Collectively, I think our class had a strong first speech. I found it pleasantly surprising that the class appeared more confident and comfortable around one another than I anticipated. Also, despite occasional verbal fillers, our speeches came across as fluid and well prepared. A majority of the class also had interesting and engaging opening statements which enabled the class to stay connected throughout the speeches. I did notice, however, toward the middle of some speeches, we had a tendency to lose track of where we were in our presentations and ended up pausing in order to gather our thoughts. I think for some these pauses were beneficial, although, because they prevented them from using extraneous verbal fillers.
As for my own speech, I felt that I could have had an overall smoother presentation. As I was presenting, I noticed that I had some long pauses at moments when I tried to collect my thoughts. For our next speech, I will try notecards in hopes of keeping myself better on track. Also, from reading my classmates’ comments, I learned that I have a tendency to lean from side to side, and to cross my legs. I honestly had not realized that I had these nervous habits so I am appreciative that my classmates noticed it and wrote it in their reviews. I do have a tendency to get nervous when I present so I will consistently work on correcting these habits throughout the year. I may not have it corrected by the time of our next speech, but I hope to have stronger, more confident presentations by the end of the year.
In all honestly, shout out to our class for being super supportive to one another on our first speech. I was very, very happy to see how we handled each speech and how encouraging we were. Great job, everyone!