Final Project - Speech Critique PDF

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CMST 101 - Alexander Chan - End of Semester Speech Critique Project...

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(Name Removed) 12 Dec 2019 Professor Chan Speech Critique

Dear Rayan, My name is (Name Removed), and I am a student in Professor Chan’s Fundamentals of Speech course during the 2019 fall semester. I am a Communications and Digital Media Major with a concentration in Television Production. I’d like to break down your speech into three separate sections; Verbal, Non-Verbal, and content, using the grade sheet and requirements set forth by Professor Chan in his course. Beginning with your non-verbal performance; You are graded upon your appearance, facial expressions, body positioning, body language, eye contact, and gestures. Starting off with your appearance, it is important that it does not “speak” louder than your voice. I think you did a good job with this; your hair is neat, clothing is clean, accessories are not too flashy, and clothing is bland. Second, your facial expressions are expected to help convey your information through emotional undertones not present in your voice. Your audience should be drawn into your speech through your facial expressions, giving them something to watch and relate to. While I think you attempted this, they aren’t clear at times, and often display an emotion of confusion, or thinking about what you are going to say next, verses the emotions meant to be invoked by the speech. Next, your body positioning was incredible. The importance of body positioning, as detailed by Professor Chan, is to bring the whole audience into the “discussion.” By physically moving

around the stage, you help connect the viewers to you by seeming more personal, and by literally bringing them closer at a physical scale. Rayan, you achieve this greatly during your speech. However, with body language, you seem to stray off a bit. At times, your walking around the stage seems to turn into a pace, not stopping to address the audience, or as a tool to gather your thoughts without “dead air.” Occasionally, you turn your head completely to the side during your walk, and this can make an audience uneasy. Without the use of notes in your hands, your eyes are constantly trained on the audience, which is very important. Eye contact is another tool for speakers to use in an attempt to draw in their audience. Humans use eye contact as a verification of intent and attention. Finishing up your non-verbal performance, your gestures are very well executed. Many times you gesture towards your face, the audience, and yourself. Multiple times, when you relate back to yourself in the speech, you gesture towards your chest, placing the palm side against it while stating “For me…” Gestures add another visual component to a speech that aid in a viewer’s listening skills and likeliness to retain what you’re saying. Arguably the most important part of a speech is the verbal performance. Here, you are graded on your pace, volume, tone, articulation, inflection, and use of “silencers.” Many of these items tie closely into each other and are very similar in nature. First, your pace is good. You provide your content in a manner that is easy to follow and listen to; not too quick, and not too slow. A good pace is extremely important to a listener, as one that is too quick may be impossible to understand or comprehend, compromising the effectiveness of your entire speech. Volume is also integral to an effective speech. It must not be too loud, or too quiet. The volume of the speech needs to reflect the content contained within it. A volume that’s too soft may be difficult to understand, and listeners will lose out on key points of the speech. Your volume here

was good. The audience can understand you clearly, without the feeling that you are yelling at them, or whispering as to not wake a sleeping child. Tone, articulation, and inflection are very similar concepts. Your tone involves the movement of your voice through various pitches, in accordance to the content you’re speaking about. Articulation involves stresses on certain important words or phrases to emphasize points, while inflection adds meaning and value to the words being spoken. Here, you are a bit “plain,” for lack of a better term. There’s some inflection, but throughout the speech, it seems like your tone remains only slightly above monotone and could be improved upon. Finally, silencers. Silencers are the use of pauses in speech to either add emotion, or emphasis through silence between words or phrases. However, this needs to be intentional to be effective. In the introduction, while providing background on your topic, silencers are used with intent. But, the remainder of the speech only includes silencers when you are thinking, or directly following the word “Um,” showing a lack of intent for the silencer being used. Overall, the voice performed here is effective in conveying the topic, but could use some more “flavor” to enhance it for the audience. Last but certainly not least, the content and organizational flow of the speech. This can be broken down into the following categories: Introduction, Point 1, 2, 3, Transitions, Structure, Citations, and Conclusion. Each are very important on their own, but must tie together to add a sense of flow and construction to the speech. Your introduction includes all of the necessary parts as laid out by the course; a greeting, introduction to yourself, a brief introduction to the topic, and an outline of your three points. “Laughter is the best medicine, but is it true?” Is a simple attention grabber. Your audience immediately gets to thinking, and it’s up to you to answer their question. Your key points are very explicitly explained, as well as the central idea.

When you transitioned from your introduction to your first point, a transitional phrase, “Now, moving on to my first point…” was used. This is a tool for the audience to recognize and shift their attention into the content from the introduction. In between each point, you use another transition, which is extremely effective and necessary for any speech. “Finally, for my last point…” again, is a transition for the audience to recognize a shift in the topic. Each point includes a citation, given with enough info for an audience member to research. The organization of topics covered seems to move in a fashion that is easy for the viewers to understand, as they build upon each other, and any other order would be lacking the information provided in the prior point. Therefore, your introduction, use of transitions, explanation of points, use of citations, and the structure are extremely proficient as outlined by Professor Chan. This brings the speech to the conclusion. An effective conclusion needs to remind the audience of your points, tie together any loose ends, and provide an open-ended structure for questions at an appropriate time. Here, there’s a small lack in information. There’s a bit too much implied, such as “Going back to my first point…” and simply stating “I’ve given you all of my information… It’s up to you to decide [your feelings].” This leaves a bit too much for the audience to decipher, as your three points are not explicitly repeated. There also isn't a strict leadout, but just a simple “Thank you.” The conclusion needs to end on a strong note, with your most important points, as an audience will remember what they hear last, not first. The kind of conclusion provided in your speech is more akin to a persuasive essay, verses an informative. It’s still effective, just not at the most desirable level.

Overall, the speech was very good. The topic intrigues an audience member, and has a good flow. Basic presentation skills could be improved upon, but it did not take away from the overall impact of the speech itself. Best Regards, (Name Removed)...