What did I think went well and what didn’t during my speech?
What did go well:
- Organization: According to you guys in my last blog post, you all said that the organization of my speech worked really well. After reflecting, I’d agree with you all. I deliberately made sure to organize my speech in a way that would make it easy to follow, not just for my audience but also for myself as I was memorizing and speaking. So, I think my organization helped me as I gave my speech, as I could trust myself to remember how my speech was organized, so I could then go through all the points I wanted to talk about.
- I think I did a good job of talking conversationally with the class. Because it addressed voting, it could’ve been easy for me to be either a little too preachy or for me to be a little dull. However, I made sure to engage the audience early on, I added a joke in the introduction, and I generally talked conversationally, as that was most appropriate for the rhetorical situation – after all, I was essentially having a conversation with my peers.
What didn’t go as well as I hoped:
- I don’t think my delivery was as crisp as I wanted it to be. I know there were a few places where I hesitated or where I didn’t use the exact diction that I wanted to. This could’ve been aided with probably a bit more practice, but I didn’t mess up too bad so I’m not going to kick myself over a couple of mistakes.
- My timing may not have been great. I don’t know where exactly I finished as far as time was concerned. However, when I practiced, I know I ended up around the 5 minute mark, and I didn’t make any effort to cut parts. So, I may have spoken too quickly in some places in an effort to be under the 5 minutes.
Overall, I’m satisfied with the way that I performed. I was satisfied with the content of my speech, and I think I did a fair job in delivering that content to my audience. Since I was one of the first speakers, I couldn’t really incorporate the successful approaches that my peers used. The only approach I took was to practice my speech (insightful, I know), and I thought that went pretty well.
Hi Matt! The organization of your speech was very well designed, and I think that helped make it easier to follow. Taking a heavier topic and being able to relay it in a conversational way was definitely an effective way of conveying your message to us. You set a solid example for the speakers who went on the later days, good job overall!