concept- ch15

In chapter 15 on Understanding Arguments, I found the sections on claims very interesting and helpful. The book discusses that there are two types of claims: premise and conclusion. Premises are reasons that support the conclusion and the conclusion is the main position on the issue that the speaker stands for. It reminded me of an essay, you have your body paragraphs where you state reasons to support your thesis and in this case the thesis is the conclusion. I found that words the book suggests to be use very helpful as well because it signals the premises. For example, because, on account of, and due to. For the conclusion, the book suggests using words like, thus, therefore, and accordingly. The section on phrasing claims was also useful. The book talks about other words that can help the audience be less defensive like, probably, likely, usually, and often. These words are called qualifiers because they make it more reasonable to the audience. I often have a hard time wording my sentences so that they all link together. I think using most of these words will help better my speeches.

Immersed in a sea of persuasion

I think everyday we are put in situations where we are trying to be persuaded into doing something or trying to persuade others. It can be in anything and anywhere, at the mall, social outings, school, and media. Some examples of persuasive messages are in book reviews, either persuading readers to buy or not buy the book. It could be mobile phone kiosk reps who try to sell the phones to passing shoppers. Another example would be environmental advertisements encouraging people to recycle. To become a more critical consumer, it is important to know face from inferences; if the sources are reliable; the arguer’s facts and ideas should be sound and have credible evidence. It is said that facts and statistics are important but better persuasion has testimonies, definitions, and narratives.

Concept- ch14

I thought the section on the apathetic audience to be very interesting. For apathetic audiences, the book dicusses the ways you can deal with that kind of audience. This type of audience usually knows of the topic but doesn’t feel it applies to them. So it is important to make a connection between the topic and the audience. There are four things the speaker must do and they are to: get the their attention and make them care about the issue, show how the issue will effect them, the speaker should display passion for the topic with a lot of energy, and lastly emphasize on a main idea that relates to why the audience should be concerned. This section to me is important because when I speak to people about any topic, I think most of the time they will be familiar with it but might not care, so this section helps me understand what I need to do when im in front of this type of audience.

Concept-ch.12

I found a lot of useful and interesting concepts in chapter twelve but the couple ones I found particularly useful and most interesting were “Gender” from Understanding Factors that Influence Delivery and the second was Facial Expressions. For the Gender section, it discussed the difference in delivery for most genders. Women usually speak softly because of the way most are brought up and encouraged to speak quietly, while it was the opposite for men and boys. The chapter points out that when asking a question, our voice pitch goes up, making us sound less confident. The second concept I found amusing was, Facial expression. The chapter discussed that if you are talking about a serious topic, you should try not to smile because it sends off different messages. But it is important to smile when starting the speech because it shows the audience that the speaker is happy to speak to them and be there.

Self Evaluation #2

Speaking in front of an audience has become a lot less stressful for me. For my second speech I felt more at ease in front of the audience. The book gave a lot of suggestions for how to be less nervous and I used the exercises for the last speech and this past one.

For this past speech, I spoke about water pollution in China. Although I was less prepared, I felt comfortable in front of everyone. I had a powerpoint presentation with clear points and images. With the visual aid and my speech, I felt I achieved my purpose to inform students about water pollution. I spoke about the causes, effects, and improvements of the water issue in China. During the speech I felt comfortable because I my goal up in front was to get my message across to the class and that was all I focused on. I also practiced projecting my voice a couple times in my room and in my car before the day of the speech. As far as confidence, I was not as confident this time. I did not know my information as well as the last speech. I read a lot from my cards and looked at my powerpoint. I think that was also another reason, I was comfortable.

Some of the things I found that were distracting in my speech was not looking at the audience because I did not feel connected at all with them. I wanted to look at the audience but if I did, I did not know what to say. I relied on my cards way too much this time and this were I feel I faltered. I was very confident in my information and the organization of it but the presentation lacked a bit much. The part I felt I improved on since the last speech was definitely the sources and information I had. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give myself a 3 because did look up a couple times, my conclusion was the only time I spoke to the audience and it felt really good because I meant what I said at the end about how lucky America is lucky to have the technology to keep our water clean. After all the research and stories I learned about the suffering people have through because of polluted, it made really appreciate the life we have here in the United States. Based on my performance in the class, I would give myself a B grade because I spoke clearly, it was well organized and filled with interesting information with sources. The reason I can not give my performance an A because I did not make eye contact, read a lot off of my cards.

In my speech I mentioned eight source citations. This speech, if I had memorized my information and could have just spoke to the class about it, I think it would have been better than the last speech. But altogether, I do not think it was better especially because of the eye contact. I think in a speech, as a speaker we have to make a connection with the audience and in my case I did not do that, expect for the ending because I related it to the class. If I were to do the speech again I would definitely, prepare my outline earlier, finish my research as soon as possible, practice by myself until I had the timing correct an then practice in front of a couple of friends, and possibly two different times to different groups.

One goal for the content, I think I will continue what I have been doing and keep referencing and keep the flow of the information. One goal for improving delivery is to speak to the class and not the cards or the visual aid. The bad thing about this speech was eye contact and the good was the content and organization. The bad of the last speech was too many distracting hand movements and the good was delivery, visual aid, and organization.

Overall, I think the presentation went well with the fact that I did not get the chance to practice as much as I had hoped to. I really enjoyed researching and learning about my topic and in some way I hope the class took something from the issue of water pollution in China.

Ch. 11 Concept

In chapter 11, I found that the part called “ language enlivens your ideas” very helpful. It discusses the way we use language and words. When we speak to our audience we should try to use a system of words because the people listening can understand it in many different ways because language is ambiguous though culture. We should try to choose our words carefully depending on the audience, tailoring it to culture and gender, so that our purpose is best understood. The book also mentions the we should try to speak in a conversational manner, audience centered language, making it more personal, visual and to help the audience imagine our language.