I presented my civic engagement speech in class today, and it actually went a lot better than I thought it would. I’d never really given a speech before without my whole speech written out in front of me, and this fact made me extremely nervous to give a speech with only a tiny index card with a few key points in front of me.
I’d written out a rough sketch of what I wanted to say in my speech beforehand, and this was actually really helpful. I developed a thesis from this and divided my speech into the key points about Bruce Springsteen that I wanted to address. And luckily I got in all my points before time was up.
The three things I was most nervous about were time, where to stand, and not losing my train of thought.
When I practiced my speech, I got to each 3:50 each time. When I delivered my speech, it was around 3:25, which was good in that it was within the time limits, but this means that I talk 25 seconds faster than how I practiced it. I’m always bad at talking fast in speeches, and I could feel myself talking fast. I know I have to keep working on that.
Strangely, I also wasn’t sure where to stand either or whether to walk around or not. I felt comfortable where I was standing, but I felt awkward walking around the front of the room. I should try to move out of one place next time.
Lastly, I was most nervous about losing my train of thought. Sometimes during speeches, my thoughts get too much ahead of my words and I forget what I was about to say. Luckily, this didn’t really happen during my speech today which made me relieved!
Overall, I think I did well on my speech today. I could have been a lot better, but I don’t think I flopped.
I was very impressed with everyone who went today. So if you’re reading this and you went today: Good job! Otherwise, if you haven’t gone yet, good luck!