Topic- How to become a better version of your personal self.
How will I connect with the audience- I will provide a captivating tone of voice and be as articulate as possible. I will bring in some methods on how I think people can help better themselves and say what has worked for me. I would most likely start off with something along the lines of “there are always things that can hinder our personal growth, I bet if I were to ask a show of hands everyone in this room has something they struggle with and wants to do better.” I will also share something that helps me out when I am stressing out or feeling anxious. The solution for me is music and I will go into music helps with my mindset.
Why I chose this topic for the Lone Wolf Speech is because I believe that perfection is extremely hard to attain, in some cases it may even be impossible. With that being said we as people can evolve ourselves to achieve that level of perfection we seek. I’m also trying to improve myself and improve how I act and compose myself and I feel like that is one of those things where you can never be too good at. There is always room for improvement in every aspect of life. I think personally that being complacent doesn’t make you better. The most successful people are the ones that are never satisfied.
Outline
Intro – talk about struggles and how that is something that everyone goes through. I would then define personal growth with a quote from The Berkeley well-being institute. The definition is. “The process of developing new skills, attitudes, actions, or reactions that can have a positive impact on your life and increase your overall well-being.
I will then talk about something that I struggle with which is anxiety. After that I’ll explain in detail some of the methods that I use to calm myself down. Those methods are deep breathing, and listening to music, I will then explain the benefits to both.
I will then briefly talk about how a negative mindset isn’t a productive one because if you are being brought down by people or stress or your own negative thoughts you can grow and be the best version of yourself.
I want to become a better version of my personal self, I will connect with the audience by using good public speaking practices. I will speak clearly and loudly, taking my time to pronounce words. I think that my peers will find my goals of self improvement to be very relatable and therefore they will be more inclined to listen and ask me questions. I will attempt not to relate everything to an experience that other classmates may not be able to fully understand or relate to. I want to not only inform my listeners but I want to entertain them and get them involved rather than lecture them. However I want to take my speech seriously so that my classmates can learn from my experiences.
I selected this topic because I’m becoming my own man and I want to make it clear to my parents that I am ready for the responsibilities of the real world. I had a really difficult summer between work and my long distance relationship. I found it very difficult to enjoy my personal time this summer. I started seeing a therapist and working on my personal strengths and weaknesses, specifically from a relationship point of view. I am easily affected by the people around me and for me to enjoy myself, I often feel obligated to make them happy. This however is not healthy for myself, if i give all my focus to the people around me and none to myself then how can I become a better person.
I selected to better my personal self for several reasons, I want to make myself happy. I don’t just want to experience temporary happiness, however, I am looking for lasting happiness, something that will satisfy me and remain with me. I hope to improve my relationships with my friends and my girlfriend but also my family. My parents and brother have been with me for my entire life but I can still improve our relationship. Finally I want to learn to process my emotions, make rational decisions, and think clearly in times of stress or anxiety.
Ryan Kelly
Prof. Jessie Miller
Communications 110
7 September 2023
Journal #4
The topic I chose for my speech is how to become a better version of my academic self. I intend on connecting with the audience by behaving very professionally and not joking around while I am presenting and while others are presenting or while others are asking me questions. I will also make sure to use accountable talk during my speech, being sure to respect everyone’s individual opinions and be able to clearly communicate my opinions and thoughts with my peers. Lastly, I will make sure to maintain eye contact with my peers and speak clearly and not too fast so my peers can fully grasp what I am saying as I’m saying it.
I selected the topic of how to become a better version of my academic self because my grades from freshman and sophomore year were not the best and I would like to boost my credits and get back on track with the rest of the peers in my major. This year I am already making a difference by keeping a digital planner on my computer that shows when I have to complete certain assignments before they are due.
Bettering myself academically is going to take a lot of dedication and work, however I know that if I stay determined I will succeed. I have already taken multiple steps in bettering my academic self, such as keeping a planner so I know when all my assignments are due, which helps improve my time management skills. I will make sure to go to all of my classes on time and ready to learn, unless I am ill or have a reasonable excuse. Most importantly, if I do not understand the material I am being taught I will reach out to my teacher asking for personal help so I can fully understand the material that I am required to know. Furthemore, I will always be engaged and active during class and aim for success.
For my “Lone Wolf Speech” I’ve chosen to better my academic self. This has been an ongoing goal I’ve had for myself for a while now, but I finally feel that it’s in my grasp. After so long of not really caring about grades throughout high school and just beginning to understand how much they mean in college, I’ve decided to start taking my grades seriously. My first semester at college in my Freshman year I switched to the English major, but my second semester of my Freshman year I had multiple setbacks that hindered my ability to even feel like I should have kept attending college overall. But now that I’ve started utilizing UNE’s support systems, I feel like I can actually see a future overall. I’ve been making meetings with counselors and SASC, and I’ve even begun marking my calendar for bigger assignments due and finally putting personal time over social time. In terms of connecting with my audience when presenting I plan on trying to make eye contact best I can, and not talking too fast so that the audience can hear, visualize, and keep up with my speech. I plan on listening to others with undivided attention in hopes they’ll do the same for me, and most importantly I’ll practice my speech beforehand. As far as the benefits of picking an academically centered self over a personal or professional one I’d say I chose academically focused since it already mixes a professional self into the mix, and I feel I don’t need self-improvement as much as I need academic improvement- not that self-improvement would deter me from this path. Academic improvement will allow me critical thinking and analytical skills that will act as gateways to career opportunities. I plan to do this through my own realization that there is an untouched value and importance of education that I haven’t fully grasped yet.
Picture being able to wake up in the morning, without a sense of doubt and a purpose and drive to become the best version of yourself. I am currently on the same journey, so I understand how difficult it can be. I know that self- improvement can be overwhelming and sometimes you may even wonder if it’s all worth it. There are times when self-doubt holds me back, and setbacks feel like impossible hurdles. But you need to know that it is possible to overcome these hurdles. I still remember the first day I decided to change my life for the better, and every day I am constantly making decisions to become the best possible version of myself. Don’t let fear hold you back from embracing it and working towards personal growth.
I chose this topic because it is exactly what I am doing right now in my own life. I am currently going through the process of becoming a better person in my personal life. It is a very hard thing to do, and it is not instantly fixed, it is a long journey that is going to take a while and constant effort to make sure I’m always taking steps in the right direction. I want to express to everyone how I feel and maybe help them or give them ideas on what they can do as well to work towards becoming a better person. It is also very enjoyable to learn and talk about how a person thinks and responds to situations.
I will begin to talk about resonating and connecting with the audience by reassuring them that personal growth is an extremely difficult thing to grasp.
Then I’ll begin to explain some ways that I personally have begun my personal growth journey and certain ways I would go about it.
Then I’ll give advice or tips on how to make the days special or important, and how to spend every day working towards doing something good for their selves.
Ill end the speech with more reassurance that it will not be easy but in the end if you keep working towards bettering yourself then everything will work out for you.
For my “Lone Wolf” speech, I’ll be discussing how to become a better version of my academic self. In order to connect with the audience and my peers, I’ll point out the obvious fact that we are all academics as of right now. All of us are attending this private university together and learning new ideas and concepts all the time. This is a way in which we can relate to one another, teach one another, and learn from one another. I think it’s safe to say that we all care about our academic selves at least a little bit.
I chose to talk about becoming a better version of my academic self for a combination of two reasons. First, as I’m nearing the end of my undergraduate journey, I’ve taken the time to reflect on how far I have come and all the great progress I have made through the years. When I was younger, I don’t want to say that I didn’t care about school work, but I didn’t apply myself as much as I could have and should have. Now I see the importance of my own individual education experience. I also chose this topic because I want to prove to myself that I’m capable of learning difficult concepts and becoming a smarter person overall.
I think it’s best to kick off the speech by introducing myself. List off the basics: name, class, major, and hometown. Just so the audience knows who they’re listening to. The first real point I want to get across is what I talked about in the first paragraph regarding how I will connect with the audience. Mention how we are all academics or students and how that is a way in which we can all relate with each other. Also, point out that it’s important to understand that it’s not a race by any means and that in order to get the full educational experience, you have to take it at a pace that’s right for you. Next, I’ll describe different ways in which I personally plan to better my academic self. Becoming invested in my education, starting to care more and apply myself more. The feeling of accomplishment when you finish a tough assignment or long essay. To conclude my speech, I’ll review my key points and maybe throw in a motivational quote from a celebrity.
How to become a better version of your academic self.
I am going to connect with people by relating to them. I am going to start out by talking about how we all have classes we take and we all take a certain amount. Then say how some people may use a type of organization and then give a few examples of types of organization methods. I will also talk about how I understand it can be easy to get sidetracked by a lot of things and how college life can be very busy.
I will then move on to why I selected this topic. I wanted to talk about this because I am really trying to do well in my academics this year. I will talk about how last year I did not do as well as I wanted to, and then say part of the reason why was because I had no form of organization for my work. And hopefully while making the speech I can encourage others to try and organize their stuff if it is not already. Also maybe give people other ideas and ways to organize their work.
To start off as I said I’m going to just try and connect with the audience and relate to them in a way that will grab them, in this case, it will be about organization. Then I will talk about how college is a lot different than high school and in high school, you could get away with not really organizing the dates you need to know for big assignments and how you were always being reminded of things. Then I am going to move on and talk about how last year I did not organize and really struggled and it even started to affect my grades. Then talk about how this year is going to be different because I have a method of staying organized this year. Then going to share it. Also going to talk about how I am going to utilize the time I have in between classes this year. Last year I always waited until all my classes were over todo my homework so I will be utilizing my time better as well this year.
Topic for speech- How to become a better version of my academic self.
I will connect with the audience in this speech through examples and understanding of why I want to become better. I will show the audience the mistakes that I have made thus far in my academic career and the things I want to do better as I pursue a higher level of education in my future. Being able to understand mistakes that I have made, and how I can learn from them, may be helpful to my classmates. Letting them see that mistakes don’t define you, as much as you feel like they do, and that no matter what happens you always have space to become the best version of yourself you can be. I selected the topic of being a better version of my academic self due to the fact that I am in the midst of applying to medical school. I am currently looking back on all of my steps in my undergraduate career and truly reflecting on so many things in my academic career. And realizing now the things that I wish I could go back and do better. In choosing this topic I will be able to use those mistakes from the past and help propel myself forward. When the opportunity of medical school does arise I will be able to use these tricks that I have developed for myself in a better way in order to perform to the best of my ability.
The outline of my speech:
Introduction
Why choose this topic
What academics mean to me
Why I want to become better in academic
Fixing mistakes
Examples of mistakes that I have made
Then show what I can do to become better
Why this tricks are good for future
Explain what my future entails
And show why these will be helpful things to implement in my academic life
Daraun White
Lone Wolf
How to become a better version of your academic self
Connecting –
We are all college students who have to take classes at UNE, but deeper we all have had trouble in one or many classes over our UNE careers.Every person has their different challenges that go along with schooling; like working one or more jobs, playing a sport or two sports, being in a club, and the overarching one TIME MANAGEMENT. Time management is the biggest way to excel in the classroom due to time being the most important idea to humans. Time shows up in everyday life, excluding actual time, time shows up in sports, the classroom through deadlines or time left in class before lunch. Time management is used everyday and the ability to excel at it; is what will get you to b e a better version of your academic self.
Why I Selected this topic –
I selected this topic because I struggled in my first year of college receiving a 2.55 cumulative GPA. Maybe it was due to my composition of classes, picking hard classes all in the same semester, or truly was it because I was doing the bare minimum to get by in each class. Just barely giving enough on an English paper, or guessing on a math assignment, just to get by. Also, my poor management of time with football, class, and hanging out with my friends. Then it all turned around; my sophomore year, I received a 3.55 cumulative GPA (only the 2 semesters in my sophomore year year; excluding freshmen year)
Intro – Talk about the struggles of my UNE academic career and how I went from just getting by to how I have excelled to a higher standard. Talk about time management, and how it is a big part of balancing many different things in your day to day life.
Body – Talk about ways I have personally fixed my time management skills and how doing some things differently really helped me take a step to the top.
Conclusion – Finish off with how not everything works for everyone or things are not the same for everyone, but hopefully the speech helped people out their minds to find what could work for them.
How to become a better version of myself academically
Connecting with audience- In my speech I plan on sounding very enthusiastic right off the bat so that the audience will immediately be interested in what I am saying. My thought process here is that if I sound like I am excited about my speech, then they will be invested in what I am saying. I am also planning on using little to no filler words when I am thinking about what I am supposed to say next. These words include “uh,” “um”, “like”, and prolonged pauses. I have firsthand experience when it comes to being uninterested in speeches and I do not want my speech to be an experience like that for someone else. I also want to try to throw in a few rhetorical questions to make my audience really think about what I am saying and maybe it will end up helping them out.
Selecting the topic- When it came to picking my topic, I didn’t just want to pick the easiest one, I wanted to pick one that I felt I could actually improve on. Currently I am doing okay when it comes to my grades but I know I can and should be doing better. There are many reasons why I want to improve on this topic but the top reason is to make my mom proud. She has always been there for me and has always pushed me to do my best in everything. I want to be able to show her that even though she isn’t with me all the time anymore to be on my back about my grades, I am still getting good grades.
Outline- I will start the speech off with a question that will hopefully get the audience captivated. After I see either the head nods or shakes, I will continue to talk about how when I was younger, I was an excellent student. I was always known as one of the smarter kids in my classes but then all of a sudden in high school my grades went from As to Bs and Cs. At this point I will ask one of my friends on the football if they expected that and they will most likely say no. I will then go on to talk about how I want to get back to that level and what I will have to do to get there.
How to become a better version of your academic self
I will connect to the audience by adding personal touches to my speech. Sharing personal experience lends you credibility and can show that you’re not so different from the speaker, either. Making eye contact is also a good way to connect with an audience. It’s important to not make eye contact with one person the whole time because that’s very offputting. Slowly going from one side of the room to the other is a good way to make sure you make that subtle connection with the entire audience. Trying to appear relaxed and confident can ease the tension or awkwardness in the room while you’re presenting (easier said than done).
I chose to talk about how to become a better version of your academic self because I’ve had a complicated relationship with academia my whole school career. I was a high-nineties kid all the way until the end of eighth grade, which was when I failed my first test. In no way am I saying I had the most difficult time in school, I was lucky to be as independent as I was in school. I feel like I can relate a lot of my experiences in school and I still have a lot of room to become a better version of my academic self.
I want to start with my experiences more specifically in high school and currently in college. About how I went from a student who got those academic achievements awards to a student who without remote learning and the internet, probably wouldn’t be in college right now. Covid had a big impact on everyone’s academic success I’d say, the whole learning process was disrupted. People say how much they loved online school better, but after more than a decade of in-person learning, it’d be surprising to see someone (honestly) drastically improve in their academics.
I plan to connect to the audience by providing a strong emotional hook. A strong emotional hook is, in my opinion, the best way to get an audience invested in what you have to say. Second only to humor. Humor is the ultimate attention grabber. At least for me. The details of what said emotional hook will be will most likely be a mix between me explaining some of the hardships I’ve had to face in my life as well as what I have been starting to learn from them.
Why I selected this topic
I have selected this topic because it is something I have been legitimately been working towards for quite some time. During a significant depression surge I had in my sophomore year, I did a lot of self-reflecting to try and understand why I feel the things that I feel and think the way that I do. I always told my mother that my skillset is not suited for an academic environment but I never knew why. But as you can probably infer, I believe I have narrowed it down in recent years. I have come to a lot of realizations about myself and honestly I am thrilled to be able to share my discoveries with everyone (even if no one knows me).
Outline
Naturally, I will start with the intro. No good speech is complete without a start! Most likely, it will be a general summary of what to expect in the speech. Afterwards, I will give a general synopsis of the American education system as it is. What they don’t tell you though is that it is out of date and built primarily for a specific group of people, which I am not. Then, I plan to go into detail about what exactly I mean by that and how I cope with it. I may not have too much time until I am out of the educational system that binds me but that doesn’t mean I should just wait it out. I should always strive towards self-improvements, even in short bursts. The conclusion of the speech naturally will be a rephrasing of sorts of the intro, which was already structured in a way where it was a summary of the speech.
Lone Wolf Speech
Journal 4
Topic-How to be a better version of my personal self
How I want to become better with my personal self is to be able to not be stuck in my own head. This will help me in the world because I tend to have a two sided mind to everything I do. This includes all of my decisions on the football field and off the football field. When I am on the field I tend to second guess myself on which play is what and which way I have to go on what play. Off the field I tend to second guess a lot of my decisions even if they are good decisions.
I selected this topic because I think it will help show others who might struggle with the same issues I struggle with. Me picking this topic will possibly help me get out of my own mind and be able to think without the double mind thinking. I believe this will help me in the long run because I need to be able to get out of my own head because of the field of work I want to do when I graduate from college. Bettering my own personal self will lead to an overall better version of myself.
I want to start the speech by talking about how I want to get better with my personal self and talk to the audience about how I plan to do so and how I plan to get better with having a double sided mind. I then plan to try and make a connection with the audience because I know I might not be the only one who struggles with this. I then finally plan to cover how I will try to make it better and how I will be able to overcome my struggles and be better for my personal self.
I’m going to write about becoming a better version of my “personal self” because sometimes when you talk about yourself and some of your troubles. It lets people do some self reflection. Grabbing the audience’s attention when you’re talking just takes focus and not thinking too deeply. Keeping the audience involved while you’re talking will always keep them attentive. I’ll grab attention from some by asking the crowd questions about if they have ever done something and felt bad about it. Questions like that will always have the audience stuck because they feel like maybe they’re doing something wrong in life and it will force them to listen so they can also learn how to better themselves. Picking this topic has actually really forced me to think that I really haven’t been the best version of myself in general. I want to better myself because when I encounter other people I want to have good recommendations or good words from others I’ve talked to in the past. Your character as a human is everything ; it’s the way you carry yourself in all types of environments. Talking about bettering myself also can help in ways because I can receive life tips from others on this topic. There will never be an end point to bettering yourself as a person. Facing different types of situations will always test your character and you will say to yourself “That wasn’t right of me to do”. Not only is being a good person good for your mental stability but it’s also good for the community. Having people in the community who are bettering themselves will also get people to want to fall in line. If the whole community worked on themselves we would have a better world and there would be less rude, ignorant , and arrogant people. Do you want to be one of those people not working on themselves?
The topic I will choose for my lone wold speech is how to become a better version of your professional self. I chose to write about how to become better professionally because its something that everyone will need to be conscious about as we move into the real world. To better connect with my audience I will speak about past and present examples from my own experiences working. I will outline the factors which I think are important to be professional in the workplace. These factors include being respectful and thoughtful of employees, being punctual, being consistent and trying your best at the task at hand.
I selected this topic for two reasons. The first and more important of these reasons is that as a collective, schooling is close to being over and therefore the real world will have to be faced soon and working in a professional environment is a certainty to survive in this world. The second reason is a more personal one. Having worked in restaurants I have seen firsthand some unsatisfactory behavior by coworkers of all ranks, from dishwashers to managers. Seeing these things have made me realize the importance of being conscious of how you are behaving in a workplace.
Lastly, I will outline this speech by breaking it down into an introduction, body paragraph and conclusion. In my introduction I will cover my own experiences. This will range from just the basics of my work experience to how others behaved towards me in each role. Then in my body paragraph I will give more detailed examples of things that stuck with me. These will give details on events, what led up to events and what came after these events. Lastly in my conclusion I will state how experiences effected me and changed my own behaviors. I will leave off with a full explanation of how I believe your behaviors can make you become better in your professional life.
The topic I have chosen for The Lone Wolf Speech is how to become a better version of my personal self. I plan to connect with the audience by giving them a relatable feel and telling them about my personal positives and negatives that have occurred to me through moments in my life. I believe that if the audience can get a relatable feel to what the character is going through in the story, not only will it impact them but I believe they will also enjoy the story more.
I chose this topic because I hope I can impact the audience reading the writing and impact myself while going through the process of creating my speech. Growing up I’ve had many good things that I love that people know about me, but there are also things in my life that I wish people didn’t know about me that I could take back or even get another opportunity at. If I can help someone not make an indecisive decision and help myself continue to work on myself I believe this speech will be a success.
I want to start off talking about good decisions and bad decisions and why we make them. A lot of times we make bad decisions because we get a little gut feeling that tells us why not, even though you know the results probably won’t end well for you. Next I want to talk about the results and how they can impact you not only mentally but your personal life as well. After that I want to talk about how these decisions can impact your future in a positive and negative way. Finally I want to give an impactful message to the audience and hopefully make them sit back and really think.
I hope to connect with the audience by talking about parts of life they can all relate to. I also hope to engage with the audience by taking a sensible approach to the topic and breaking it down while still acknowledging the complexity that will inevitably come with it. Hopefully an approach that includes advice and perhaps some humor will also help form this connection.
I have chosen to make my speech about becoming a better version of your personal self because it is something that affects both the professional and academic parts of life. Additionally, becoming a better version of yourself in your personal life has an impact on what I consider the most important parts of life; relationships, daily habits, and the things that we love to do on our own time. The broad reach of this topic and its importance to multiple (and perhaps all) aspects of life make it very compelling to me, and something that has many approaches to explore.
Outline
The focus is essentially love, and discussing how expressing love can help in self improvement
Important lessons I have learned and try to use when I can, practical advice will also be included
Recognize harmful patterns of thought and try to intercept or redirect
Love life
Things you are grateful for, happy memories
Difficulties do not mean life isn’t worth living (but things do suck sometimes so you can acknowledge that. However, remember not to dwell on the negative)
Go outside
Love others
Treat people with respect – everyone has value
Empathy – try to understand others
Compassion – be kind even if you don’t like/understand someone
Love yourself
Self care and boundaries (many potential topics here)
Respect, empathy, and compassion towards the self
Give yourself a break
These are all interconnected and work in conjunction with each other
Lone Wolf Speech: How to become a better version of my academic self.
Why: I am going to choose to write my speech on how to become a better version of my academic self. I selected this topic because I have never really had a professional job so I don’t really know what I would need to do to become a better professional self. Also, I am trying to become a better version of my personal self, but I don’t think I am in a place during this journey to be able to write a speech about or give advice on how to become a better version of oneself. I think this topic is most relatable to the audience (the class) because we are in an academic setting.
How: The relatability of the topic will help in connecting with the audience, because struggling academically is something we have all experienced before. Also, keeping an optimistic tone and theme throughout the speech would help to not bore the audience or make it seem like it is dragging on forever. Moving quickly through my points while still being thorough could also help make sure the audience doesn’t become bored too quickly. Using humor is also an option, but could potentially be tricky taking everyone’s sense of humor into consideration. I think maybe making the speech seem more like a conversation rather than a “speech” could also help to connect with the audience and make it less boring.
Outline: I will probably start my speech with an introduction to my experience with academia and education as a whole. I can talk about things that I have struggled with to again connect with the class, and then also talk about some things I have found that work well for me when learning or studying. I will then move into why I want to become a better version of my academic self, giving reasoning to the speech. Then, I can explain some of the steps I will start to take or should take in order to become a better version of my academic self. I can explain how I realized these things, or how I will go about implementing them into my life.
18 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 4”
Journal 4
Lone Wolf Speech
Topic- How to become a better version of your personal self.
How will I connect with the audience- I will provide a captivating tone of voice and be as articulate as possible. I will bring in some methods on how I think people can help better themselves and say what has worked for me. I would most likely start off with something along the lines of “there are always things that can hinder our personal growth, I bet if I were to ask a show of hands everyone in this room has something they struggle with and wants to do better.” I will also share something that helps me out when I am stressing out or feeling anxious. The solution for me is music and I will go into music helps with my mindset.
Why I chose this topic for the Lone Wolf Speech is because I believe that perfection is extremely hard to attain, in some cases it may even be impossible. With that being said we as people can evolve ourselves to achieve that level of perfection we seek. I’m also trying to improve myself and improve how I act and compose myself and I feel like that is one of those things where you can never be too good at. There is always room for improvement in every aspect of life. I think personally that being complacent doesn’t make you better. The most successful people are the ones that are never satisfied.
Outline
Intro – talk about struggles and how that is something that everyone goes through. I would then define personal growth with a quote from The Berkeley well-being institute. The definition is. “The process of developing new skills, attitudes, actions, or reactions that can have a positive impact on your life and increase your overall well-being.
I will then talk about something that I struggle with which is anxiety. After that I’ll explain in detail some of the methods that I use to calm myself down. Those methods are deep breathing, and listening to music, I will then explain the benefits to both.
I will then briefly talk about how a negative mindset isn’t a productive one because if you are being brought down by people or stress or your own negative thoughts you can grow and be the best version of yourself.
Sawyer Ohman
CMM110-A
9/7/23
Journal #4
I want to become a better version of my personal self, I will connect with the audience by using good public speaking practices. I will speak clearly and loudly, taking my time to pronounce words. I think that my peers will find my goals of self improvement to be very relatable and therefore they will be more inclined to listen and ask me questions. I will attempt not to relate everything to an experience that other classmates may not be able to fully understand or relate to. I want to not only inform my listeners but I want to entertain them and get them involved rather than lecture them. However I want to take my speech seriously so that my classmates can learn from my experiences.
I selected this topic because I’m becoming my own man and I want to make it clear to my parents that I am ready for the responsibilities of the real world. I had a really difficult summer between work and my long distance relationship. I found it very difficult to enjoy my personal time this summer. I started seeing a therapist and working on my personal strengths and weaknesses, specifically from a relationship point of view. I am easily affected by the people around me and for me to enjoy myself, I often feel obligated to make them happy. This however is not healthy for myself, if i give all my focus to the people around me and none to myself then how can I become a better person.
I selected to better my personal self for several reasons, I want to make myself happy. I don’t just want to experience temporary happiness, however, I am looking for lasting happiness, something that will satisfy me and remain with me. I hope to improve my relationships with my friends and my girlfriend but also my family. My parents and brother have been with me for my entire life but I can still improve our relationship. Finally I want to learn to process my emotions, make rational decisions, and think clearly in times of stress or anxiety.
Ryan Kelly
Prof. Jessie Miller
Communications 110
7 September 2023
Journal #4
The topic I chose for my speech is how to become a better version of my academic self. I intend on connecting with the audience by behaving very professionally and not joking around while I am presenting and while others are presenting or while others are asking me questions. I will also make sure to use accountable talk during my speech, being sure to respect everyone’s individual opinions and be able to clearly communicate my opinions and thoughts with my peers. Lastly, I will make sure to maintain eye contact with my peers and speak clearly and not too fast so my peers can fully grasp what I am saying as I’m saying it.
I selected the topic of how to become a better version of my academic self because my grades from freshman and sophomore year were not the best and I would like to boost my credits and get back on track with the rest of the peers in my major. This year I am already making a difference by keeping a digital planner on my computer that shows when I have to complete certain assignments before they are due.
Bettering myself academically is going to take a lot of dedication and work, however I know that if I stay determined I will succeed. I have already taken multiple steps in bettering my academic self, such as keeping a planner so I know when all my assignments are due, which helps improve my time management skills. I will make sure to go to all of my classes on time and ready to learn, unless I am ill or have a reasonable excuse. Most importantly, if I do not understand the material I am being taught I will reach out to my teacher asking for personal help so I can fully understand the material that I am required to know. Furthemore, I will always be engaged and active during class and aim for success.
Colette Murphy
Professor Miller
CMM 110
9/7/2023
Journal #4
For my “Lone Wolf Speech” I’ve chosen to better my academic self. This has been an ongoing goal I’ve had for myself for a while now, but I finally feel that it’s in my grasp. After so long of not really caring about grades throughout high school and just beginning to understand how much they mean in college, I’ve decided to start taking my grades seriously. My first semester at college in my Freshman year I switched to the English major, but my second semester of my Freshman year I had multiple setbacks that hindered my ability to even feel like I should have kept attending college overall. But now that I’ve started utilizing UNE’s support systems, I feel like I can actually see a future overall. I’ve been making meetings with counselors and SASC, and I’ve even begun marking my calendar for bigger assignments due and finally putting personal time over social time. In terms of connecting with my audience when presenting I plan on trying to make eye contact best I can, and not talking too fast so that the audience can hear, visualize, and keep up with my speech. I plan on listening to others with undivided attention in hopes they’ll do the same for me, and most importantly I’ll practice my speech beforehand. As far as the benefits of picking an academically centered self over a personal or professional one I’d say I chose academically focused since it already mixes a professional self into the mix, and I feel I don’t need self-improvement as much as I need academic improvement- not that self-improvement would deter me from this path. Academic improvement will allow me critical thinking and analytical skills that will act as gateways to career opportunities. I plan to do this through my own realization that there is an untouched value and importance of education that I haven’t fully grasped yet.
Journal #4
Tyler Richards
9/10/23
Communications 110
The Lone Wolf Speech
Picture being able to wake up in the morning, without a sense of doubt and a purpose and drive to become the best version of yourself. I am currently on the same journey, so I understand how difficult it can be. I know that self- improvement can be overwhelming and sometimes you may even wonder if it’s all worth it. There are times when self-doubt holds me back, and setbacks feel like impossible hurdles. But you need to know that it is possible to overcome these hurdles. I still remember the first day I decided to change my life for the better, and every day I am constantly making decisions to become the best possible version of myself. Don’t let fear hold you back from embracing it and working towards personal growth.
I chose this topic because it is exactly what I am doing right now in my own life. I am currently going through the process of becoming a better person in my personal life. It is a very hard thing to do, and it is not instantly fixed, it is a long journey that is going to take a while and constant effort to make sure I’m always taking steps in the right direction. I want to express to everyone how I feel and maybe help them or give them ideas on what they can do as well to work towards becoming a better person. It is also very enjoyable to learn and talk about how a person thinks and responds to situations.
I will begin to talk about resonating and connecting with the audience by reassuring them that personal growth is an extremely difficult thing to grasp.
Then I’ll begin to explain some ways that I personally have begun my personal growth journey and certain ways I would go about it.
Then I’ll give advice or tips on how to make the days special or important, and how to spend every day working towards doing something good for their selves.
Ill end the speech with more reassurance that it will not be easy but in the end if you keep working towards bettering yourself then everything will work out for you.
For my “Lone Wolf” speech, I’ll be discussing how to become a better version of my academic self. In order to connect with the audience and my peers, I’ll point out the obvious fact that we are all academics as of right now. All of us are attending this private university together and learning new ideas and concepts all the time. This is a way in which we can relate to one another, teach one another, and learn from one another. I think it’s safe to say that we all care about our academic selves at least a little bit.
I chose to talk about becoming a better version of my academic self for a combination of two reasons. First, as I’m nearing the end of my undergraduate journey, I’ve taken the time to reflect on how far I have come and all the great progress I have made through the years. When I was younger, I don’t want to say that I didn’t care about school work, but I didn’t apply myself as much as I could have and should have. Now I see the importance of my own individual education experience. I also chose this topic because I want to prove to myself that I’m capable of learning difficult concepts and becoming a smarter person overall.
I think it’s best to kick off the speech by introducing myself. List off the basics: name, class, major, and hometown. Just so the audience knows who they’re listening to. The first real point I want to get across is what I talked about in the first paragraph regarding how I will connect with the audience. Mention how we are all academics or students and how that is a way in which we can all relate with each other. Also, point out that it’s important to understand that it’s not a race by any means and that in order to get the full educational experience, you have to take it at a pace that’s right for you. Next, I’ll describe different ways in which I personally plan to better my academic self. Becoming invested in my education, starting to care more and apply myself more. The feeling of accomplishment when you finish a tough assignment or long essay. To conclude my speech, I’ll review my key points and maybe throw in a motivational quote from a celebrity.
How to become a better version of your academic self.
I am going to connect with people by relating to them. I am going to start out by talking about how we all have classes we take and we all take a certain amount. Then say how some people may use a type of organization and then give a few examples of types of organization methods. I will also talk about how I understand it can be easy to get sidetracked by a lot of things and how college life can be very busy.
I will then move on to why I selected this topic. I wanted to talk about this because I am really trying to do well in my academics this year. I will talk about how last year I did not do as well as I wanted to, and then say part of the reason why was because I had no form of organization for my work. And hopefully while making the speech I can encourage others to try and organize their stuff if it is not already. Also maybe give people other ideas and ways to organize their work.
To start off as I said I’m going to just try and connect with the audience and relate to them in a way that will grab them, in this case, it will be about organization. Then I will talk about how college is a lot different than high school and in high school, you could get away with not really organizing the dates you need to know for big assignments and how you were always being reminded of things. Then I am going to move on and talk about how last year I did not organize and really struggled and it even started to affect my grades. Then talk about how this year is going to be different because I have a method of staying organized this year. Then going to share it. Also going to talk about how I am going to utilize the time I have in between classes this year. Last year I always waited until all my classes were over todo my homework so I will be utilizing my time better as well this year.
Topic for speech- How to become a better version of my academic self.
I will connect with the audience in this speech through examples and understanding of why I want to become better. I will show the audience the mistakes that I have made thus far in my academic career and the things I want to do better as I pursue a higher level of education in my future. Being able to understand mistakes that I have made, and how I can learn from them, may be helpful to my classmates. Letting them see that mistakes don’t define you, as much as you feel like they do, and that no matter what happens you always have space to become the best version of yourself you can be. I selected the topic of being a better version of my academic self due to the fact that I am in the midst of applying to medical school. I am currently looking back on all of my steps in my undergraduate career and truly reflecting on so many things in my academic career. And realizing now the things that I wish I could go back and do better. In choosing this topic I will be able to use those mistakes from the past and help propel myself forward. When the opportunity of medical school does arise I will be able to use these tricks that I have developed for myself in a better way in order to perform to the best of my ability.
The outline of my speech:
Introduction
Why choose this topic
What academics mean to me
Why I want to become better in academic
Fixing mistakes
Examples of mistakes that I have made
Then show what I can do to become better
Why this tricks are good for future
Explain what my future entails
And show why these will be helpful things to implement in my academic life
Daraun White
Lone Wolf
How to become a better version of your academic self
Connecting –
We are all college students who have to take classes at UNE, but deeper we all have had trouble in one or many classes over our UNE careers.Every person has their different challenges that go along with schooling; like working one or more jobs, playing a sport or two sports, being in a club, and the overarching one TIME MANAGEMENT. Time management is the biggest way to excel in the classroom due to time being the most important idea to humans. Time shows up in everyday life, excluding actual time, time shows up in sports, the classroom through deadlines or time left in class before lunch. Time management is used everyday and the ability to excel at it; is what will get you to b e a better version of your academic self.
Why I Selected this topic –
I selected this topic because I struggled in my first year of college receiving a 2.55 cumulative GPA. Maybe it was due to my composition of classes, picking hard classes all in the same semester, or truly was it because I was doing the bare minimum to get by in each class. Just barely giving enough on an English paper, or guessing on a math assignment, just to get by. Also, my poor management of time with football, class, and hanging out with my friends. Then it all turned around; my sophomore year, I received a 3.55 cumulative GPA (only the 2 semesters in my sophomore year year; excluding freshmen year)
Intro – Talk about the struggles of my UNE academic career and how I went from just getting by to how I have excelled to a higher standard. Talk about time management, and how it is a big part of balancing many different things in your day to day life.
Body – Talk about ways I have personally fixed my time management skills and how doing some things differently really helped me take a step to the top.
Conclusion – Finish off with how not everything works for everyone or things are not the same for everyone, but hopefully the speech helped people out their minds to find what could work for them.
How to become a better version of myself academically
Connecting with audience- In my speech I plan on sounding very enthusiastic right off the bat so that the audience will immediately be interested in what I am saying. My thought process here is that if I sound like I am excited about my speech, then they will be invested in what I am saying. I am also planning on using little to no filler words when I am thinking about what I am supposed to say next. These words include “uh,” “um”, “like”, and prolonged pauses. I have firsthand experience when it comes to being uninterested in speeches and I do not want my speech to be an experience like that for someone else. I also want to try to throw in a few rhetorical questions to make my audience really think about what I am saying and maybe it will end up helping them out.
Selecting the topic- When it came to picking my topic, I didn’t just want to pick the easiest one, I wanted to pick one that I felt I could actually improve on. Currently I am doing okay when it comes to my grades but I know I can and should be doing better. There are many reasons why I want to improve on this topic but the top reason is to make my mom proud. She has always been there for me and has always pushed me to do my best in everything. I want to be able to show her that even though she isn’t with me all the time anymore to be on my back about my grades, I am still getting good grades.
Outline- I will start the speech off with a question that will hopefully get the audience captivated. After I see either the head nods or shakes, I will continue to talk about how when I was younger, I was an excellent student. I was always known as one of the smarter kids in my classes but then all of a sudden in high school my grades went from As to Bs and Cs. At this point I will ask one of my friends on the football if they expected that and they will most likely say no. I will then go on to talk about how I want to get back to that level and what I will have to do to get there.
How to become a better version of your academic self
I will connect to the audience by adding personal touches to my speech. Sharing personal experience lends you credibility and can show that you’re not so different from the speaker, either. Making eye contact is also a good way to connect with an audience. It’s important to not make eye contact with one person the whole time because that’s very offputting. Slowly going from one side of the room to the other is a good way to make sure you make that subtle connection with the entire audience. Trying to appear relaxed and confident can ease the tension or awkwardness in the room while you’re presenting (easier said than done).
I chose to talk about how to become a better version of your academic self because I’ve had a complicated relationship with academia my whole school career. I was a high-nineties kid all the way until the end of eighth grade, which was when I failed my first test. In no way am I saying I had the most difficult time in school, I was lucky to be as independent as I was in school. I feel like I can relate a lot of my experiences in school and I still have a lot of room to become a better version of my academic self.
I want to start with my experiences more specifically in high school and currently in college. About how I went from a student who got those academic achievements awards to a student who without remote learning and the internet, probably wouldn’t be in college right now. Covid had a big impact on everyone’s academic success I’d say, the whole learning process was disrupted. People say how much they loved online school better, but after more than a decade of in-person learning, it’d be surprising to see someone (honestly) drastically improve in their academics.
How I will connect to the audience
I plan to connect to the audience by providing a strong emotional hook. A strong emotional hook is, in my opinion, the best way to get an audience invested in what you have to say. Second only to humor. Humor is the ultimate attention grabber. At least for me. The details of what said emotional hook will be will most likely be a mix between me explaining some of the hardships I’ve had to face in my life as well as what I have been starting to learn from them.
Why I selected this topic
I have selected this topic because it is something I have been legitimately been working towards for quite some time. During a significant depression surge I had in my sophomore year, I did a lot of self-reflecting to try and understand why I feel the things that I feel and think the way that I do. I always told my mother that my skillset is not suited for an academic environment but I never knew why. But as you can probably infer, I believe I have narrowed it down in recent years. I have come to a lot of realizations about myself and honestly I am thrilled to be able to share my discoveries with everyone (even if no one knows me).
Outline
Naturally, I will start with the intro. No good speech is complete without a start! Most likely, it will be a general summary of what to expect in the speech. Afterwards, I will give a general synopsis of the American education system as it is. What they don’t tell you though is that it is out of date and built primarily for a specific group of people, which I am not. Then, I plan to go into detail about what exactly I mean by that and how I cope with it. I may not have too much time until I am out of the educational system that binds me but that doesn’t mean I should just wait it out. I should always strive towards self-improvements, even in short bursts. The conclusion of the speech naturally will be a rephrasing of sorts of the intro, which was already structured in a way where it was a summary of the speech.
Lone Wolf Speech
Journal 4
Topic-How to be a better version of my personal self
How I want to become better with my personal self is to be able to not be stuck in my own head. This will help me in the world because I tend to have a two sided mind to everything I do. This includes all of my decisions on the football field and off the football field. When I am on the field I tend to second guess myself on which play is what and which way I have to go on what play. Off the field I tend to second guess a lot of my decisions even if they are good decisions.
I selected this topic because I think it will help show others who might struggle with the same issues I struggle with. Me picking this topic will possibly help me get out of my own mind and be able to think without the double mind thinking. I believe this will help me in the long run because I need to be able to get out of my own head because of the field of work I want to do when I graduate from college. Bettering my own personal self will lead to an overall better version of myself.
I want to start the speech by talking about how I want to get better with my personal self and talk to the audience about how I plan to do so and how I plan to get better with having a double sided mind. I then plan to try and make a connection with the audience because I know I might not be the only one who struggles with this. I then finally plan to cover how I will try to make it better and how I will be able to overcome my struggles and be better for my personal self.
I’m going to write about becoming a better version of my “personal self” because sometimes when you talk about yourself and some of your troubles. It lets people do some self reflection. Grabbing the audience’s attention when you’re talking just takes focus and not thinking too deeply. Keeping the audience involved while you’re talking will always keep them attentive. I’ll grab attention from some by asking the crowd questions about if they have ever done something and felt bad about it. Questions like that will always have the audience stuck because they feel like maybe they’re doing something wrong in life and it will force them to listen so they can also learn how to better themselves. Picking this topic has actually really forced me to think that I really haven’t been the best version of myself in general. I want to better myself because when I encounter other people I want to have good recommendations or good words from others I’ve talked to in the past. Your character as a human is everything ; it’s the way you carry yourself in all types of environments. Talking about bettering myself also can help in ways because I can receive life tips from others on this topic. There will never be an end point to bettering yourself as a person. Facing different types of situations will always test your character and you will say to yourself “That wasn’t right of me to do”. Not only is being a good person good for your mental stability but it’s also good for the community. Having people in the community who are bettering themselves will also get people to want to fall in line. If the whole community worked on themselves we would have a better world and there would be less rude, ignorant , and arrogant people. Do you want to be one of those people not working on themselves?
Journal #4:
The topic I will choose for my lone wold speech is how to become a better version of your professional self. I chose to write about how to become better professionally because its something that everyone will need to be conscious about as we move into the real world. To better connect with my audience I will speak about past and present examples from my own experiences working. I will outline the factors which I think are important to be professional in the workplace. These factors include being respectful and thoughtful of employees, being punctual, being consistent and trying your best at the task at hand.
I selected this topic for two reasons. The first and more important of these reasons is that as a collective, schooling is close to being over and therefore the real world will have to be faced soon and working in a professional environment is a certainty to survive in this world. The second reason is a more personal one. Having worked in restaurants I have seen firsthand some unsatisfactory behavior by coworkers of all ranks, from dishwashers to managers. Seeing these things have made me realize the importance of being conscious of how you are behaving in a workplace.
Lastly, I will outline this speech by breaking it down into an introduction, body paragraph and conclusion. In my introduction I will cover my own experiences. This will range from just the basics of my work experience to how others behaved towards me in each role. Then in my body paragraph I will give more detailed examples of things that stuck with me. These will give details on events, what led up to events and what came after these events. Lastly in my conclusion I will state how experiences effected me and changed my own behaviors. I will leave off with a full explanation of how I believe your behaviors can make you become better in your professional life.
Intro to Comm
The topic I have chosen for The Lone Wolf Speech is how to become a better version of my personal self. I plan to connect with the audience by giving them a relatable feel and telling them about my personal positives and negatives that have occurred to me through moments in my life. I believe that if the audience can get a relatable feel to what the character is going through in the story, not only will it impact them but I believe they will also enjoy the story more.
I chose this topic because I hope I can impact the audience reading the writing and impact myself while going through the process of creating my speech. Growing up I’ve had many good things that I love that people know about me, but there are also things in my life that I wish people didn’t know about me that I could take back or even get another opportunity at. If I can help someone not make an indecisive decision and help myself continue to work on myself I believe this speech will be a success.
I want to start off talking about good decisions and bad decisions and why we make them. A lot of times we make bad decisions because we get a little gut feeling that tells us why not, even though you know the results probably won’t end well for you. Next I want to talk about the results and how they can impact you not only mentally but your personal life as well. After that I want to talk about how these decisions can impact your future in a positive and negative way. Finally I want to give an impactful message to the audience and hopefully make them sit back and really think.
I hope to connect with the audience by talking about parts of life they can all relate to. I also hope to engage with the audience by taking a sensible approach to the topic and breaking it down while still acknowledging the complexity that will inevitably come with it. Hopefully an approach that includes advice and perhaps some humor will also help form this connection.
I have chosen to make my speech about becoming a better version of your personal self because it is something that affects both the professional and academic parts of life. Additionally, becoming a better version of yourself in your personal life has an impact on what I consider the most important parts of life; relationships, daily habits, and the things that we love to do on our own time. The broad reach of this topic and its importance to multiple (and perhaps all) aspects of life make it very compelling to me, and something that has many approaches to explore.
Outline
The focus is essentially love, and discussing how expressing love can help in self improvement
Important lessons I have learned and try to use when I can, practical advice will also be included
Recognize harmful patterns of thought and try to intercept or redirect
Love life
Things you are grateful for, happy memories
Difficulties do not mean life isn’t worth living (but things do suck sometimes so you can acknowledge that. However, remember not to dwell on the negative)
Go outside
Love others
Treat people with respect – everyone has value
Empathy – try to understand others
Compassion – be kind even if you don’t like/understand someone
Love yourself
Self care and boundaries (many potential topics here)
Respect, empathy, and compassion towards the self
Give yourself a break
These are all interconnected and work in conjunction with each other
(The formatting is more readable on the document)
Lone Wolf Speech: How to become a better version of my academic self.
Why: I am going to choose to write my speech on how to become a better version of my academic self. I selected this topic because I have never really had a professional job so I don’t really know what I would need to do to become a better professional self. Also, I am trying to become a better version of my personal self, but I don’t think I am in a place during this journey to be able to write a speech about or give advice on how to become a better version of oneself. I think this topic is most relatable to the audience (the class) because we are in an academic setting.
How: The relatability of the topic will help in connecting with the audience, because struggling academically is something we have all experienced before. Also, keeping an optimistic tone and theme throughout the speech would help to not bore the audience or make it seem like it is dragging on forever. Moving quickly through my points while still being thorough could also help make sure the audience doesn’t become bored too quickly. Using humor is also an option, but could potentially be tricky taking everyone’s sense of humor into consideration. I think maybe making the speech seem more like a conversation rather than a “speech” could also help to connect with the audience and make it less boring.
Outline: I will probably start my speech with an introduction to my experience with academia and education as a whole. I can talk about things that I have struggled with to again connect with the class, and then also talk about some things I have found that work well for me when learning or studying. I will then move into why I want to become a better version of my academic self, giving reasoning to the speech. Then, I can explain some of the steps I will start to take or should take in order to become a better version of my academic self. I can explain how I realized these things, or how I will go about implementing them into my life.