The TED Talk project was challenging and stressful, but in the end I learned some valuable lessons about public speaking. On a positive note, I loved researching a topic that related to my career goals. It was so much easier to stay motivated throughout the entire project because I was genuinely interested in the subject. I was also able to build upon fundamental biology knowledge from high school and challenge myself academically. Most of the articles I was reading were recently published and sophisticated; the authors had yet to come to a general consensus on how CRISPR babies will affect the world, so I was truly able to take my own spin on the topic.
However, resulting from my genuine interest and curiosity was some bad time management. I spent countless hours researching and taking notes; most of the knowledge was completely new for me, and it took significant effort to sift through pages upon pages of peer-reviewed articles. Furthermore, when it came to creating the TED outline, I found it difficult to condense all of my research and knowledge into five minutes. As a result, my outline was constantly shifting, until I finally decided upon the main message or “theme” that I was attempting to present.
Nevertheless, when compared to my rhetorical analysis speech from unit one, my public speaking skills have improved dramatically. This time, I cut out the perfect amount of information so that I did not need to stress about timing; this helped me to slow down and speak at a reasonable pace. Additionally, I did not memorize a script and draw everything from memory. While this may have caused some mistakes and uneasiness in my delivery, I gained confidence as I continued speaking. That being said, I still need to put more energy into the delivery of my speech. I need to learn how to talk about my school projects with the same enthusiasm that I have with friends and family.
Finally, I enjoyed listening to my classmates’ speeches and found it interesting to hear what everyone is passionate about. I really enjoyed those with passion and expertise in the subject.