As part of the public speaking course, students are required to videotape the three major speeches they present in class (i.e.: Informative, Persuasive, and the instructor's choice). Following each speech, students are required to watch the videotaped presentation with a representative from the Speech Center. Students view their speech and write a critique of their work. The "self-critique" illustrates a student's ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their speeches in reference to their organization, flow, and delivery of the speech.
The following students critiques will be presented in their original form, absent of student names.
SPC 105
Speech Critique
There were a few strengths in my speech. At the beginning of the speech, I got the point out that dancing was very important to me and that it gave me one of the biggest experiences of my life: Super Bowl XXXV. Throughout the speech I also had many examples why dancing at Super Bowl XXXV was such a life changing experience. The critique in the speech center said I had a very good conclusion. I felt that my conclusion was pretty strong because not only did I tie up the speech, but I even gave the audience something to think about. I also think I looked somewhat confident up there because I had good eye contact most of the time.
There are also some things I need to work on, though. First of all, I need to work on slowing down and articulating, because with both of theses problems combined, it made some parts of the speech hard to understand. The critique in the speech center said that some of my points were a little out of order. For instance, I talked about the whole week and then I talked about what Leslie told us at practice Thursday night. When I practiced the speech, I had practiced putting that comment at the end for the added affect on how hearing the anthem has changed to me, and how what Leslie said about the anthem affected me. Organization, though, is probably something that I do need to pay attention to just to make sure that things happen in my speech chronologically. The critique also said that breathing (taking a big breath) in a speech would help me slow down, and that I needed a bit more fluctuation in my voice to show more emotion. I also need gestures!
Overall, I think the speech went pretty well. I was worried about time, but I didn't have any problem with it. I forgot my quote, though, and that was one thing that I wish I wouldn't have forgotten. After watching the speech on tape, my story came out better than I expected, so I'm glad that it was obvious how I felt about the whole experience. I learned that I still talk too fast and that gestures are harder for me than what I thought they would be, but I also found myself a little more comfortable up there this time. For my next speech I hope to have some gestures, and I hope to be able to slow myself down.
SPC-105
21 February 02
After visiting the speech center, I possess a clearer understanding of my speaking capabilities. My first two speeches demonstrated my strengths and flaws, particularly the latter of the two. Nevertheless, I realized several strong qualities, which I will explain first, followed by my apparent weaknesses.
In my unbiased opinion, this speech had strong components in the following categories: logical structure; clear topic; clear main points; interesting story; clear language; and a comfortable conclusion. The audience was easily able to understand my speech and how it related to my chosen quote. My conclusion was pleasing, because I rephrased the quote as an analogy to my story. The strengths are inherent and will be evident in my remaining speeches, as well as the development of my following weaknesses.
I find myself much easier to criticize than to compliment. Too much flattery leads to overconfidence and lack of development. Consequently, I found many problems with my speech. I approached the podium with little excitement. The audience's first reaction is to mimic my enthusiasm through their observation of my attitude; I lost their attention before my speech even started. I also failed to retain strong eye contact, instead reading from my notes about half of the time. I appeared uncomfortable by shifting my weight, which is a sign of lack of confidence. Poor self-confidence tends to present a loss of credibility to the audience. My nonverbal communication in general was poor, and I used few hand gestures. Watching the tape manifested my verbal weaknesses, including: pauses; using the phrase "stuff like that"; 'uh' and 'um'; and a few broken sentences. Fortunately, these weaknesses can be remedied with practice and stronger preparation.
Overall, this speech was good. The critique was beneficial in pointing out some of the positive aspects of the speech. I am now ready to develop more interesting and entertaining speeches with ideas and main points that flow more clearly with the words that I choose the convey them.
Speech Critique-Personal Narrative
SPC 105
Our personal narrative was our first of the "Big Three" speeches, and just like everyone else, my speech was not perfect. However, the purpose of the speech was not to perfect our speech, but instead the purpose was to practice.
I had strong points in terms of my content; however, that is where many of my problems lie. My introduction and conclusion were strong and effective. The introduction caught the audience's attention through my central idea statement, and the conclusion, in general, wrapped up the central idea. The body of my speech was strong in parts and weak in others. A strong point in the body was my first point. I talked about how Matt's death affected many lives, and I gave detailed examples. My strongest points came from my delivery. I had a loud and clear voice, and I spoke with confidence. My eye contact was excellent; I rarely had to look at my outline, and I tried to pan across the room and look at everyone.
As I stated before, my content is what I need to work on the most. I feel I was going strong, but then I realized I was running out of time, so I began to rush my speech. When I started to rush, I left things out that made it look like I was struggling, and it also made it look like I did not practice my speech. The delivery of my speech was fairly strong, but I could work on my gestures. You can tell from the video that I wanted to use my hands, but I just kept them braced to the podium.
Collectively my speech was average; however, I still need practice. When I saw myself give the speech, I realized that I was worse than what I thought. I found myself stuttering, using "and" too much; and I said "uumm" more than I expected. My goals for my next speech are to have a smoother delivery and practice my speech more. With more practice, I will be able to determine how much time I can allow myself for each part of my speech. From this speech I learned that one can never practice enough and timing is very important.
The personal narrative was another practice speech, however, just from this speech, I learned more about my delivery and effectiveness than I have from all of our small two-minute speeches. With time and more practice, my speeches can become a successful tool that I can use in my future careers.
