Facts and Statistics

Facts and statistics can be used in persuasive speeches because they can make people convinced because of the logic involved. They are most effective when credibility is established. To do this you might first justify your interest in the speech topic or how you researched the topic so then the audience knows that you know most about it or you have an interest in the topic. Then you might give facts and give the sources of the facts so audience can use it to determine whether your speech is valid or not. Facts and statistics won’t be as affective if audience members do not think that they are accurate or do not think that you are presenting them right. Also overwhelming the audience with facts and statistics might make them tune out. You should always keep your audience in mind and ask yourself how will they respond to this? If someone is just giving facts it will not only bore the audience but they will lose their attention which will not make the speech very persuasive.

Ch. 7 Narratives

I’ve always wondered how people told such good stories. I know good stories but I could never tell them. People seem to bore when I’m in the middle of telling a story. What I learned in this section is that “when telling a story, you must choose what information to include and what to leave out, where to begin the story and where to end it, how much of the story’s moral or main point you want your audience to figure out for themselves and how much you want to state outright.” This is why I don’t think great story telling comes naturally to everyone it’s just way too much to organize. Moving along, in a speech you want to use narratives to help the audience identify with the topic and get them engaged. It would probably make for a good hook to start your speech with. Narratives could be used to describe your own experiences, related events, organizations values, or cultural stories. By choosing the right approach when using a narrative it can really help your audience identify the moral of the story which should be your main point.  I also like to point out how choice of words helps your narrative a lot also. For example, the cultural story in the book about the blind lady just has a soothing tone to it at first but by the end of it you start to worry or get confused like the lady herself. I believe that the choice of words and tone of the story gave it that effect even though you were just reading the story; you could still imagine her voice telling it.

Speech Buddies Ch. 7 & 8

So, chapter seven in the speech buddies video was about supporting your ideas using correct narratives, examples, ect... They emphasized how the material you are using is credible and using anything else would be a crime. I wonder if teachers think of this before every class because half the stuff they said in grade school didn't seem very valid. Anyways, I personally like narrative everyone likes a good story and I think that they get the message out to the audience better because hearing it in a story just makes it seem more understandable. Also I think that using definitions and examples are a good way to back up facts, but I would try to avoid giving a testimony because I hate to get everyone to only listen to my opinion they should go out and find out for themselves.

Now chapter eight was more about transitions which was more like an English review for me. One of my favorites was Monroe's motivated sequence, which is a speech designed for audience involvement. This includes liking the topic to audiences lives, telling them information they might not know, giving them the solution to the problem, giving them the outcome, then how to implement this all. I love motivational speakers, whats better than moving everyone forwards? That is why I like Monroe's motivated sequence because it seems like the best strategy to get people to listen to you and educate them on something they might not know yet.

CH 5. Speech Buddies

I think that the most challenging type of speech is a persuasive speech because you’re trying to get people to see your side of the subject without stepping on anyone’s toes. In the “Drinking” speech the guy had a lot of facts and great slides that must of took a lot of time to make and put the statistics together. Also the he compared the statistics with the class which I thought was a very good way to apply it to everyone so they know how important it is to drink in moderation. The only complaints I have is that his tone was very mellow and he didn’t make eye contact or try to get the audience involved either. I felt like I was being lectured for the most part. I liked how the girl who did the “volunteer” speech voice rose and fell like a rollercoaster ride. She looked like she memorized her content enough that she didn’t need to check her notes so much either and that was a 7 min + speech

Using Psychographic Information

Psychographics is probably what I use the most in life. When talking to co-workers, friends, family ect.. I always look at their views would be and adjust my topic that I talk with them to match it. Psychographics is the standpoints, values, beliefs, and attitudes that a person may have on a subject. Someone’s standpoint is the way they interpret the world around them. Just compare what you would think of something compared to what a five year old would think and that’s standpoint. Value is what people to believe are good, right, worthy, and important. For example, a person who knows a cancer victim may value research for cancer more important and someone who knows an aids victim who might value aids research more important. Then there’s attitude which is how someone may feel about a subject. Take 9/11 for example, the attitude of the event may be different than someone else who might of grief, sorrow, angry, or neutral about the event.  Lastly is belief, which is something a person accepts as true or existing. For instance, if you say that aliens aren’t real in front of my dad he won’t believe anything you say after that and then you will have failed to get your point across. It’s important that you approach these beliefs in a warm way so you don’t step on anyone’s toes.

Importance of audience analysis and adaptation

 In my understand of audience analysis I think its best to give a speech that will benefit the audience. Whether its to entertain, inform, or persuade, they all should appeal to your audience in some way. No body likes to be forced to listen to someones speech but by making the speech appeal to them and make it more person the person will feel less forced and will make them happy to gain more information from the speech. Its the same as the question, why do we go to school? not to listen to a some professor talk but to gain knowledge and by adapting to your listeners and analyzing what they want to hear will be benefiting to you and the audience. I will try integrating analysis and adaptation in my speech by making sure that everyone can understand what I'm talking about by comparing to their own culture and beliefs, since our class is very diverse.

Confidence Building

On chapter two, page 28, there is a guide to show you effective ways to managing speech anxiety that I truly agree with and believe will help me manage my speech anxiety. It list three main key points to help relieve anxiety and build confidence. Number one is visualization. Visualization is key to practicing your speech in a realistic way so that you are prepared to present your speech exactly how you want it and get the desired responses from your audience. For instance, “visualization will when practicing will help you remember that making eye contact, smiling, and beginning the speech (28).” I feel that most of the time I would forget this when practicing. Also includes visualizing your audience so you are confident in the responses you receive, which I feel is important because I want to make sure to include things that will keep my audience captivated. Number two is rebelling meaning assigning more positive words or phrases before doing your speech, so that you’re not fearful now but delighted to give a speech. The last is relaxation techniques. The relaxation techniques focus on breathing while clearing your mind, loosening up tense muscles, and regulating your breathing pattern. I notice when I get in front of people I start freaking out the slightest bit even if it’s just a group of my friends but these techniques will help me chill out when things go to worse. I find these points important to know because I probably can use them in a lot of situations.

Why do I fear public speaking?

 The reason I think that public speaking can be apprehensive is " fear of negative evaluation" (p.28). In grade school I use to be very engaged when I did presentation. You would see my yelling see me acting all depending on the project or assignment given. It was all just for fun and the teachers only wanted us to have fun. But when I got into high school it was more like reports and judgements and there was no real reason to act. Now in college I have to stand in front of  students and teachers that I don't know very well and I have to keep asking myself "What if I don't do good enough?" I end up getting anxiety over my final grade and boring the students to death. With the tips in chapter two I can understand that anxiety and I'm glad I'm not alone. The best advice I got from the book was knowing your intro and conclusion. I like organizing events in my mind so it only makes sense to know where your going to end up. Also developing a good hook in the beginning and a conclusion giving the listeners something to think reminds me how my English teacher taught me how to right an essay before seems to be the same way to make a speech. The other thing is to think positively about the speech your giving and to choose something you care about so that you will want to show everyone what interest you and what might interest them. I'd like to end this by saying that I don't fear speaking in front of class because admitting to fear means that you already lost and I like to go head strong into things.