Advanced Public Speaking With Professor Ben Walker

My self-reflection on taking Advanced Public Speaking with Professor Ben Walker for the fall semester of 2015. I enjoyed having all the assignment details in advance, the new variety of speeches, and how practice paid off. I really liked having all the assignments giving to me on the first day of class. It was extremely nice being able to write down the topic selection and speaking dates in advanced. It made planning and writing the speeches easier. Professor Ben Walker took time to explain all the speeches and the expectations in the beginning of the semester and reviews requirements closer to the speaking dates. That was nice so we had knowledge of the requirements and could ask follow up questions and express concerns before having to present.

First speech was the video speech it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Recording it was no problem but the background noise was distracting. Therefore had to readjust my plan and film some of it in a quiet library study room. Learning how to edit and use text overlay was a new and exciting challenge. Although the Mustang Center choice not to use my video I was glad I did it on the topic of “How to use your Mustang Card.” Next the ignite speech went fanatic for me I picked a topic which is close to me and I know a lot about which is being an Resident Assistance and did a PowerPoint presentation that advanced every fifteen second with pictures and a small amount of text. The key thing I learned in the ignite speech was timing and practicing was everything. I practiced my speech about 6-10 times doing the full five minutes timed. While watching the other students ignite speeches it was prevent who practiced with the PowerPoint and who did not. Finally the Ted talk was a new experience due to it being so open ended. The topic could be anything under the moon and the format could be informative, persuasive, an example of something, or make up your own format. I did the Power of Positivity and went with an informative approach. My main points were the key steps of becoming a positive person, the health befits and rewards, than finished with a poem that capturing the essence of living with positive