After performing my Lone Wolf Speech in front of the whole class, I think it went pretty well. I really focused on trying to hit the time goal without trying to repeat myself which I think I did pretty well. I was really happy with how it went. Thinking all the way back to last semester when I found it really hard to talk in front of the class and now that I was up there this time I was not nearly as nervous at all. I was still a little nervous but once I got into it I felt very comfortable. Another thing I think went really well was my volume, sometimes I tend to mumble, however this time I do not think I mumbled at all which is something I have been trying to work on in everyday life. One thing I think I should definitely work on is my body language. My hands were okay, however, my body was what the problem was. I kept swaying when talking and I need to work on just staying still while talking. I also need to memorize the speech a little better so I do not have to look at my screen as much as I did that time. Once I get those two things down I think this speech will be very smooth and be very good.
Today I finished up my Lone Wolf Speech, our first project of the semester. This project has been really hard for me, more than any of the other speeches I did in public speaking. I really had a hard time coming up with a way to create something that everyone would be able to relate to and would like, in terms of my speech itself. But more than that I was so worried to explain the decreased areas within my transcript during this speech, since I talked about my academic self. I think that this was what made it so much scarier for me, but besides that I think this project went really well. The outlines were so easy for me to come up with, thanks to the practice of public speaking. The peer review was so helpful, from the people in my dry-dry run group to our big dry run group. Everyone gave me tings I knew I needed to work on, and helped me see where my strengths and weaknesses were in this speech. And now that it is over I hope that I was able to apply each of those comments within the speech that I gave today. I think in the future, what I am going to make away from this project, is that everyone in this class is there for one another, and we all are trying our bests to make sure we each put out the best speeches possible. Another thing I will use in the future, that I learned from this project, is to be as confident in myself and my experiences. No one will judge you because just going up in front of the class is something that takes guts and confidence, and so anything you talk about just backs that up. Overall I had fun with the project, learning from the other speeches and peer review.
I officially finished my Lone Wolf Speech project for the first semester, and honestly I enjoyed this project. I really got to show my comfortability and strengths with public speaking and I believe I got the audience engaged in my topic. The hardest thing I’d say that had to be done was making my speech long enough. What I had done at first did was expand the words to similar and longer words. At first it failed so what I did was do a slide show with pictures. Not only did it help extend my speech by over thirty seconds, but it helped me remember my placement on where I was speaking so I didn’t have to look at my speech . For the outlines it was really just more of a game plan for the speech itself because writing the short essay was more of like a story than a speech for me. I believe the best comment I got was to give examples of how others can improve themselves as people as well. So what I did during the speech was give a few ideas or techniques that the audience can use on their own. In the end I can say I had a lot of fun with this project and am excited to show what I can do on the next project.
When it came to this speech, I was not really sure how I felt about it. I did not think that it would go as fluid as I felt it was. I really liked the preparation we did in class and for homework because it made me feel ready to speak in front of the class. When I first started drafting I was worried. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be long enough, if my information would be good enough, or if I would actually be able to say it in front of the class. But as the classes went on, I got more comfortable. The peer review class period helped me a lot because I got to not only hear what other students had to say about my speech, but I also got to hear what they were going to be saying and that helped guide me to a better speech. Doing the filmed dry runs in class were also a huge help because I got real time feedback on not only the contents of my speech, but my body language. In the future I will be taking a similar approach because I think the approach, I took led to me doing a good job. All in all, I thought this project was very useful for my future as I will have to speak in front of other people at one point or another.
If I try not to be too overly-critical with myself, I think the delivery of my Lone Wolf Speech went better than I thought. Sure, I blacked out for most of it and I did go over the allotted time, but overall I think it went better than my dry run did. Rehearsing the speech definitely improved my confidence for reading it in front of the class. I was still nervous of course, but I think that having an outline rather than a script to read from was actually beneficial to me for keeping the pacing somewhat consistent. I remember using a few filler words such as “like” or “um”, but it wasn’t as bad as the speeches I gave in the past, so it was an improvement for me. I think that my digital planner as a visual aid helped the engagement for my speech, because it was something the class could potentially use for themselves if they have issues with time management like me. Overall, I think I got my point across and the class seemed mostly engaged with my speech, which are the most important parts to me so I believe it went well.
The Lone Wolf Speech was a great opportunity to better understand the process of revision, as well as public speaking. Brainstorming for ideas was the first step of the process, I chose the topic of personal improvement so that was my diving platform. I asked myself what I wanted my life to be like in the future and what I could do to change myself. Personal goals and support systems were my main agenda. All of this is well and good but I needed structure in my speech, to form it into a cohesive and concise argument.
The first time I read my speech out loud to my peers it was far longer than I was hoping, almost 6:30 minutes. It was less, me giving a speech, more me reading my computer screen word for word. I wasn’t connecting with my audience physically though eye contact and I wasn’t relating to my peers in my speech. I had time to make revisions however. I took my long wordy “Dry-Dry run” draft and created a bulleted outline with topic headings. This made for a much faster read, I was repeating myself less and I didn’t have to read my computer screen to know which part of the speech was coming next.
All things considered I feel much more confident in my ability to draft a speech and form a connection with my audience. I feel less of a need to look at my computer screen, giving myself more time to look up and address the audience. I know now to be more personable, use personal experiences to make your speech more appealing to listen to. Don’t forget to use words such as “us” and “we” to show that you are one with the audience. Talk with your chest and be confident in your abilities.
I wasn’t super satisfied with the final speech; I feel like I did better during the dry run. I definitely used a lot of filler words and was not as confident as in the previous run. In that version of the outline, I had everything written out in narrative form. It felt easier speaking when I had everything written like that, even though I didn’t really read it super closely when delivering the speech. For some reason it just felt easier. Other than that, the drafting and practicing went fairly well, although I wish I’d given myself more time. It didn’t seem to be a problem for the earlier run, but with the same amount of practice time, I did not do as well on the final run.
Altirique McElveen
Professor Miller
Journal 10 Communications
11 Oct 2023
Overall I think that my speech went very well even though I was for some reason more nervous this time than I was the last time. The feedback from my peers I appreciated ; it was no bad feedback. I still think I have a lot of room to improve on the small things. I need to find more filler words and have my topic scaled out in my brain so I can just spit it out. There’s really nothing else that I took away from this speech. I accomplished the time limit standard for myself which was 4:00 on the dot. Remembering my speech so I didn’t have to look off the computer was a big asset for me during my speech. Next time I might use flashcards so it can help me with my topic of the speech.
Overall, I enjoyed the project and I felt like it helped me become a better public speaker. Although it did not open the gates for me to talk in front of an entire student body but improved my confidence in speaking in front of people. My thoughts on the process, drafting, peer review and ways I would improve my approach would be to focus more on the beginning parts, peer review and speech’s dry run. Another way I would approach this project differently would be to write an outline in the beginning instead of typing out a speech like an essay. I believe that if you do it like an outline instead of an essay it would be easier in the long run to incorporate it into your final speech. The hardest part of the project was making a few words from my outline and turning it into a paragraph or two of content to present to the class. I felt myself going through my outline to create more and more words but overall I believe I did a good job.
Reflecting on my Lone Wolf speech I believe I was successful in the following ways: putting fourth a positive message, talking to the audience in a way with my voice projected, keeping it somewhat casual and adding some humility to my speech. Some things that I wish i couldve done better was have a better memorization of my quote at the beginning and practice what I preach and take a breath when I get nervous. I also wish I had a more professional looking outline, I was thinking that I would hit all of those topics ( which I feel like I did ) but I undertand that it couldve looked better and had more detail. I hope that I was able to display some of my strengths in regards to public speaking and giving speeches in general. In the future I hope I can only go upwards from here.
I find the entire process of coming up with an outline, drafting dry runs and peer view a little excessive but overall much needed and important to creating a fine perfect speech. It is all important to hone in and determine the best way to approach the speech and deliver your message precisely and effectually. I may approach future projects with a more broad outlook and vision, this project I had one specific goal in mind with no really big picture to bring to the table. But I want to expand and touch on more important features outside of the speech itself. It will ultimately bring a better speech and bring everything together. Overall my speech was delivered more clear and precisely. My posture was a lot better and I did not sway much at all. My hands and arm movement were fixed with minimal fidgeting or moving around. And the speech was paced nicely with little break ups in between to look over the speech. I think the project was very informative and taught me a lot about public speaking.
Now that I have finished my Lone Wolf Speech it is time to reflect. I was really happy with how I did. Looking back on last year in public speaking to now the progress is very noticeable. This time around I feel like I was not even nervous up there and super confident. I was really excited to do this speech because out of this year and last year, I feel like this is my best speech so far. I really liked the structure of my speech and how I began with last year and then slowly worked my way toward showing what woke me up to become better academically and then what steps I am currently taking in order to achieve my end goal of better grades. And then even recognizing something I am still struggling with, addressing that, and talking about how I am making my steps and fixing what I am currently struggling with. One thing I am really happy with is the confidence I had up there I did not feel worried or anything, and I feel like I barely looked at my paper more than like 3 times which I was really happy with. Overall, I am really happy with how the project went.
My thoughts about this process was that it was long. The draft process helped me but it felt longer than it actually was. I liked the drafting process and how I was able to do two dry runs with peer review before doing my final speech. The peer review I was able to receive helped me create a stronger speech. The comments I received helped me realize things I wasn’t able to see myself. The video also helped me with the movements I made and how nervous I was standing there. This is going to help me approach future projects better because I now know what to expect and how my writing should be with my speeches.
I think my delivery this time had its ups and downs. On one hand, I had the longest speech out of anyone in the class. That in and of itself is a major achievement for someone with an irrational fear of being the center of attention. I also managed to go almost the entire speech without looking at my notes, which was something I was trying to work on. However, by trying so hard to not look at my notes, I inadvertently ended up not saying everything that I wanted to. Yes, I’m happy with what I did say and am happy with the more positive spin this time, I do wish I got to say a little more.
Overall, I’d say I enjoyed doing this presentation much more than others in my past. Chalk it up to a combination of the training I received from your public speaking class and the subject matter itself but I had a much more pleasant experience with this speech than other speeches. Because the subject was so genuinely important to me, speaking about it came a lot more naturally than trying to force a speech out of something I honestly don’t care about. Here’s a little tidbit about me, I am a TERRIBLE actor. Which is why I am saying with certainty that what I said up there was genuine and came from the heart which in turn I believe made for a better speech in the long run.
This project overall went pretty well I think. I really liked writing and thinking of self improvement as I think it is very important. I felt that the overall structure and set up of this project was very beneficial as it allowed you to improve throughout time, allowing you to take breaks in your thinking and come back with better and more clear ideas. I took the prompt pretty seriously and really did try to come up with a concrete answer to how to become a better version of your professional self. I think what I came up with and wrote in my speech was probably the strong suit of the project for me. However, there were areas in which I think I could have done better in. For whatever reason, when the actual day of my final presentation came, I was not as confident in my speech for a reason unknown. This was confusing for me, since I feel I have somewhat of a background with public speaking, mostly with more people than a single classroom. The nerves definitely shook me a little while I was presenting as there were times I drew a blank in my thoughts or stumbled over my words. While I did have some fumbles I think I mostly overcame the nerves and pulled through with a speech that could at least be seen as presentable. I think the best way to improve in future projects of a similar nature will to just become more experienced with public speaking while something is on the line. I’m aware that this is not the easiest thing to become more experienced with, but I do think it’ll be important as I transition into whatever I do for work after college.
This was the first time I had ever gone through a project with a process like the Lone Wolf Speech. I have never done multiple trials for a presentation for any class in middle school through high school through college. I think it helped me out a lot in multiple ways. First and foremost, I thought it was critical to hear feedback from my peers after the dry-dry-run and the dry-run. I thought the class as a whole did an amazing job giving and receiving criticism in a constructive way. Everyone was truthful and honest but shared their thoughts in a way that wasn’t hurtful or rude. The second reason why I found this process very helpful is because I don’t like public speaking very much. It makes me nervous, anxious, and uncomfortable. This process helped me get used to it and gave me a chance to fix the mistakes or problems I’d made in the first trial in front of the entire class.
Another reason I enjoyed this project was because it incorporated other assignments into it. For example, the reflections after each trial were also journal assignments. I found this to be helpful as it kept me on top of getting all the work done on time. Furthermore, the designated page on our eportfolios helped to keep me organized throughout the project from start to finish. It was also cool to see the progress I made through the brainstorming exercise phase to each of my outlines to the YouTube video recording to each of the reflections. Overall, I think the experience of this project was very helpful for getting future projects done as I can take what I’ve learned here and apply it to other aspects of my personal, academic, and even professional life.
As someone who has taken Professor Miller’s Public Speaking class last year, I’ve grown fond of the class structure. With so much preparation and rehearsal, I feel it would be hard not to do well on this speech. Watching over the video that was taken of me while I presented my Dry Run of this Lone Wolf Speech really relaxed me and grounded me, facilitating in my reflection of how I could do better with pacing and posture. Using that as a guideline really helped as I rehearsed over the two weeks that followed. While I was still quite nervous presenting, I felt confident because of how often I rehearsed and checked my body language as to not look closed off when I presented. Not to mention constantly being able to look back and reflect on something instead of not having structure really helped. I feel that the peer review process and drafting stages only helped my speech grow as I found myself able to take and give feedback- an important lesson that everybody should learn. I’ll always find myself rehearsing and checking my pacing and body language since nonverbal social cues are just as important. Something I found myself struggling with, however, would have to have been audience connection since it wasn’t something that I’d found myself actively thinking about.
Now that I have fully completed and presented my speech, I am able to look back and share my thoughts. I would like to start off by saying just how important that speech was to me. Writing that speech made me realize a lot of important values, such as the importance of doing my work on time, and how to balance regular life with school life; all on top of having some mental health issues.
Drafting my essay was probably the hardest aspect because it took me a long time just to think of the certain academic topics I wanted to write about. It can be hard to try and think of what you need to change to make yourself better, that’s what people hire therapists and psychiatrists for, both of which I used to go to to help better my personal and academic life. The peer review was definitely the most important part in the making of my speech. I got very good constructive criticism that helped mold my essay into its best, final version. The comments I got the most from my peers was to work on my wording to make my speech more fluid, and less wordy. This piece of advice helped, not only to make my speech more clear, but also cut down on the amount of sentences I had to memorize.
Some of the ways that I would approach future projects, like this one, would be to look back at my peers and teachers’ notes and comments from my final version and use them to help refine any new project or speech that I may need to write and present. I also feel like in the future I would like to do a little more research on the subject that I am writing about, and maybe even get some scientifically backed evidence or quotes, that could help influence the audience to agree with my speech. Overall, this project was very helpful to me and I am going to use the mindset that this speech led to me to in order to succeed in the future.
18 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 10”
After performing my Lone Wolf Speech in front of the whole class, I think it went pretty well. I really focused on trying to hit the time goal without trying to repeat myself which I think I did pretty well. I was really happy with how it went. Thinking all the way back to last semester when I found it really hard to talk in front of the class and now that I was up there this time I was not nearly as nervous at all. I was still a little nervous but once I got into it I felt very comfortable. Another thing I think went really well was my volume, sometimes I tend to mumble, however this time I do not think I mumbled at all which is something I have been trying to work on in everyday life. One thing I think I should definitely work on is my body language. My hands were okay, however, my body was what the problem was. I kept swaying when talking and I need to work on just staying still while talking. I also need to memorize the speech a little better so I do not have to look at my screen as much as I did that time. Once I get those two things down I think this speech will be very smooth and be very good.
Today I finished up my Lone Wolf Speech, our first project of the semester. This project has been really hard for me, more than any of the other speeches I did in public speaking. I really had a hard time coming up with a way to create something that everyone would be able to relate to and would like, in terms of my speech itself. But more than that I was so worried to explain the decreased areas within my transcript during this speech, since I talked about my academic self. I think that this was what made it so much scarier for me, but besides that I think this project went really well. The outlines were so easy for me to come up with, thanks to the practice of public speaking. The peer review was so helpful, from the people in my dry-dry run group to our big dry run group. Everyone gave me tings I knew I needed to work on, and helped me see where my strengths and weaknesses were in this speech. And now that it is over I hope that I was able to apply each of those comments within the speech that I gave today. I think in the future, what I am going to make away from this project, is that everyone in this class is there for one another, and we all are trying our bests to make sure we each put out the best speeches possible. Another thing I will use in the future, that I learned from this project, is to be as confident in myself and my experiences. No one will judge you because just going up in front of the class is something that takes guts and confidence, and so anything you talk about just backs that up. Overall I had fun with the project, learning from the other speeches and peer review.
I officially finished my Lone Wolf Speech project for the first semester, and honestly I enjoyed this project. I really got to show my comfortability and strengths with public speaking and I believe I got the audience engaged in my topic. The hardest thing I’d say that had to be done was making my speech long enough. What I had done at first did was expand the words to similar and longer words. At first it failed so what I did was do a slide show with pictures. Not only did it help extend my speech by over thirty seconds, but it helped me remember my placement on where I was speaking so I didn’t have to look at my speech . For the outlines it was really just more of a game plan for the speech itself because writing the short essay was more of like a story than a speech for me. I believe the best comment I got was to give examples of how others can improve themselves as people as well. So what I did during the speech was give a few ideas or techniques that the audience can use on their own. In the end I can say I had a lot of fun with this project and am excited to show what I can do on the next project.
When it came to this speech, I was not really sure how I felt about it. I did not think that it would go as fluid as I felt it was. I really liked the preparation we did in class and for homework because it made me feel ready to speak in front of the class. When I first started drafting I was worried. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be long enough, if my information would be good enough, or if I would actually be able to say it in front of the class. But as the classes went on, I got more comfortable. The peer review class period helped me a lot because I got to not only hear what other students had to say about my speech, but I also got to hear what they were going to be saying and that helped guide me to a better speech. Doing the filmed dry runs in class were also a huge help because I got real time feedback on not only the contents of my speech, but my body language. In the future I will be taking a similar approach because I think the approach, I took led to me doing a good job. All in all, I thought this project was very useful for my future as I will have to speak in front of other people at one point or another.
If I try not to be too overly-critical with myself, I think the delivery of my Lone Wolf Speech went better than I thought. Sure, I blacked out for most of it and I did go over the allotted time, but overall I think it went better than my dry run did. Rehearsing the speech definitely improved my confidence for reading it in front of the class. I was still nervous of course, but I think that having an outline rather than a script to read from was actually beneficial to me for keeping the pacing somewhat consistent. I remember using a few filler words such as “like” or “um”, but it wasn’t as bad as the speeches I gave in the past, so it was an improvement for me. I think that my digital planner as a visual aid helped the engagement for my speech, because it was something the class could potentially use for themselves if they have issues with time management like me. Overall, I think I got my point across and the class seemed mostly engaged with my speech, which are the most important parts to me so I believe it went well.
The Lone Wolf Speech was a great opportunity to better understand the process of revision, as well as public speaking. Brainstorming for ideas was the first step of the process, I chose the topic of personal improvement so that was my diving platform. I asked myself what I wanted my life to be like in the future and what I could do to change myself. Personal goals and support systems were my main agenda. All of this is well and good but I needed structure in my speech, to form it into a cohesive and concise argument.
The first time I read my speech out loud to my peers it was far longer than I was hoping, almost 6:30 minutes. It was less, me giving a speech, more me reading my computer screen word for word. I wasn’t connecting with my audience physically though eye contact and I wasn’t relating to my peers in my speech. I had time to make revisions however. I took my long wordy “Dry-Dry run” draft and created a bulleted outline with topic headings. This made for a much faster read, I was repeating myself less and I didn’t have to read my computer screen to know which part of the speech was coming next.
All things considered I feel much more confident in my ability to draft a speech and form a connection with my audience. I feel less of a need to look at my computer screen, giving myself more time to look up and address the audience. I know now to be more personable, use personal experiences to make your speech more appealing to listen to. Don’t forget to use words such as “us” and “we” to show that you are one with the audience. Talk with your chest and be confident in your abilities.
I wasn’t super satisfied with the final speech; I feel like I did better during the dry run. I definitely used a lot of filler words and was not as confident as in the previous run. In that version of the outline, I had everything written out in narrative form. It felt easier speaking when I had everything written like that, even though I didn’t really read it super closely when delivering the speech. For some reason it just felt easier. Other than that, the drafting and practicing went fairly well, although I wish I’d given myself more time. It didn’t seem to be a problem for the earlier run, but with the same amount of practice time, I did not do as well on the final run.
Altirique McElveen
Professor Miller
Journal 10 Communications
11 Oct 2023
Overall I think that my speech went very well even though I was for some reason more nervous this time than I was the last time. The feedback from my peers I appreciated ; it was no bad feedback. I still think I have a lot of room to improve on the small things. I need to find more filler words and have my topic scaled out in my brain so I can just spit it out. There’s really nothing else that I took away from this speech. I accomplished the time limit standard for myself which was 4:00 on the dot. Remembering my speech so I didn’t have to look off the computer was a big asset for me during my speech. Next time I might use flashcards so it can help me with my topic of the speech.
Overall, I enjoyed the project and I felt like it helped me become a better public speaker. Although it did not open the gates for me to talk in front of an entire student body but improved my confidence in speaking in front of people. My thoughts on the process, drafting, peer review and ways I would improve my approach would be to focus more on the beginning parts, peer review and speech’s dry run. Another way I would approach this project differently would be to write an outline in the beginning instead of typing out a speech like an essay. I believe that if you do it like an outline instead of an essay it would be easier in the long run to incorporate it into your final speech. The hardest part of the project was making a few words from my outline and turning it into a paragraph or two of content to present to the class. I felt myself going through my outline to create more and more words but overall I believe I did a good job.
Journal 10
Reflecting on my Lone Wolf speech I believe I was successful in the following ways: putting fourth a positive message, talking to the audience in a way with my voice projected, keeping it somewhat casual and adding some humility to my speech. Some things that I wish i couldve done better was have a better memorization of my quote at the beginning and practice what I preach and take a breath when I get nervous. I also wish I had a more professional looking outline, I was thinking that I would hit all of those topics ( which I feel like I did ) but I undertand that it couldve looked better and had more detail. I hope that I was able to display some of my strengths in regards to public speaking and giving speeches in general. In the future I hope I can only go upwards from here.
I find the entire process of coming up with an outline, drafting dry runs and peer view a little excessive but overall much needed and important to creating a fine perfect speech. It is all important to hone in and determine the best way to approach the speech and deliver your message precisely and effectually. I may approach future projects with a more broad outlook and vision, this project I had one specific goal in mind with no really big picture to bring to the table. But I want to expand and touch on more important features outside of the speech itself. It will ultimately bring a better speech and bring everything together. Overall my speech was delivered more clear and precisely. My posture was a lot better and I did not sway much at all. My hands and arm movement were fixed with minimal fidgeting or moving around. And the speech was paced nicely with little break ups in between to look over the speech. I think the project was very informative and taught me a lot about public speaking.
Now that I have finished my Lone Wolf Speech it is time to reflect. I was really happy with how I did. Looking back on last year in public speaking to now the progress is very noticeable. This time around I feel like I was not even nervous up there and super confident. I was really excited to do this speech because out of this year and last year, I feel like this is my best speech so far. I really liked the structure of my speech and how I began with last year and then slowly worked my way toward showing what woke me up to become better academically and then what steps I am currently taking in order to achieve my end goal of better grades. And then even recognizing something I am still struggling with, addressing that, and talking about how I am making my steps and fixing what I am currently struggling with. One thing I am really happy with is the confidence I had up there I did not feel worried or anything, and I feel like I barely looked at my paper more than like 3 times which I was really happy with. Overall, I am really happy with how the project went.
My thoughts about this process was that it was long. The draft process helped me but it felt longer than it actually was. I liked the drafting process and how I was able to do two dry runs with peer review before doing my final speech. The peer review I was able to receive helped me create a stronger speech. The comments I received helped me realize things I wasn’t able to see myself. The video also helped me with the movements I made and how nervous I was standing there. This is going to help me approach future projects better because I now know what to expect and how my writing should be with my speeches.
I think my delivery this time had its ups and downs. On one hand, I had the longest speech out of anyone in the class. That in and of itself is a major achievement for someone with an irrational fear of being the center of attention. I also managed to go almost the entire speech without looking at my notes, which was something I was trying to work on. However, by trying so hard to not look at my notes, I inadvertently ended up not saying everything that I wanted to. Yes, I’m happy with what I did say and am happy with the more positive spin this time, I do wish I got to say a little more.
Overall, I’d say I enjoyed doing this presentation much more than others in my past. Chalk it up to a combination of the training I received from your public speaking class and the subject matter itself but I had a much more pleasant experience with this speech than other speeches. Because the subject was so genuinely important to me, speaking about it came a lot more naturally than trying to force a speech out of something I honestly don’t care about. Here’s a little tidbit about me, I am a TERRIBLE actor. Which is why I am saying with certainty that what I said up there was genuine and came from the heart which in turn I believe made for a better speech in the long run.
This project overall went pretty well I think. I really liked writing and thinking of self improvement as I think it is very important. I felt that the overall structure and set up of this project was very beneficial as it allowed you to improve throughout time, allowing you to take breaks in your thinking and come back with better and more clear ideas. I took the prompt pretty seriously and really did try to come up with a concrete answer to how to become a better version of your professional self. I think what I came up with and wrote in my speech was probably the strong suit of the project for me. However, there were areas in which I think I could have done better in. For whatever reason, when the actual day of my final presentation came, I was not as confident in my speech for a reason unknown. This was confusing for me, since I feel I have somewhat of a background with public speaking, mostly with more people than a single classroom. The nerves definitely shook me a little while I was presenting as there were times I drew a blank in my thoughts or stumbled over my words. While I did have some fumbles I think I mostly overcame the nerves and pulled through with a speech that could at least be seen as presentable. I think the best way to improve in future projects of a similar nature will to just become more experienced with public speaking while something is on the line. I’m aware that this is not the easiest thing to become more experienced with, but I do think it’ll be important as I transition into whatever I do for work after college.
This was the first time I had ever gone through a project with a process like the Lone Wolf Speech. I have never done multiple trials for a presentation for any class in middle school through high school through college. I think it helped me out a lot in multiple ways. First and foremost, I thought it was critical to hear feedback from my peers after the dry-dry-run and the dry-run. I thought the class as a whole did an amazing job giving and receiving criticism in a constructive way. Everyone was truthful and honest but shared their thoughts in a way that wasn’t hurtful or rude. The second reason why I found this process very helpful is because I don’t like public speaking very much. It makes me nervous, anxious, and uncomfortable. This process helped me get used to it and gave me a chance to fix the mistakes or problems I’d made in the first trial in front of the entire class.
Another reason I enjoyed this project was because it incorporated other assignments into it. For example, the reflections after each trial were also journal assignments. I found this to be helpful as it kept me on top of getting all the work done on time. Furthermore, the designated page on our eportfolios helped to keep me organized throughout the project from start to finish. It was also cool to see the progress I made through the brainstorming exercise phase to each of my outlines to the YouTube video recording to each of the reflections. Overall, I think the experience of this project was very helpful for getting future projects done as I can take what I’ve learned here and apply it to other aspects of my personal, academic, and even professional life.
As someone who has taken Professor Miller’s Public Speaking class last year, I’ve grown fond of the class structure. With so much preparation and rehearsal, I feel it would be hard not to do well on this speech. Watching over the video that was taken of me while I presented my Dry Run of this Lone Wolf Speech really relaxed me and grounded me, facilitating in my reflection of how I could do better with pacing and posture. Using that as a guideline really helped as I rehearsed over the two weeks that followed. While I was still quite nervous presenting, I felt confident because of how often I rehearsed and checked my body language as to not look closed off when I presented. Not to mention constantly being able to look back and reflect on something instead of not having structure really helped. I feel that the peer review process and drafting stages only helped my speech grow as I found myself able to take and give feedback- an important lesson that everybody should learn. I’ll always find myself rehearsing and checking my pacing and body language since nonverbal social cues are just as important. Something I found myself struggling with, however, would have to have been audience connection since it wasn’t something that I’d found myself actively thinking about.
Ryan Kelly
Prof. Jessie Miller
Communications 110
16 October 2023
Journal 10
Now that I have fully completed and presented my speech, I am able to look back and share my thoughts. I would like to start off by saying just how important that speech was to me. Writing that speech made me realize a lot of important values, such as the importance of doing my work on time, and how to balance regular life with school life; all on top of having some mental health issues.
Drafting my essay was probably the hardest aspect because it took me a long time just to think of the certain academic topics I wanted to write about. It can be hard to try and think of what you need to change to make yourself better, that’s what people hire therapists and psychiatrists for, both of which I used to go to to help better my personal and academic life. The peer review was definitely the most important part in the making of my speech. I got very good constructive criticism that helped mold my essay into its best, final version. The comments I got the most from my peers was to work on my wording to make my speech more fluid, and less wordy. This piece of advice helped, not only to make my speech more clear, but also cut down on the amount of sentences I had to memorize.
Some of the ways that I would approach future projects, like this one, would be to look back at my peers and teachers’ notes and comments from my final version and use them to help refine any new project or speech that I may need to write and present. I also feel like in the future I would like to do a little more research on the subject that I am writing about, and maybe even get some scientifically backed evidence or quotes, that could help influence the audience to agree with my speech. Overall, this project was very helpful to me and I am going to use the mindset that this speech led to me to in order to succeed in the future.