Speech Critique on TED talks PDF

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Professor Deluccia
Comparison of speech techniques from 2 TED talk speakers: Amy Cuddy + Cameron Russell...

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Professor Deluccia CMST 101 20 March 2017 Comparing Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model. & Your body language shapes who you are Part A 1) The first speaker, Cameron Russell (Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model), starts off her speech with a fairly strong volume. The only problem is that her volume was affected by her nervousness which made her sound like she was out of breath. Russell’s volume becomes more stable around 2:20 and she no longer sounded like she was out of breath. In comparison to Amy Cuddy in the second speech, she started off with strong volume as well, but it did not waver from nervousness like Russell. Her volume was at a higher level than Russell’s and this was maintained throughout the speech. 2) Russell’s eye contact was not as apparent as she was mostly glancing down at the floor in the beginning of her speech. She gradually started looking at different areas of the audience when she gained confidence, but her eye level would usually remain towards the front of the audience (downwards). Cuddy maintained her eye contact with the audience consistently and she did not fix her glance in one area mostly, like what Russell did. She made sure to have eye contact with the other half of the audience. I noticed that she would sometimes glance downwards when she mentioned a new thought (probably because she was thinking).

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3) The tone was more serious in Russell’s speech which was appropriate for the message she was conveying about the superficiality of judgement based on a person’s appearance. On the other hand, since Cuddy’s speech was uplifting, her tone was uplifting as well or motivational. As for passion, it is evident that both speakers show great passion in their speech. Russell was very genuine and honest, which enhanced the passion to her message. Cuddy was very passionate as well, even more so when she shared her personal experience of self confidence through faking it like Russell. 4) The facial expressions from Russell conveyed empathy and seriousness in the majority of her speech, although there are humorous moments that she adds with a happier expression. Cuddy’s facial expressions were very focused, but she would also smile to seem more uplifting. 5) My perception of Russell’s speech was affected by her her lowered voice that sounded choppy from her inconsistent breaths and immediately made me think that she was not the best speaker. Her serious tone and lowered voice however made me feel obligated to listen to her message and it was easy to see that she was passionate about her speech. Cuddy’s speech was very motivational and positive for me because it seemed like she was smiling most of the time, or extremely concentrated when I observed her facial expressions. Her tone was empowering and when she got emotional towards the end of the speech, her tone showed she was intense from emotional experience. Her eye contact was consistent and slightly erratic towards the end, but it made me feel more connected to her speech.

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6) Amy Cuddy’s speech was more enjoyable to listen to because it elicited a more powerful response from me. The structure of her speech went from informative and thoughtful to motivational and emotional which made me want to follow her advice with power poses and faking it until you make it. I felt like I was more engaged in her speech because of her consistent eye contact and appropriate use of hand gestures to emphasize her message. Part B 1) Amy Cuddy’s introduction grabbed my attention because she mentioned the word ‘free’ followed by information on a supposed life hack. She also engaged with the audience with a direct request to observe their (and my) body language. When she described two typical types of body language of appearing smaller or bigger, I immediately made connections with that. The last statement of her introduction made me even more interested to hear about the rest of her speech since she said that tweaking body language can “significantly change the way your life unfolds” (Cuddy). 2) The conclusion of her speech summarizes her speech since she states that people should not only fake it until they make it, but fake it until they become it. She also states that they do power poses to assist them with that process. The intro of her speech states that tweaking body language will change a person’s life, which connects to the conclusion. Her first point stated that nonverbals can affect the way people see others after providing broader information on how it’s been used with animals. Then she narrows it down and talks about nonverbals and how it affects a person’s performance, which segways into how the audience can become successful. She provides a personal story of faking it until

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she overcame her problem which affirms her concluding statement in performing power poses to eventually become confident and successful. 3) The first point was that other people’s nonverbal behaviors can affect a person’s judgement on whether or not they like them. She gives examples stating that political figures or physicians are favored by people if their body language is inviting. The second point defines power dynamics and how appearing small makes you seem less powerful, while appearing bigger has the opposite effect. The next point addresses how power dynamics come from animals and humans as well; Cuddy states the results her experiment on power poses to make themselves bigger confirm that it gives people confidence. The last point addresses the solution of faking those power poses to eventually become powerful/confident and she uses a personal example of her struggles. This flow of points makes sense because it starts off broad with background information on empowering power dynamics. She narrows it down with specific evidence to support the broad statements. 4) In my opinion, the best content was her personal and emotional account of feeling doubtful and becoming confident later on by faking it because the pathos and genuine emotions she displays ties in all of her points together. It spoke to me personally as well as an introvert who often uses body language in appearing smaller and gives me hope of faking it until I actually become confident....