Post #1 Flavia Hernandez

 
 

  After the presentation, I learned a lot more about public speaking. I enjoyed listening to everyone's presentations because each one talked about different paths of public speaking, giving me a good amount of information to use in the future. I believe everyone did a good job making their presentations organized, appealing to the eye, and informative. Apart from this, everyone also spoke clearly; with all of these attributes, it made it easier to follow along with what they were talking about. Overall, I think the presentations went well, and I enjoyed being able to learn from my peers. 

 

 One thing that I learned from the presentation is that there is a lot more that goes into public speaking than just standing in front of an audience and speaking. Before this presentation, I mostly thought that being a good speaker was about the confidence the speaker had. Being confident is helpful, but it is not the only important thing in public speaking. Researching your project, organizing your presentation, knowing your audience, and practicing beforehand are all important parts of giving a good presentation.

 I think preparation is especially important because it can make you feel more comfortable when you are presenting, knowing exactly what you have to say and how to say it. Repetition would definitely make you feel at least a bit more confident when standing in front of a large or small audience. The more familiar you are with your information, the easier it can be to explain it without becoming too nervous or forgetting what you wanted to say. 

  

One thing Group 1 talked about that I found useful was speech anxiety. It is completely normal to feel nervous when speaking in front of an audience because it is not something most people do every day. I learned that staying focused on your topic, staying relaxed, and refraining from your thoughts can manage the anxiety. I also enjoyed learning that it is easy to be hard on yourself because you want your presentation to be perfect, but making mistakes is normal. Instead of letting mistakes discourage you, you can learn from them and do better next time! 

  I also learned that there are different purposes for giving a speech. A speech can be meant to inform, persuade, or be given for a special occasion. Each type of speech has a different purpose, which means the speaker has to think about what they want the audience to understand or take away from the presentation. I found persuasive speaking especially interesting because it involves influencing an audience's values or actions. Informative speaking is different because the purpose is to give the audience a deeper understanding of a topic without telling them what to think or do.

  Now that we're talking about the audience, I also found learning about them to be interesting. When giving a presentation, you should not be only thinking about yourself, but you also have to think about the people listening to you. Everyone has different experiences, interests, and levels of knowledge; you cannot always explain something the exact same way to every audience. For example, something that might be easy for college students to understand could need more explanation if you were presenting it to a younger audience. I never really thought about how much the audience can affect the way your presentation should be given. I think this is something that I can use in the future because instead of only focusing on what I want to say, I can also think about whether the people listening actually understand and are entertained by what I'm saying. 

  Another thing I enjoyed learning was research. Research is important because it gives you information that can support what you are saying. Instead of just saying something because you believe it is true, you can find reliable information to back it up. I also think doing research can make a person feel more confident when presenting because you have a better understanding of your topic. If someone asks you a question, you are more likely to know how to respond if you actually took the time to learn about the subject. It also makes the information more trustworthy because the audience can see that you did not just make up the information. 

  I also learned more about how important it is to organize a speech. A presentation can have a lot of good information, but if it is not organized, it can be difficult for the audience to follow. Having an introduction, main points, transitions, and a conclusion helps everything connect. I liked learning about this because it made me realize that organization can also make the speaker feel more prepared. If you already know what order your information is going in, you do not have to worry as much about what you are supposed to say next.

  Group 3 taught me more about the importance of introductions and conclusions. Listeners are more likely to remember information from the beginning and end of a speech, so both parts are important. The introduction should introduce the main points and show that the speaker understands the topic, while the conclusion should review the main points, remind the audience why the topic matters, and give the speech a clear ending. I also learned that spoken language is different from written language because the audience usually hears spoken information once and in a more conversational way. This means the language used during a presentation should be clear and easy for the audience to understand.

  Another thing I learned from Group 3 was how media can help during a presentation. Media can help the audience follow along with what the speaker is saying, clarify information, draw attention to the topic, and create emotional reactions. I think this is useful because a presentation does not have to rely only on the speaker talking. Visuals and other forms of media can help make the information easier to understand and keep the audience interested.

  Overall, these presentations taught me that there is much more to public speaking than just standing in front of an audience and talking. I learned that preparation, organization, research, and understanding your audience can all make a presentation more effective. I believe these are skills that I can use not only in future presentations, but also in many situations outside of school.