The Cultural Artifact Speech proceeded better than I had hoped for. I admit that I was nervous, but it was fun explaining about a cultural artifact that has long been a tradition in my family. Overall, I was comfortable in front of the audience. I was a bit nervous in the beginning and I felt very uncomfortable in my flats. However, as I started getting use to staring at everyone, I felt less nervous. I was quite confident with my speech because I enjoyed describing and informing facts to people. Although I forgot to bring up my visual aid, I did not let that mistake break me down and lower my confidence.
I believe I achieved the purpose of my speech very well. I presented the purpose openly with directness and I am sure that it was easy to comprehend. I also provided information such as history, tradition, and benefits to support my purpose. In order to improve the content of my next speech, I will state my sources. I was not aware that I needed to include my sources unless I said a quote. Although I did not mention any of my citations during this speech, I now realize that providing my sources allows for better credibility and makes the audience more confident in what I am telling them. In order to improve the delivery of my next speech, I will practice in front of larger audiences. I believe this will benefit me because it is a better method than just staring at my reflection all day or in front of one or two people.
The first thing that I noticed about my delivery was my confidence in the beginning. I suppose it was because my attention getter was in another language so no one could think negatively about what I said for a few seconds. I built off of this confidence and my delivery was good until I forgot the visual aid. However, I kept talking without looking at my note cards as I went to get my visual aid. I believe that that was good delivery even though it was not recorded on film.
As I watched my video, I noticed that I stuttered and said several vocal fillers such as "uh," or, "um". I felt like my stutters and vocal fillers were rather distracting because I did not even notice them as I was doing the speech. However, I did notice these fillers as I was watching the video. I also said the words "red envelope" too many times and that was quite distracting, not to mention annoying. I noticed that I was doing some odd gestures with my hands as well. I tended to wave my right hand many times in a weird fashion that looked like I wanted money. I did not pace around as much as I did while I practiced, but I did shuffle my legs many times. I also noticed that my eye contact was usually on the note cards. Although I stared at the audience every now and then, I tended to look up and down at frequent intervals. I would rate my eye contact as a six on a scale from one to ten.
On a scale from A-F, I would give myself a C based on what I noticed from my video. Although I felt like I did an adequate job for my first speech, there were some big mistakes that I noticed. The biggest mistake was when I did not incorporate my sources into my speech, which makes me lose credibility. If I could do the speech again, I definitely would have organized my speech with more support from my citations. Forgetting my visual aid was another down fall because that was a significant element to this speech. It was ironic because before I arrived to class, I also forgot my visual aid with only twenty minutes to go to my dorm and back to class. I rushed to get my visual aid from my dorm and I still forgot it as I presented my speech. If I could do the speech again, I would hold the red envelope along with the rest of my note cards so I would not forget it. Lastly, I believe my weird gestures and shuffling gave me my hypothetical grade. It was annoying and distracted the audience. If I could prepare for the speech again, I would set aside more time to stop my nervous habits so that I could get a better grade.
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