Thursday, November 13, 2008
Critique #2 - Persusasive Speech
I am so pleased with the strong effort in research and application made in these speeches! The strategies used in persuasive speaking were highlighted over and over again in your application. Well done! Post your critiques here. Be sure to share specific illustrations of the effectiveness of the argument by discussing the details and content used to create an argument. Additionally, share any advice to help each other become stronger speakers in the area or both content and delivery.
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Persuasive Speech Critique
School Vouchers
Review of the Attention Statement
The overall presentation “School Vouchers,” provided me with enough information to make a decision as to whether or not I would offer my support. My evaluation is for Mo, who was assigned to be the “attention getter.” In doing so, his responsibility to his team was to start off, by establishing a relationship to his audience. The attention portion or first part of the motivational sequence requires establishing a strong connection to the audience.
Personally, I did not feel compelled by Mo’s attention statement. I realize it is appropriate to use video and photographs to establish attention for the topic to be presented, and the choice was a good one, however, the video lasted 1:45 seconds which was too long. Mo does have a very good presentation tone and could have benefited more by taking advantage of this quality instead of a long video. When the video concluded, I did not see Mo engage in much direct eye contact as I did with the others in his group, and felt he depended a little too much on reading from his cards.
It was apparent that the group did research their topic, but I wasn’t getting drawn in enough to be convinced. More enthusiasm and better use of body language such as standing in front of the podium may have given me more interest in connecting to the presentation.
In conclusion, the presentation used a good amount of pictures which I found helped in the slide and sequence transition and overall a well thought out, researched presentation.
Review of Jewell Battle:
As the Professor said in class, Jewell did a great job with her part of the presentation. She definitely did a much better job with this presentation then with her past presentation. She is showing that she is definitely learning from this class.
Jewell had great inflection and enthusiasm with her voice, and she really got my attention from the second she started speaking. She seemed very relaxed, which I believe is one of her greatest changes from the first presentation to this one. Her research really showed through the great points she provided; I could easily see how credible she was.
The only things I saw that Jewell could improve on is her use of "Um's" and every so often she spoke to the powerpoint. If she can work on those two things, her next presentation will be flawless. Great job Jewell.
I think that Amy did a really great job with her presentation. She covered the Needs section on her group’s Tax Plan. Some of her strengths included great eye contact and the ability to connect with the audience. I think this was done effectively because you could tell that she really knew her information. Furthermore, Amy gave her speech in a very conversational tone that I feel kept the interest of the audience.
However, despite all these positive elements, I did notice Amy’s tendency to look down at her note cards every so often. But because she knew the information so well, I feel that this was just done out of habit and/or for comfort. Regardless however, it did break up the connection she had built with the audience in the meantime.
On the other hand, I think Amy really did a great job in breaking down what is otherwise a complicated topic. Her part of the presentation was given in everyday language, making it very easy for the listeners to follow her speech and truly be able to understand it. It would have been very easy to lose the audience otherwise. Lastly, the slides were consistently cited throughout, which exemplified her credibility. Overall I think Amy’s presentation was done very well and being more confident in her knowledge of the topic at hand (not looking at the note cards) would only enhance the effectiveness of her speeches.
About Alexis J.
Alexis was very confident while she did her persuasive speech as the attention and the action. She did great with the attention portion of her team’s presentation. She had the attention of the audience and that is what Professor M was looking for. The tone of her voice is great for public speaking and really showed in this presentation.
In the action portion Alexis did not give enough information for the audience to take action. Steps to get involved to fix the tax policies where not provided. Also there was a couple of "um's" but it’s not a serious problem, she still sent her message effectively.
Over all she did a great job with her speech, she was very confident and any one can see she has a skill in public speaking since she jumped in to the last groups presentation not having any prier knowledge to the subject. Great Job Alexis!
Persuasive Speech Critique
No Child Left Behind
Review of the Attention Statement
The general presentation “No Child Left Behind”, provided me with a sufficient amount of information on this universal issue. My evaluation is for Jason, who was assigned to be the “attention getter” of this project. Jason was very confident; He did great with the attention portion of his team’s presentation. His good eye contact and the ability to connect with the audience helped grab my attention. Also the conversational tone of his voice really helped show that he knew his information on the issue “No Child Left Behind”.
I thought he did an interesting job, with the introduction of the group members and the building of the group’s credibility. It was obvious that the group did research their topic, but it could have used more visuals and better structure. Also there was a couple of um’s that I caught but nothing that distracted me from Jason’s message. Jason took great action steps about parent’s involvement and on the reformation of all schools. He also did a good job on tying information on both politics and their views on this situation. Overall nice job Jason.
Persuasive speech Critique
About Dan
Dan did a great job with his persuasive speech as the plan. Any one could tell that he knew his stuff! He gave the audience enough information to learn more about his topic and persuade the audience. He has a very good tone of voice as well.
However, Dan could show some more confidence and eye contact to be a much better speaker. He did do well in delivering his message and I understood everything, just a little more enthusiasm and confidence would "spice up" his speech. Dan’s eye contact was fairly well but at times was looking down which could result in losing the audience’s attention. The presentation was really good as a whole. His slide where very descriptive and definetly understandable as well as keeping the rules of an effective slide. Not too many words, great pictures and font.
Over all he was good the delivery of the message was great and the content showed that he did his research. Dan did great!
Megan V. (Need)
I thought that Megan and her entire group did a great job on their presentation. Personally, I did not know beforehand just how dependent America was on oil and how dependent we have become on foreign countries (including those we are currently in war with).
Megan's delivery of her points were great. I thought she had a very nice tone and rate and spoke in a conversational manner. Especially during the first part of the her speech, she had great eye contact.
As for the content, I definitely was able to follow everything Megan was talking about and agreed with the problems she stated about America's oil consumption. In her first problems she mentions how oil prices have increased not just at the gas pumps but also in the home. It was interesting how she mentioned that families have been forced to keep their heat off for as long as possible because of the high prices.
In Megan's second problem she discussed America's connection to unstable countries due to our country's oil dependency. I think the audience could really connect to this point especially since we are currently in a war with one of the countries our country is getting oil from. She even mentioned that our current president realizes how we need to do something different with the amount of oil the country is using.
Megan's two problems were very clear and could be easily understood. They flowed together very nicely with the rest of her groups presentation. The only thing I would recommend to Megan would be to have a little more eye contact with her second set of problems.
Persuasive Speech Critique
Review of Katherine Avila
Action
Katherine did a great job with the action step in her group presentation. Undeniably she did a much better job with this presentation than prior presentations. She was more relaxed and therefore her expression of ideas such as: quality, volume, pitch, uses of pauses, and articulation and pronunciation of her voice was well received. She had great visual delivery! She had great posture and poise, facial delivery, meaningful gestures, eye contact, and looked professional as well! Most importantly, her conclusion was effective. She provided proper information to allow the audience to take action. The effect of her presentation was interesting. She was prepared in both delivery and speech organization. The specific purpose in which she was assigned was in fact achieved because she presented proper information to carry out the action step. Although, next time I would suggest interacting a little better with the audience and adjusting to their needs. It is important that the audience is able to feel a connection with you rather than you being connected with solely focusing on your information. Overall, Katherine did a great job and I look forward to seeing her present again, as I know she has grown into a fine public speaker!
I Critiqued Sean on his persuasive speech on "School Vouchers". Sean was in charge of presenting the needs step. I felt that Sean started off strong. He began by bringing in a quote to explain exactly what a school voucher is. I think this made the idea of school vouchers easy to understand, since I had not previously known what a school voucher was.
I then became confused when he began to show why people did not want school vouchers. It was difficult for me to follow exactly where the two problems were that vouchers needed to fix. I think Sean did a good deal of research and found some interesting information. It was not until the "claim/ reality" section that Sean began to discuss the problems with people's opposition. He presented the ideas that School Vouchers create competition in the classroom and lead to higher achieving students and that without school vouchers students do not become as high achieving.
Unfortunately Sean did not stick to the needs step throughout his presentation. Sometimes I felt that his information crossed over into benefits. Besides the confusion of sticking to his specific step, I do feel that Sean was well versed on School Vouchers, and I was definitely able to see that he had collected a good amount of research.
As far as Sean's body language in front of the classroom, he looked uncomfortable. I think he had a great conversational tone that was easy to follow. If I had been just listening to him, I would not have known that he was nervous. He needs to stay turned to the audience and keep eye contact throughout the presentation.
Finally, your powerpoint was interesting and you included helpful pictures. It may have been a little wordy, but it was a nice accompaniment to the presentation. Great research and interesting topic!
Alexis (Attention)
Tax Plan persuasive speech
I personally stand on the more liberal side of the political spectrum; however, Alexis did such a convincing job with her speech that I couldn't help but agree with some of the points she made. Her strengths are obvious - Alexis has great pace and volume throughout her presentation, she adds in citations conversationally which establish her credibility, and she uses her powerpoint to its fullest potential without using it as a crutch for her speech.
However, I did notice somethings that needed improving. While Alexis has good presence infront of the class and doesn't use the podium, I feel that she moves around a lot which can distract the audience from her presentation. Also, I felt slightly disconnected from her during the speech because of her tendency to look at the one side of the room instead of taking in the whole audience.
Overall I feel that Alexis's attention really did a fantastic job of drawing me in and setting up the rest of the speech for her partners.
Sex Ed. Speech
Critique of Pawel ("Plan" step)
I think that Pawel did an excellent job in his section of the speech. His introduction to the plan was fantastic. It not only related to the information being presented by the previous speakers, but it also brought his topic into focus very clearly.
He presented an extremely clear, yet extremely detailed outline to what his group was proposing. Revealing every step of the plan made it seem to be a completely attainable goal, and therefore, made the audience (at least myself!) much more likely to go for it.
On top of the great introduction and excellent information, Pawel also had a perfect ending to his segment. For me, his saying, "After so-and-so, I'll continue in a few moments" was so professional and memorable. I was looking forward to him speaking again!
Overall, I think Pawel did a wonderful job. My only advice would be to not glance over at the slides so much, but even that was not a big deal. I think that Pawel's presentation on his group's plan should be a model for others to look at and go by. Nice job!
Review of Jaime Riccio
Trickle down taxation
Satisfaction (plan)
Jaime's satisfaction step of monroe's motivated sequence had a strong impact on her group's presentation of the advantages of a conservative tax plan. She provided a clear and concise plan of action with specific decreases of top tax brackets to show how lower taxes among the rich will lead to more jobs and economic stimulus through consumer spending and investment. A theoretical demonstration of the plan was also given with a number of strong reference materials. The facts and figures that Jaime presented were hard to argue with and expert testimonies further strengthened her group's points.
The satisfaction step was highlighted by Jaime's strong conversational style with a ton of enthusiasm about her proposed plan. She was extremely knowledgeable about the topics covered and all arguements had clear evidence. Her plan seemed like a simple and practical solution to some of the problems plaguing our economy, and the plan has benefits for all citizens.
One suggestion for improval would be to slow down slightly between the ideas and topics of the speech. But still, I give her and her group a 10/10.
Persuasive Speech Critique
School Vouchers
Critique of Conclusion
I critiqued the conclusion section of the presentation that was given by Mo. I understand that the group was under the impression that the conclusion was going to be presented by the group and as such it was not carried out the way they had planned. Mo did a good job summarizing and presenting the information that had been given during the speech. I felt that it really brought together and drove home those points. The main negatives that I had with the conclusion was the lack of citations and that it didn't really motivate the audience towards action. As a speaker, Mo delivered and was able to keep good eye contact and really knew what he was talking about.
Persuasive Speech Critique: Chris
The whole presentation on taxes was very informative and everyone did a wonderful job presenting all of the information. I evaluated Chris, who was in charge of the "visualization" part of the presentation. His job was to help the audience see the benefits of their plan.
I think that overall Chris did a very good job. One of my favorite parts of his section of the presentation was that he was able to think of many, many benefits of their plan. During his presentation, he spoke clearly and loudly and had good pictures on his slides that helped the audience to see what he was explaining. Another of his strengths was his strong use of transitions.
The only improvements that Chris needed to make were that he did not verbally cite sources for each of his benefits. He also needed to lessen the amount of words that were on the slides. Finally, there were times during his speech that I felt he was reading off of his note cards when he should have been making eye contact with the audience.
Overall, Chris did a wonderful job presenting. His confidence and other positive speech techniques really help the audience to envision what he is speaking about.
Critiquing Cindy S (Need)
Cindy did an excellent job in her presentation on teaching sex education in schools. She constantly provided great details to support her needs. Cindy’s research was very thorough and she brought some very interesting facts to my attention. I especially liked the statistics of teenage pregnancies that she discussed. The pictures on her slides were also terrific and really helped to support the problems she stated.
While Cindy excelled in her speech, there are a few things that could help her for the next time. If she was a little more enthusiastic it may help her message come across a bit stronger. Additionally, she did not provide as much evidence in the second need like she did in the first. Adding just a little bit more to the second need would have made a bit of a stronger persuasive argument for the second problem. I also noticed that Cindy may have lost eye contact a bit which caused her to be disconnected with the audience at times. The last very slight improvement for Cindy to use next time may be to just use a little less wording on her power point and try to implement the six by six rule.
I was definitely persuaded by Cindy to have sex education taught in schools. Her evidence and statistics are really what persuaded me the most. The statistic about how many underage pregnant teens there were was astronomical and was one of the most eye opening facts stated through the presentation.
Overall I think Cindy did an incredible job by knowing her information very well and she captured my attention with her interesting facts and statistics. Great job Cindy!
Wendy did a great job as the attention getter for her presentation. She started off strong and never looked back. Wendy's eye contact, and her ability to connect with the audience as a result was as good as good be. Wendy also spoke at a comfortable rate and did not have any problem being understood in a clear and confident manner.
Wendy's only noticable weakness was being hard on herself. It's natural to miss a word or stutter every so often, but Wendy sometimes was visably upset with herself even though she had no reason to be. Noone is perfect, and I think if Wendy accepted that before she presented, her presentation would be even better than it already was. All in all she did an excellent job though.
Persuasive Speech Critique
No Child Left Behind
Melvina
Melvina overall did much better with this speech than her previous ones in class. She spoke in a clear, loud voice that could be heard from the very back of the room. She had nice verbal citation throughout her part of the speech. She was also dressed very professionally so it was a nice added bonus to her appearence when up at the front.
Melvina did look at her note cards a lot which had the verbal citation and her body language did show she was nervous as she switched weight side to side. One thing she could really focus on improving would be speeding up when reading quotes. If she slowed down just a bit, the audience would be able to focus better on what she was saying during the quotes.
Melvina portrayed the need step very well in the speech and I could follow her points clearly.
Personally, I found the opening and closing of the powerpoint a little distracting. But I understand that the powerpoint was mixed up for their presentation. It just distracted me from the over all presentation of the speech and made me miss a lot of the message. Next time it would be better if someone took time to double check the powerpoint to make sure everything will work smoothly.
Review of Visualization
Erika
The visualization piece of the speech done on on the tax plan had clear stated benefits. However, the slides were missing some citations. Also, the first set covered a little of the satisfaction piece that had been stated prior. The second set of benefits were more supported, however. Ericka maintained a good volume and flow to her presentation. She also did well with eye contact. The first set of benefits needed to be supported with more research.
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