Michael Acosta Jr - Post 1

 Michael Acosta Jr

    Over the past few classes, we had the opportunity to watch each group present different chapters about public speaking. I thought this was a pretty interesting way to go through the material because instead of only reading the chapters ourselves, we were able to see how other students understood the information and decided to explain it. Every group had a different style of presenting, and I think each group had things they did really well as well as things that could have been improved. The presentations covered almost everything from the basics of public speaking to preparing, delivering, and creating different types of speeches.

    The first group presented Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 5. These chapters covered the evolving art of public speaking, building confidence, listening, and adapting to your audience. I thought Group 1 did a good job overall. Their presentation gave us a good introduction to several of the basic skills that are important in public speaking. I especially think that topics such as building confidence and understanding your audience are important because those are things that almost everyone has to think about when giving a presentation. You can have really good information, but if you are extremely nervous or do not know how to communicate with your audience, it can make the presentation less effective.

    One thing I noticed about Group 1 was that their presentation felt a little short compared to some of the others. There were a few parts where I think they could have slowed down and explained the information more. At the same time, being shorter also kept the presentation from dragging on. Overall, I thought they did a good job introducing the class to these chapters, but adding a little more explanation or a few more examples could have made their presentation even better.

    Group 2 was my group, and we presented Chapters 4, 6, 7, and 8. Our chapters dealt with developing your purpose and topic, researching your topic, supporting your ideas, and organizing and outlining your speech. Since I was actually part of this presentation, I obviously experienced this one differently than the others. Overall, I think our group did pretty well. I felt like we had a lot of information and did a good job covering the important ideas from our chapters. These chapters also connected together well because they basically showed the process of taking an idea for a speech and developing it into something organized and supported by good information.

    My own part was from Chapter 7, which focused on supporting your ideas. I talked about concepts such as testimony, facts, and statistics. For my last slide, I also included a short video about using a statistic in a speech. I liked including the video because it changed things up instead of having the audience only listen to us speak and look at slides the entire time. I think visuals and videos can make a presentation more interesting when they actually connect to the topic.

    If I had to point out one weakness in our group's presentation, I would say that it might have been a little long compared with some of the other groups. Since we had a lot to explain, there was more information to get through. I do think we explained our material well, though, and I would rather give enough information than rush through everything. Still, the experience showed me that there needs to be a balance between giving enough information and keeping a presentation moving.

    Group 3 presented Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12. Their chapters focused on beginning and ending a speech, using language effectively, integrating presentation media, and delivering a speech. I thought they did okay overall and covered material that is especially useful when actually giving a presentation. I liked the idea behind these chapters because once someone has prepared and organized a speech, they still have to figure out how they are actually going to present it to an audience.

    One thing I think Group 3 could have improved was making the presentation a little more entertaining and showing more enthusiasm. It was not a bad presentation, but there were moments where more energy could have helped keep the audience interested. This actually connects to what they were presenting because delivering a speech is about more than simply having the correct information. How you say something can affect how interested people are in hearing it. Their presentation helped me realize that even when the information itself is good, the speaker's delivery can make a big difference.

    Group 4 covered Chapters 13 through 17. These chapters included informative speaking, persuasive speaking, understanding arguments, distance speaking and media appearances, and special occasion and group presentations. Their section was interesting because it focused more on the different situations and types of speeches that someone might encounter.

    One of the main things that stood out to me about Group 4 was the appearance of their slides. I thought their slides looked good and were colorful, which helped make the presentation visually interesting. However, I also felt that some of the slides had a lot of words on them. When there is too much writing on a slide, it can sometimes become difficult to decide whether you should listen to the speaker or read everything on the screen. I think keeping some of that good visual design while reducing the amount of text would have made their slides even stronger. Overall, though, I thought they did a nice job presenting a large amount of material.

    Finally, the project managers had a different role from the other groups. Instead of presenting a group of chapters, the two project managers were responsible for introducing and closing the presentations. I thought they did a good job with this role. Their introductions helped transition into the presentations, and their outros helped bring everything to a close. It may seem like a smaller role compared with presenting several chapters, but having someone introduce and close the presentations helped everything feel more organized instead of having each group suddenly begin and end without a transition.

    Overall, I enjoyed seeing the different presentations and the different ways each group approached the assignment. No presentation was exactly the same, and I think that made the experience more useful. Watching the other groups also made me think more about my own presentation style. Some groups showed the importance of explaining information enough, others showed how enthusiasm can affect a presentation, and others showed how the design and amount of text on slides can change the audience's experience. Our own presentation also taught me that having good information is important, but you still have to manage the length and keep the audience engaged. After seeing everyone present, I think I have a better understanding of how all of these different parts of public speaking work together.