Reflection on my own speech:
Although I believe my speech had done a good job emphasizing its message, one major thing I could have improved upon was my delivery. Throughout a majority of my speech, I believe I only had one expression and did not really change when talking about certain points. I think this may have contributed to the speech being a little boring and bland. I think just by simply changing my expressions to visually show how I feel about a certain point will help make my speech more impactful and easier to watch. Another area which I believed I had a more difficult time with was expression in my voice. Although I had made sure to pause once in a while to emphasize a certain point, my tone of expression stayed about the same throughout the entire speech. I believe if I got louder or talked slower at some of my main points, I would have been able to improve how engaging my speech was. Overall, I believe that my speech went well, and I am extremely happy on how it went.
Reflection on classmates’ speech:
Barbara’s speech on Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech stuck out to me as one that did a good job of exploring their civic artifact after witnessing other of my classmates’ presentations. Barbara spoke clearly and without stuttering; I could tell she was knowledgeable about the issue, which helped me grasp what she was saying. Her study of King’s speech was thorough, and the historical context she provided helped the audience understand King’s already well-known address. In my perspective, she did an outstanding job explaining how MLK Jr.’s trustworthiness and good use of rhetorical circumstances boosted the persuasiveness of his speech. Overall, I thought Barbara did an excellent job and much appreciated her efforts.
I also thought Barbara did an excellent job analyzing MLK Jr.’s speech and was a strong speaker. I thought you also did a great job analyzing your civic artifact and was very interesting to hear about. Great job!!!
This is a great place to start when looking to refine your speech. Even by adding the smallest inflection in your voice you can improve your speech so much. I think you are on the right track to improving yourself in the future!