Taylor+S.

OI#1 When I Was Puerto Rican September 5, 2009

This was our first performance, so I didn’t exactly know what to do or what was expected. After watching myself perform, I have a better understanding of how I actually did. It’s much different when you judge yourself at the moment you are giving a performance versus when you are watching a tape of yourself after you have given it. Obviously, there are things that I would like to improve, but there are also some things that I feel I did somewhat well on. I chose the particular passage that I did because it had an impact on me. Negi shows strong emotions regarding her lack of attention from Mami. Honestly, most of the time, I just found Negi to be quite irritating because of her strong attitude. However, this passage made me feel sad for her, because she wasn’t quite ready to let go of that need for attention from her parents, even though she had to. Some things I feel I did well on were eye contact, volume, rate, and articulation. I think I looked up a lot, although I could’ve been more direct with my eye contact and not flip my hair so much whenever I did... I think I spoke at the right tempo so that everyone could understand what I was saying, but without having my speech be too slow. I think I kept my voice at a consistent volume throughout my performance, except at the very end when it got softer unintentionally, which I didn’t realize until watching the tape. And lastly, I feel that I emphasized certain things by putting more of an accent on some of the words. Some things I feel could use improvement were my poise, facial expression, and hand gestures. I tend to put more weight on one leg than the other because that’s how I normally stand. I should change my posture and divide my weight evenly on both legs, though, so I don’t look like I’m slouching. Also, I should change my facial expression more so that it matches the mood of whatever I’m saying. Lastly, I need to make hand gestures that look natural but also enhance my performance. After giving this first performance, I realized that I should practice more. I still need to get used to speaking in front of a class like that… Two things I need to improve are my poise and non-verbal expressions. If I improve these things, I think my performance will be much better. For this first speech, there was really only one thing I needed to overcome – my dislike and fear for speaking in front of an audience. Hopefully as we give more speeches, I will slowly begin to panic less before each performance.

OI#2 Poetry Out Loud September 23, 2009

My second oral interpretation was on the poem “Solitude” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. I liked it because it was simple, but it had a meaning that is important in life. Even though this presentation was shorter, it wasn’t much easier speaking the second time around. Just like the first oral interpretation, there are things I feel I did well and things that I should improve. Some things I feel I did fairly well are rate, volume, articulation, and eye contact. I think I spoke at a decent speed so that people could understand me and I could be within the time limit. I think my volume was loud enough, but when I play my speech, I have to adjust the volume in order to hear it, so I don’t really know. My articulation was good, for the most part. I couldn’t tell what I was saying at some places in my introduction, though. Eye contact wasn’t very hard for this presentation, and I think I looked up often enough. The things I feel I need to improve are vocal/nonverbal expression and poise. My posture isn’t very good because my feet are pointed inward and I put most of my weight on my right side. I naturally stand that way, so it’s kind of hard to change, but it doesn’t look right for performances. My head was tilted to the right for the entire presentation, which looks odd as well. Also, next time, I think I’ll tie my hair up so that it’s not blocking my face. Just like on the first oral interpretation, I didn’t really change my voice in an effective way. I also didn’t use hand gestures to emphasize certain points, which I should improve. If I were to grade myself on this performance, I’d give myself a B. The things I didn’t do so well and need to improve are the harder, more important aspects [I think] of an oral interpretation. My posture seems to show that I’m not confident at all, and although I’m not, I can fake that at least a little by maintaining a better posture. I also don’t use vocal/nonverbal expressions. I used maybe one or two hand gestures in my entire speech, so that needs to improve. Also, I know how I want to change my voice to fit a certain mood, but I can’t seem to be able to actually accomplish it.

OI#3 Self Assessment October 17, 2009

Our third oral interpretation involved reciting poems that we wrote ourselves. This made it easier to bring emotion into the poem, because we understood the meaning and mood better. I suppose these speeches are getting easier, but only very gradually. My eye contact is usually good, and I don’t think I have much of a problem with looking up as necessary. However, I should try to hold my eye contact longer. I also noticed that I tend to look to my right, so I should try looking to the left more often. This time, I think I used more hand motions, although I can try to use more natural looking motions next time. I think I used vocal expressions regarding emphasis well, but I should work on other vocal expressions. As a side note, my hair was not in my face this time. I still tilted my head to the [my] right, which is a bad habit. This caused me to look up to the right more often than the left, which wasn’t good. I also stood kind of awkwardly. My feet were still pointed inward, and I lifted my toes up randomly, which was distracting. I stand that way naturally, so I’m not conscious about it, but it’s another bad habit that I have to try to break. I got distracted during my introduction because someone’s phone went off, and I was trying to keep myself from laughing, but that didn’t work out so well. Also during my introduction, I was smiling, which didn’t match the mood of my poem. Lastly, I was planning on reading my poem slower than I actually did, in order to make the words seem more meaningful, but my nerves got the best of me, so it was too fast. I think this speech was harder for me than other ones. This time, the poem was our own. Although this should have made it easier to read, for me, it had the opposite effect. The only thing I was thinking was that people were going to hear //my// poem. I’m not very comfortable with my own work, for the most part, so I just felt very strange, and extra nervous. English was also the first period of the day, which just isn’t very good for me [I’m not quite awake yet]. My speech definitely was not what I had planned. It’s always much different actually giving the speech in class versus practicing with yourself. I know that I didn’t do too well, so I guess I’d give myself a low B for this one. I know what I have to do to give a good speech, but I can never execute what I plan. I just have to practice more…

OI#4: Prose Passage October 25, 2009

I’m very glad that this was the last speech of the quarter, although I wish that I did better. I was nervous, as usual, and even a little more so because I was stressed out about tests and whatnot for other subjects. So I will say that I didn’t practice as much as I should have. I thought that my eye contact was pretty good. I tried to maintain eye contact longer by memorizing certain parts so that I could just look up and say them. I also thought that I included more hand gestures than my other performances. I put more effort into trying to accompany the passage with motions whenever possible. Lastly, I felt that my vocal expression was good, for the most part. I put emphasis on certain words, or changed my voice a little to match the mood of the scenario. I could try to get into character more, though. I got a couple of words all jumbled up, so that wasn’t very good. Also, my head was tilted to the right again. I guess I do that unconsciously, since I was completely unaware of it during my speech, but I will work on that… I thought I looked kind of awkward standing up there. I just didn’t look very comfortable, which is bad, because that shows that I was nervous. Even though I was most definitely nervous, I should improve my posture so as not to show it. And I am just really disappointed in myself for going over five minutes. I guess I would give myself a B for this performance. I always think I deserve Bs just because I don’t really know what kind of speech deserves an A, although I don’t really think that mine do, anyway. It’s hard for me to grade myself, so I don’t have much to say aside from the fact that I need to practice more, and that I wish I had done better.

Hands Only Speech November 1, 2009

This was a rather difficult speech for me. I didn’t use many hand motions in my previous speeches, so this wasn’t the most familiar. I also need a manuscript or some sort of paper to rely on, because otherwise, I feel very empty and even more nervous. Even though we could practice and prepare what we were going to say, I completely forgot everything when it was my turn to present. So I had to think on the spot, which I am not very good at. I think my eye contact was good this time, since we couldn’t really look anywhere except at the audience. I also feel that I looked up both to the left and to the right, which was good. I think I spoke clearly, but I got softer at certain points, which wasn’t very good. I also think that my pacing was decent and understandable. It seems like I was facing my right the whole time, which I was not aware of until I watched myself. I’m not really sure why I was doing that. My posture was not the best. I slouched a little and my feet were still positioned strangely. Also, I used fillers such as “yeah…okay” and “and…yeah” a lot, which was not good. I have to work on that. My hand motions also weren’t the most clear when I was trying to do certain things. Without the words, I don’t think many people, if any at all, would have known what I was doing. I put in some random thumbs-ups in my presentation, which is just a habit that I need to refrain from doing in presentations. I think I should get a B- for this speech because there were quite a few things that I didn’t do very well. I also went overtime again, which was just horrible. I need to learn to incorporate more effective hand motions and to speak at a constant volume throughout my performance. I think I just need to practice more, mainly, but this speech was difficult for me because it required thinking on the spot.

Inspirational Speech November 12, 2009

This inspirational speech was actually quite enjoyable because we got to learn about our classmates. It was nice to see everyone share something about themselves which most people probably don’t know about, and I commend everyone for being able to stand up at the altar and talk about it. This was our first time speaking into a microphone, which was a challenge. I practiced a lot more for this speech than other speeches, and I think that kind of showed through in my performance. I feel that one thing I did well was eye contact. I really tried to look up at everyone, and it was a little less intimidating because our classmates were at a lower level than us when we were speaking, and the pews were sort of blocking them too. I also think that my posture was good, since only the upper half of our bodies could be seen. Lastly, I feel that my volume and rate were good. I think that I didn’t have to speak quite as loudly since I had a microphone, which was good for me. One thing that I need to work on is using hand motions. I was holding my note card for pretty much my entire presentation, which was not very good. I think it just makes me feel more comfortable holding something as I present. Next time, though, I need to incorporate more hand motions. Also, I need to enunciate more clearly, especially when speaking into a microphone. It was hard to understand what I was saying sometimes. My voice was also kind of muffled because I was trying to keep myself from crying. I think that I deserve a low A for this speech. I felt that I was pretty well prepared and that I delivered my speech well, but there were also things that I needed to improve.

Culture Speech December 8, 2009

For this speech, we got to talk about what makes us who we are. I suppose that was good in the sense that we got to learn more about ourselves and each other, but I think that a lot of us are getting tired of talking about personal things. This speech was also rather difficult because we needed to do research, interview someone, and have a visual of some sort. The topic of “culture” was very broad, as well, which made it difficult to choose something that was appropriate for the assignment, and that we felt was interesting enough to perform well. I feel that my eye contact was good. I looked up in all directions and held my glance for long enough periods of time. I also feel that my volume was loud enough, but I should try to maintain a more consistent volume throughout the performance. I tried to incorporate more hand motions this time, although I should continue to try even harder. My posture never seems to be very good. I normally slouch, so standing tall and portraying confidence is not something I’m used to, which shows through in my posture. My feet were also still pointed inward, along with my head being tilted to the right. I also fidgeted with my jacket and such, and sort of rotated my body occasionally. I feel that my rate was a little fast at certain points, and I was afraid of this happening because I knew that my speech was kind of long. I think I was still understandable, but speaking more slowly probably would have allowed me to enunciate more clearly, which is another thing I need to improve. I also need to try not to get softer as sentences end, because that is something I tend to do. After having given my speech, I don’t really know how I feel about my selected topic. I was debating whether I wanted talk about something that meant a lot to me but that I’d rather not share, or something that sort of meant something to me, but not much, that I wouldn’t mind sharing. In the end, I figured that if we had to give the speech either way, I’d rather talk about something that meant a lot to me that I could bring more of myself into, even if it meant my not enjoying it very much. However, it was still evident where what I was saying really started to mean something to me. When I started talking about depression and said, “Out of the 12 symptoms listed, I matched 11 of them; the only one not being having thoughts of death or suicide,” I could feel that I truly meant what I was saying then – that it was something very important to me. I’m not quite sure whether I regret choosing this topic or not, but I’m just glad that this speech is over. I think that I deserve a B for this speech because I still have to improve a lot of specific details of my speaking that have come up before, so I should have already improved them by now. I need to pay closer attention to the way that I perform and I need to try a lot harder to get better because that’s the only way I’ll every improve.

Impromptu Speech December 17, 2009

This was our first impromptu speech, so it seemed to be a bit nerve-wracking for most of us. I, for one, know that I am not good with thinking on the spot, so impromptu is most definitely not a strong point of mine, as shown by my performance. My topic was to talk about how I react when someone cuts in front of me in a line. This may not seem like a difficult topic, and I’m sure it isn’t, but I really don’t do anything if someone cuts in front of me, so I didn’t know what to say. Even if we don’t know what to say, though, we are supposed to make something up and act like we know what we’re talking about, but apparently, I’m not good at that either. So all in all, this speech was not a very good one for me. I don’t really think that I did anything well. I guess I looked up enough and spoke loudly enough, but that’s about it… My posture is not good. I always point my feet inward and don’t stand tall (confidently). I still tilt my head, too. My speech was under time by about 35 seconds, which is just sad. I really didn’t know what to say, so I just repeated everything over and over again. I also feel that I spoke rather quickly, which made me hard to understand and added to my being under time. I used some emphasis hand motions near the beginning of my speech, but they didn’t seem very effective – they were just there. Impromptu is horrible for me. Even before anything happens, I dread standing in front of the class and making something up on the spot, because I know that I’m not good at it. The content of my speech was not very developed and that definitely showed through, but along with that, the way that I delivered my speech was not up to par. I think I deserve a C for this speech, or maybe even a D…because nothing really went well. I couldn’t even watch myself because it was so horrifying. Hopefully I can improve with impromptu speaking, but at this very moment, I’m not counting on that happening.

Book Talk Speech January 13, 2010

For this speech, we presented our outside reading book, trying to persuade a specific audience either to, or not to, read it. After our speech, we then had two minutes of questioning. This was the first time having to answer audience questions, which was a little nerve-wracking, as that sort of requires thinking on the spot. As a side note, this was the first time that I presented first, which I found to be both good and bad. It was good in a sense that there were not yet any expectations and I could just get it over with, but it was bad in a sense that I didn’t quite have a gauge of what the speech was supposed to be like and what types of questions were going to be asked. A couple of things that I felt I did well were looking up often enough and to both sides of the class, although I could have held my eye contact longer. I thought my volume was also loud enough, but I sometimes drifted off at the end of words. Lastly, my rate was steady, for the most part, but I do feel that I was speaking a little on the fast side at some points, which in turn ruined my articulation. There were, however, many things that I feel I did not do well. For example, my posture is still not good. I don’t stand tall and even try to pretend that I am the least bit confident, I lift the front of my feet up unknowingly, and I mess around with my hair too much. I also didn’t use hand motions, as with most of my other speeches, except during the Q&A part. I don’t think that those were really effective, though, as I was just trying to figure out what I was going to say. My posture really changed when we went from the speech to the questions, and I took more of a ‘casual’ stance, which is even further away from what we should be doing for a speech. I also don’t feel that I answered the questions fully. It’s so hard for me to just think about the question right there for a brief moment and be able to come up with a good, legit answer. Lastly, I feel that the way I phrased things were kind of off. What I mean by this is that I paused at odd places in sentences, and it made my speaking sound funny. I think this speech was just like any other speech – the nerves, the relief when it was over, and then the realization that we must assess ourselves. I didn’t particularly like the fact that we had to try to appeal to a very specific audience. I suppose it helps you to focus your ideas and main points more, but I would have preferred to just try to persuade people in general. I think that I deserve a B for this speech. I feel that the content of my speech was pretty good, although I would have liked to explain some things in a little more detail if we had the time. However, there are always so many things wrong with my actual presentation that I am aware of now, but can never seem to be aware of during my speeches, so they don’t get fixed; and I don’t think that I was very persuasive, which was the whole point of this speech.

Now and Then Speech March 13, 2010

The Now and Then speech about teen social issues was our first partner speech. My group consisted of Arnold, Kyle, and myself. I suppose partner projects can be both good and bad. On one hand, it’s nice to have people helping you find sources and do research to get more information, but on the other, when you actually present, it’s hard to accommodate other people, because you can’t really help them give their part of the speech. I thought it was hard even just making an outline, let alone with a bibliography and PowerPoint to do as well. I also feel that we didn’t really equally divide the work, and honestly, it’s hard to rely on other people because you just never know if they’re actually going to finish anything. It was especially difficult because I don’t think any of us quite knew what to do all the time. Sometimes it’s just easier to work alone, only having to rely on your own capability and work ethics. But when it came down to it, I made as many contributions as I could, and I mainly wanted to make my personal part of the presentation itself as good as possible. Some things I feel I did well were volume, some vocal expression, and eye contact. I thought I spoke loudly enough and usually enunciated clearly. However, during the presentation I felt that I was speaking too fast, probably because it’s easier for me to remember what I'm supposed to say that way, and after watching the performance I felt I was talking a little faster than I should have been. I also had some slip-ups with my words because I was talking too quickly. I think I used some vocal expression here and there, emphasizing certain words and phrases. As usual, though, I used only several hand motions, but I still need to work on incorporating more of them throughout my speech while still looking natural. Like I mentioned earlier, I wanted to make my part of the speech as good as possible, so I had practiced a lot and could therefore look up more at the audience. I did look up at the ceiling when I forgot what to say, though. As for poise, I was fidgeting and shifting my weight, and I could’ve stood taller. One arm was just there at my side while the other was holding my note card, so it made me look uncomfortable. I actually feel that it would probably be better if I didn’t have a note card at all (as long I know my content well enough) because then I wouldn’t see it as something to hold on to because I don’t know what else to do. Lastly, I couldn’t see my legs completely, but I assume that I still did that thing where I stand on the balls of my feet and they were most likely pointing inward as usual. At the beginning of the speech, Arnold was trying to tell me to change to the next slide, but I was planning on changing to it later in the introduction, so I was trying to tell him that while still speaking... That part didn’t look so good. I also didn’t really know where and how to stand when my partners were speaking, so I just kind of stood off to the side and semi-listened while thinking about changing slides and when I was supposed to speak. I feel that my content was good, but I need to use more hand motions to emphasize and I should also speak with more confidence, or at least come across that way to the audience. Eye contact was good, but I need to try not to look around at the ceiling or stare at the note card when I forget what to say. For this speech I feel that I deserve a B+.

A Call to Arms Part I April 15, 2010

For this speech, we chose a topic that we have an interest in and we tried to persuade the class that it is an important issue that must be given attention. I think this was good because we got to learn more about something that we care about. However, it was also somewhat difficult for me to focus my ideas because I have my own opinions, but the purpose of this speech was more to inform about the issue than share personal opinions. I did like these speeches, though, because they were about many different topics, and we got to see what sort of issues our classmates are interested in and learn more about them. Having the speech and a paper at the same time was kind of difficult, though, because it was a lot to work all at once. Some things that I feel I did well are rate, volume, articulation, and eye contact. I think I spoke at a good rate, although sometimes my pauses were a little long because I forgot what I was going to say. I also think that I spoke loudly and clearly for the most part, but I can always improve there. I looked up often, but I didn’t always hold my eye contact for a long time because I looked down at my note card or up at the ceiling when I forgot what to say. I also mainly looked to my right, so I should look to my left more often. The two things that I feel I did not do very well at all are poise and vocal/nonverbal expression. I never really portray confidence when I give speeches, and even though I’m not, I still need to try to fake it, at least. I guess that I just never realize this until after watching myself. Also, as usual, I did not incorporate hand gestures and I barely used and vocal expression. Occasionally, I put emphasis on certain words, but I could still have used more expression. As for hand gestures, I can’t really incorporate them without feeling like they’re forced. I’m not really sure, but maybe I don’t use many hand gestures when I normally talk. Without hand gestures, I just held on to my note cards the entire speech, which was not very good. I think that I deserve a low B for this speech. I didn’t practice as much as I should have, which showed through in my performance, and for some reason, I was extremely nervous before this speech and I was literally shaking. I forgot what to say too often (especially in the introduction and conclusion because I didn’t have note cards for them) and looked up at ceiling. I also said ‘um’ a lot and seemed repetitive because of this. I didn’t use hand gestures or speak with confidence. Even the things that I feel I did well came with faults, so this speech just wasn’t very good for me.