Lauren

OI#2 Poetry Out Loud I did this Oral Interpretation on //Loyal// by William Matthews, which I found on the Poetry 180 website. This poem’s purpose was to show how people blame themselves for natural misfortunes, such as a death of a beloved pet. I could tell that my voice was sad, but the speed for this speech should have been much slower. I had a real connection to the words, so I did a good job conveying the feeling of the poet. A couple of things that went well were verbal expression, eye contact, and nonverbal expressions. I did a good job at sounding hurt and in pain, which was the tone that the poem should be spoken in. I think my strength in speech is my eye contact because I always try to look up as much as possible. Not including the intro, I only had to look down twice. I used nonverbal expressions by putting my hand on me every time I said, “I wanted…” This helped put emphasis on my words about what the speaker wanted but could not have. I need to work on slowing down and memorizing my introduction. I worked for hours memorizing my introduction and I was reciting it in my sleep. As soon as I stepped up to do my speech, my introduction completely left my mind. I think I have to focus more on getting my introduction down in front of a lot of people because as soon as I step in front of the class and the camera, I get so nervous. I need to get more comfortable when I make speeches. Hopefully I will get more relaxed in front of our class as the year goes by. Also, I think my introduction was too long, but I felt I had to make it longer because my poem was short. Instead of making a longer intro, I should have talked slower. This poem deserved a slower pace, because sad poems usually are slow and sad. I think that this part of my poem, “I wanted to know how they trash a stiff ninety-five-pound dog and I paid them to do it and not tell me,” showed good verbal expressions. I spoke extra slow on the “stiff ninety-five-pound dog” part because I think most people would have a hard time saying if their best friend just died. I chose this poem because it reminded me of exactly how I felt when my dog died. The first time I read this poem, it made me cry and think about my own dog. I think I deserve an A- for this speech because I did better verbally and non verbally. I knew my poem very well and I think my performance was pretty good.

OI#3 Self assessment On Thursday, October 15, I performed my third oral interpretation. The assignment was to do an oral interpretation on a poem that I had written myself. I had to write an introduction that could not be on the manuscript. The purpose of this assignment was to be able to interpret not only poems that others write, but those that I write. Overall, I think I did okay. I gave my introduction quite well although it was kind of short. I used a lot of body motions in my time. Also, I talked faster than I had practiced.

This time, I practiced mainly on my introduction. I struggled on my introduction in my last speech, so I didn’t want to mess up on that again. My introduction led the readers into the context, and hopefully allowed them to understand my personifications better. I used a lot of nonverbal expressions with my speech that enhanced my interpretation. For example, I tilted my head towards the left like when you do when you are waiting for the next bus. Also, I slouched over and put my head down when I talked about despair. My volume and enunciation were good because I spoke loud and clearly.

A couple of things that did not go very well were my rate and eye contact. I was talking really fast and I didn’t even do the pauses that I planned. I think I went fast because I didn’t have to worry about making a time limit. I was able to slow down when talking about despair, but the next stanza sped up even more. I really need to focus on taking my time and not rushing to finish. Also, I didn’t know the manuscript as well as my other speeches. This resulted in way less eye contact than I usually have. I think I should have known this poem the best since I wrote it, but I put most of my practicing time into memorizing my introduction. In addition, I can’t believe I pronounced inconspicuous wrong. This can be fixed with more out loud practice.

My best example of nonverbal expressions was from 0:43 to 0:58. When describing despair, I moved to show the distance between hope and despair. Then, I slouched over and put my head down to act like I was sad. I think this was the best part of my interpretation.

This speech reminds me that even though I don’t have a time limit, I should be finishing about the same time as my practices. I need to focus more on my tempo and showing different rates to emphasis different feelings. I think more practice would have been good for me, but I was stressing this week with studying for my Latin test and History test. I felt way less nervous than I usually do, because I didn’t have butterflies in my stomach and only my heart was racing. I was much more comfortable in front of my classmates than I did in the beginning of the year, and I hope that continues. I am close to being confident with a manuscript, but I’m not sure yet if I can last without one. I think I deserve an A- for this speech because of my good use of nonverbal motions and increasing confidence in front of the class.

OI#4 //Where the Red Fern Grows// This was my fourth and final oral interpretation for the quarter. It was on my outside reading book, //Where the Red Fern Grows// by Wilson Rawls. The purpose of this interpretation was to be able to show what a passage is like to our classmates who have not read it and for them to understand my interpretation. I feel that I had the least preparation time for this speech even though it counted more than the other interpretations. It was rough having to do a speech right after another one. I believe that my rate improved a lot. I focused on holding myself back from speeding up. Also, my volume, enunciation, and verbal expressions were good. I could tell when my voice was angry and shocked liked how I meant it to be. Also, I emphasized my climatic lines by slowing down and saying it louder. I needed to study the manuscript better because I stuttered quite often. My stuttering completely ruined the interpretation because it made me pause and loose the effect of my words. I had a lot of tests that day so I had to focus on other subjects as well as English. Also, I need to work on making characters more distinct. I couldn’t really tell when I was Mama, Papa or Billy. In addition, my nonverbal expressions were really small and need to be exaggerated more. My hand gestures were so close to my body that I could barely tell I did hand motions. At one minute and twenty-four seconds, my verbal expressions were good. I was just acting angry that a bush was covering the graves and then I gasped to show that I was surprised. I changed my voice to sound like I was shocked and I acted surprised and happy. This performance, I felt even less nervous than the last time. I am beginning to feel comfortable in front of the class but I still don’t like the camera being there. Also, I wasn’t rocking on my feet this time so hopefully that means I’m not as nervous. I think that having two speeches in a row was harsh and I wish they were spread out in the quarter better so that this speech that is worth a lot doesn’t feel like it was crammed into the quarter. I think I deserve a B for this speech because I was mostly reading off the manuscript and I should have done better because I had two days to prepare this time. Hands Only Self Assessment

This was the first speech of the second quarter and required us to explain how to do something with our hands. My speech was how to serve a volleyball. I chose this topic because it was very natural and easy to explain because I had heard it many times. I feel like if we could only use body motions and no words, I would have done much better because I did not do well verbally. I blanked out a couple times, resulting in a long pause, but at least I restrained from using filler words. I did well in volume and I was clear in explaining my steps. I could easily hear myself and my words. I feel that I used good hand motions so that the audience could see what I was explaining to them. I slowly showed each step and made all of my motions clear and deliberate. I did not do well in verbal expression. From watching my video, I could hear some nervousness in my voice. I need to work on making my speeches seem natural and extemporaneous. I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words that make sense on the spot, so I usually end up stuttering and blanking out. Extemporaneous speaking does not come natural for me so I feel more comfortable with a manuscript, but I know we won’t get them anymore. This speech was supposed to be prepared with an outline, but I could tell from my performance that I wrote what I was going to say down, because when I blanked out I kept looking up to search for the right words. I had really good hand motions and explanations from 20 seconds to 1 minute and 6 seconds. I used my hands to show how to hold and toss the ball, how to position your hands, and how to swing and contact the ball. My steps were clear and easy to follow, and I used my words to explain my hand motions. This speech helped me improve on using hand motions by forcing me to use my body to explain how to serve a volleyball. I learned that I need to make my words more natural and not like I am memorizing. I think I deserve a B- for this speech because I didn’t do very well. My hand motions were good, but my voice failed. I sounded like I was reading off a paper and once I lost my place, I completely blanked out.

Inspirational Speech Self Assessment

This was the first speech of the second quarter. We had to use a personal inspiring story with a published text. This was also my first time speaking with a microphone. The purpose of this speech was to work on microphone skills and extemporaneous speaking. I felt much better during this speech. I felt a lot less nervous and I am surprised that I spoke for three minutes without a manuscript. I think that I did well on enunciation, eye contact, rate, and volume. Because I had nothing to look at, I looked up most of the time. I spoke the words clearly, loud, and not too fast. I improved at my extemporaneous speaking, because I made up the sentences on the spot, instead of saying everything word for word as planned. My speech was a lot smoother than the How To Speech, and I think it was because of practice. Instead of practicing with my outline, I practiced a lot and didn’t use anything to give me words. Only practicing with the index card prepared me much better. Some things that I didn’t do well on were my verbal expression, nonverbal expressions, and intro. I sounded almost like that this wasn’t a personal story and that I didn’t care very much about it, so I have to get more feeling across. I didn’t use any hand motions and I just stood there, but at least my arms were relaxed on the podium. Also, I messed up on the beginning of my intro when I said something that came later in my speech instead of my first lines. I was going over my speech in my head before I started so I had that line in my head and it just came out. I really liked my introduction. I enjoyed writing it and I thought it was pretty good, if I didn’t mess up in the beginning. It was from three seconds to thirty seconds on the video and I think that I used the right mood for the words. I practiced really hard this time because I thought that this speech was going to be really scary, but it was okay. I actually felt less nervous, probably because the audience looked smaller and less intimidating and that I couldn’t see the camera while I was talking. This speech, I learned how to use a microphone and worked on extemporaneous speaking. I still need to work on verbal expressions in my future speeches, and I will try bring the speech to life with my voice. I think I deserve a B+ for this speech because I did much better this time, but I needed to sound more lively and connected in this speech.

What Makes Me Me Speech self assessment In this speech, we had to explain what has influenced our culture and use visual props. I did this speech on my heritage, food, and morals. I brought in my family book and a desert to use visually. I didn’t do very well on this speech because I was repetitive and very unsure in my voice. Like most of my speeches, I maintained good eye contact. I think I am comfortable looking at the audience for long periods of time. Also, I liked my introduction because it had an interesting hook and led into my three points. I did a lot of bad things like stuttering, mumbling, and fidgeting. I think I needed to practice more because some of my points came out unclear and when I wasn’t comfortable saying something, I just quickly said whatever came out. Also, my nervousness showed when I kept on rocking back and forth on my feet. I really need to keep my feet still and I think I have to focus on that more in practice so that it goes away in my speeches. From 1 minute to 1 minute and 14 seconds, I described my family book and my heritage. I did a good job showing it to everyone and holding it up while explaining what it is and its importance. I learned how to incorporate visual objects into my speeches and use research to beef up my speeches. I need to improve on my fluency in speaking, stop my fidgeting, and add in non-verbal expressions. I think I deserve a B- for this speech because I was very nervous and had a lot of stuttering in this speech.

Impromptu Speech Self Assessment This speech was impromptu, which meant we only had two minutes to prepare for a speech with an intro, three points, and a conclusion. I was not as stressed out for this speech because I didn’t even know that the speeches were on Tuesday. My topic was to recap my conversation with Dr. Iwashita about the dress code. This was a fun speech and I felt more at ease while doing it.

Some things I did well were staying relaxed, eye contact, and remembering to have an intro, body, and conclusion. I looked a lot less nervous in this speech compared to my other speeches. I talked like I was talking to my friends so my sentences came much more natural than they do when I have to give a speech. Also, I looked up for most of the time because my note card only had my main points. Lastly, I was able to make up a conclusion on the spot after I finished my three points. I was proud that I didn’t have a long blank out like in my impromptu speeches last year.

Some things I didn’t do well were using fillers, and hand motions. I always said “and” to connect phrases instead of making a new sentence. I use “and” a lot when I talk so it just sounds a lot worse during a speech. To improve, I have to focus on not using fillers. Also, my hands looked like they were glued to the index card the whole speech. I should hold it with one hand and use the other hand to make hand motions. I did well in the part when I explained the three body points. I expanded my ideas that I thought of before and explained them well. Also, I used examples. This speech helped me improve on my impromptu speaking. I learned that the hardest thing for me and most of my classmates was making the time limit. I think I got an A- or B+ on this speech because I feel I did a good job with impromptu speaking.

Now and Then Partner Speech Self assessment

The purpose of this speech was to relate issues in the Elizabethan era to today, learn to work with partners, and practice using visual presentations. I liked this speech because working with a partner made this speech different and was very interesting. Some things I did well were hand motions, voice, and working on my extemporaneous speaking. I used a few hand motions in this speech, which is better than none at all. I spoke clearly and loud enough for the class to easily understand me. I didn’t have my usual blank outs during this speech, so my extemporaneous speaking is improving. I had some short pauses, but I was able to recover quickly and smoothly. I need to work on standing still and more eye contact. In the recording, I could see that I was still rocking back and forth on my feet, even though I thought I wasn’t. That is a really bad habit of mine. Also, I had mediocre eye contact. Most of the time that I was looking down at my note card, there was nothing on it to help me except for its topic. I should’ve kept my head up for longer and held it with only one hand instead of two. This partner speech was a new challenge because we had to research together, prep together, and perform together. I was glad that the work was evenly split between us so no one was burdened with all of the work. I like speaking with a partner because I felt a lot more comfortable. I only had to speak for half of the time and I didn’t have the audience stare at me for the entire time. I think we could have blended a little better because we each took big chunks of speaking time, almost like we had independent speeches. I wouldn’t mind doing another partner speech. I think I deserve a B for this speech because I spoke smoothly and confidently with my partner.

A Call To Arms Part I speech self assessment The purpose of this speech was to find a social issue that relates to teens and affects me. We had to inform the audience about the problem and slightly persuade them that it is a problem. I did some things well and some things not so well. I am glad I did teenage murderers as my topic because I have learned a lot more about it and I think people need to hear about this subject more often. I think some of my strong points were eye contact, voice, use of visual, and recovering to make the time requirements. My eyes were up for most of my speech so I kept a pretty constant contact with every student. My voice was loud and clear for the entire speech. I think the presentation I made really enhanced my speech. It helped a lot in my introduction to get the audience interested. After, many of my pictures reinforced what I was trying to say. I was just about to start my conclusion, so I looked at the timer and I was forty seconds under time limit, so I decided to summarize my points before heading into my conclusion. I thought I did okay in making up things to say on the spot because before, I would have just blanked out. Things I need to work on are my stuttering, foot movements, and hand motions. Throughout the year, I have struggled on making my words come out right when I give a speech, so I struggled and stuttered in many places. I did practice a lot, but it is hard to tell because I looked like I wasn’t thinking up there. No matter how hard I consciously try, I kept rolling my feet. This is just a habit I have to get rid of. Even though I only held my index card with one hand, my other hand only motioned once or twice. I should have used it more throughout the speech. I am glad that I ended up doing this topic. Initially, I wanted to do this topic because my dad, a public defender, and I talk about cases and topics on the news involving teens. He shows me a side of murderers that not to many others see because most people only care about the victims. Also, about a week before we were assigned this speech, I saw a show, “Too young too kill” on television, so it made me want to talk about this topic even more. I think this was a good choice because I didn’t want my topic to be something that is presented often. After doing this performance, I have convinced myself even more that this is a problem. I learned that I am able to come up with things to say on the spot, but I just shouldn’t make it look obvious that I was making it up. I want to work on stopping my unwanted foot movements and using my hands in a speech more. I think I deserve a B for this speech because it was very informative, but delivery wasn’t that great.