other offensive or off color, cartoons should not be used in a speech, just as not offensive or off color verbal comments should be used.

We must know that no freedom of expression should promote humiliation or insults against other human beings.

2006-03-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

“Trying to be cute will often cost you will customers” article can be found at http://www.bizjournals.com/extraedge/consultants/sell_more/2006/01/30/column203.html

Sometimes people say things that they think are cute or funny, but can be found offensive by the recipient. We may think that the person will know that we are joking, but that is not always the case.

We need to learn to think before we speak. If we have a disenchanted audience, they will not be moved by our speeches and our message will be lost.

2006-03-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

“Experts say gestures can bridge big linquistic gaps” article can be found at http://www.theeagle.com/stories/021906/world_20060219035.php

As the article states, hand gestures can speak volumes. This is so true when it comes to public speaking. Our hands can tell a whole other story – as well as our body movements!!

2006-03-21T12:27:00.000-08:00

Keep your voicemails short and simple article found at
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060226/REPOSITORY/602260302/1003/BUSINESS

How many times have we all called a number and go a voicemail message that was a mile long and lost interest? Or how many times have we gotten a message on our own voicemail that we deleted it because we didn’t want to finish listening to the long drawn out message?

Well this article gives some great advice on how to keep out outgoing message short and sweet and to the point – as well as tips on how to leave good voicemail messages.

Just as we need to do in our speeches, the article says that we need to use our vocal pitch, articulation, volume an the rate of speech" in our voicemail messages.

Small business owners "need to make use of their vocal pitch, articulation, volume and the rate of their speech," said Ed Barks, who trains public speakers. "Paying attention to all those factors is essential if a small-business owner has any hope of capturing the fancy of their attendant at the other end of the line."

Barks suggests practicing what you want to say.

"Don't be afraid to ask a colleague how you sound," he said. "Tape-record yourself so you can get a picture of whether you're coming across as Oprah Winfrey or Elmer Fudd."

As the article says we should practice what we are going to say before picking up the phone. The same goes for our public speaking – practice makes “perfect”!

2006-03-21T12:23:00.000-08:00

Module 8 Small-Group participation

The meeting was a small group that came together for a common purpose. There was designated leader of the group came from another campus to lead the meeting and answer questions.

It felt like there were a lot of hidden agenda items that the group had. There were very specific questions asked by group members about what cost centers each group member managed trying to decipher the work load of each group member. This stalled the discussion and presentation because the sharing stopped at this point.

I tried to get the meeting back on track by suggesting that we each pick one cost center and then brainstorm with ideas of how we each manage our budgets daily to help each of use our time more efficiently.

The leader of the group was not very proficient on keeping the meeting going and on track.

Even with the drawbacks of the meeting, I walked out with new information that should make my life easier!

2006-03-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

Module 8 Small-Group meeting

I attended the meeting of the Board of Public Works of Hastings Utilities on March 3, 2006.

It was a small group that assembled for a specific purpose with consent agenda. The meeting was held with a very formal atmosphere. There was clear cut leadership with the chairperson leading the meeting.

The meeting started out by a motion to go into a closed session for a strategy session relative to negotiations. So it was closed to the public for 10 minutes.

Agenda items were discussed amongst the group, and motions were made based on the best options or approval of the agenda item. Then consensus was obtained by the vote of the group.

Presenting the recommendation of the proposed project construction management, M. Schultes gave a presentation on the proposed project construction management agreement with PPGA. After the presentation it was carried by the group to approve the project.

The group functioned as a unit, and I could tell that each board member had done their work assignments of gathering information and researching their agenda items prior to their meeting

2006-03-21T09:32:00.000-08:00

Speech of self-introduction

I had a great time putting together my speech of self-introduction. I did it in chronological order – looking at where I have been – where I am now – and where I want to get to. It really put things into perspective for me.

2006-03-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

Module 6 Speaking Event

The speaking event was an all campus employee meeting presented on the Hastings campus.

The speech was organized in topical order. There were numerous supporting materials with graphs, examples and statistics.

The transition from one thought to another was very muddied. There were 3 different speakers that would each would refer to when they needed their expertise, however this did not flow smoothly.

There was a PowerPoint presentation for us to view. However, there were too many items on each slide and it would have been nice if they would have transitioned the information of the slide as they were talking about each item, instead of putting 15 bullet points on them at one time. Also, the speaker would move to the next slide before done with speaking about the items on the slide. Did not use a wireless mouse to move from slide to slide and this did not allow them to follow the slides to the presentation.

I was disappointed with the rhythm, tone, pitch, etc. of all of the speakers because each of the speakers have been presenting for a long period of time and they were leaving the audience to talk amongst themselves and were loosing interest.

The credibility was good for all of the speakers, especially the speaker presenting the information about a new grant CCC received for our transportation program, with him being the associate dean of that department.

There was a question and answer session at the end. The speakers did not repeat the question (volume very poor with the microphone) so the audience would know what the question was so could fully understand their answers.

The conclusion of the multiple speeches was not clear. The speech seemed to just end with no clear cut message left with the audience.

2006-02-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

Module 4 Speaking Event:

The speaking event was a farrier (someone who makes and fits horseshoes) demonstration on the Hastings Campus by Nate Allen after class hours.

The topic was chosen due to the specialized skill of the speaker to coincide with the interests of the group.

General purpose of the presentation was to inform the audience of blacksmithing techniques and “welds” made by farrier’s in relation to welds preformed by modern day welders.

Specific purpose Nate stated at the beginning of the demonstration was to show the different farrier techniques of horseshoeing using pre-made shoes versus starting from scratch.

He showed identification with the group by giving examples of how what he was doing could transfer into their line of work.

The audience demographics were members of the local AWS (American Welding Society), as well as students in the welding program, so they had a common interest in welding. However, with myself being the only female in attendance, it could have put a kink in things. Nate and I work together every day so he knew my interest in horses and my background in manufacturing, so he did not have to alter his technical jargon, etc.

Nate did a great job of tying in blacksmithing in the old days as being the welders of yesterday.

Nate did a great job of passing around samples, asking if anyone had questions, etc.

However, he was wearing a pair of safety glasses that had a slight mirror finish, which made it difficult to see where he was looking when speaking to the group. Another item that would have been helpful would have been to have a portable speaker and microphone because at times it was hard to hear him with the loud sounds of the pounding hammer.

I would have liked to try hitting the horseshoe with the blacksmithing hammer to see how heavy it was, how hard you had to hit it to make it shape the way you wanted, etc. It would have been a nice touch to ask the group if anyone would like to try it.

2006-02-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

Module 2 Speaking Event:

The speaking event that I chose for this assignment was a Catholic Saturday night mass. I would like to start by saying that I do not want to offend any of the class by using this medium for my speaking event, however; I find it very interesting that the priests (or any clergy member) perform for an audience many times during the week in many different platforms, such as hospitals, home visits, at the alter, etc.

With the congregation, with the exception of visitors, all hold the same frame of reference of the religious beliefs of the Catholic faith. However, the congregation is at different stages of life, have different experiences and interpret things differently.

The message of the Priest’s sermon related very closely to the Liturgy of the Word (readings from the bible performed by someone other than the priest). The Priest’s sermon explained the reading from the bible in our terms and he used examples of what the reading meant.

The situation was a Saturday night mass is usually shorter and more relaxed than the Sunday mass.

Of course there are no verbal feedback signals for the Priest. All of the communication is predetermined on the part of the congregation

There are always interference items in a mass, such as a crying child, parent taking their children to the bathroom, a sick person coughing, etc. This mass seemed to be full of unhappy children and sick people coughing, but the Priest keep moving along and did not break stride.

A priest must have ethnocentrism, the belief that his group or culture is superior to all other groups or cultures. This makes his speeches unique in that they can assume that their assumptions are shared and understood and they do not have the task of adapting their speeches so closely because the congregation has the same religious beliefs and customs.

Overall, this assignment gave me a new perspective of the Priest and their speaking abilities. They must keep the audience interested without any interaction and keep the congregation interested because there are many churches to choose from.

2006-01-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

Online Research Exploration assignment:

Hello all:

I just completed the online research exploration assignment for my Speech 111 class.

WOW! I didn't know all of the different sites to go to outside of the usual ones that I always use such as google and yahoo.

I really liked the search engine at http://news.google.com. I allowed be to thumb though papers, magazines, etc. With a search word instead of having to do it the old fashion way of sitting and reading through big stacks. They have a wide range of sources. Also, when you read an article it allows you to link to related articles and topics you searched for.

I have done many searches, but did not know how to use the advanced search on google before doing this exercise. When you do the advanced search you can go to the government web sites for stats data on the topics you are researching.

I searched for divorce rates and found an article that really hit close to home on divorce rates and the educated female. http://www.mydna.com/resources/news/news_20051223_soldier_divorce_rates.html Also on the bottom of the article I could link to other issues closely related.

What did everyone else think?

Michelle

2006-01-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

My name is Michelle and I am enrolled in Public Speaking via the learning center at Central Community College - Hastings Campus.

I have never used this communication platform and this is just a test! I am not for sure how it will link to the class etc., so I thought I would try a post and see what happens.

Good luck to all!!

Have a great evening and I look forward to chatting with everyone this semester!

M