Reflecting on Informing

This is a reflection on my informative speech, perhaps the most nerve racking assignment I’ve had all quarter

I was nervous. incredibly nervous. it was the speech about the salvation army. I already knew a good deal about the salvation army but not enough to base an entire speech on so i researched. before long had more than enough information to give my speech. I picked out what I thought were the most important facts and drew up note cards like Candee had told us. I didn’t rehearse the speech until the day I had to give it. I took my note cards went out to the track by the school and walked laps while rehearsing the speech to myself both out loud and in my head. I probably did ten laps and went over the speech 25 times before it was time for class and still felt unprepared to do it in front of the class. I felt tremendous pressure going into this speech and I don’t really know why. I think it was because I had done so well on the reading speech and felt that this was entirely different and that I was going to bomb.

Once I got to the podium my head swirled with all the information I had just crammed into it. I had my notecards but I didn’t want to use them. I think that without good eye contact you might as well be talking to yourself.  I remember faltering with some of the statistics right off the bat and I think that by doing so I helped myself because right then I realized that no matter what this is not going to be a perfect speech. I was surprised at how well I remembered most of the numbers, dates, names, and places without using notecards. I think that really provided I lot of strength in my speech. I promise I wasn’t just making up numbers.

Its funny that after the speech I can’t really remember exactly what I had said. I know there were things I forgot to mention but since I was nervous my mind was racing. I think I hit well on the main points and by following the appropriate steps we had learned class my speech flowed very well. The response was great and the grade was good. Being nervous did nothing but make me feel sick. I think I learned a lot from this speech and I’m glad that I was given the opportunity to do it.

Mark Short

Informative Speech: Texting and Driving

I hope every one learned about the harmful effects of texting while driving. It is a serious issue in today’s society. It took a lot to share my experience.. It was very scary and I don’t want anyone to have to go through it. I wish people would understand the horrible effects that texting behind the wheel causes before they learn the hard way.  This speech was not only targeting teenagers  but adults as well because they text as often as teens do.

There is an organization called RAB which stands for Remembering Alex Brown. She was killed because of texting while driving and her family then traveled around schools to talk about texting while driving as well as showing all the kids Alex’s truck which was smashed to pieces. This aired on the reality show Extreme Makeover. They have a contract on the web site that states you will never text behind the wheel. They hand out little thumb rings and every time you go to text it reminds you to not text and drive.

I encourage people to do this. It could save your life. No text message is worth risking your life. This speech was difficult for me. I was very nervous because it was my first one. I feel like I rushed a lot and I know that I left out a lot of information. I get very anxious and I just want to get it over with. I know this is the wrong way to approach a speech. I hope that my next one goes a lot better because I now know what not to do and what to do thanks to my helpful classmates. I want to say thank you for your help and support!

Courtney

Knitting

Wow!  What a wonderful time I had Thursday afternoon giving my demonstrative speech.  Watching some of you when I told you what my topic was and then having you all participate.  There was some strange looks I got at first, but as the time went on it seemed that everyone was enjoying themselves.  Seeing you  struggle at first and then the joy when you succeed with knitting was priceless.  As you have seen I love knitting and I even loved showing all of you how to knit even more.  Knitting is such a way for me to release stress, be creative, and just show someone how much they mean to be by making them something.  I hope you enjoyed knitting and  take  what I have shown you and learn more.  Explore and enjoy knitting.  If  any of you want help please don’t hesitate to call.

Tina

Still Stressing

Coming into the informative speech I was nervous just as much, if not more then the reading.  I had figured that this one would not be as bad, but it was worse.  I had to remember what to say, when to say it with the help of some notes on note cards.  I had forgot to say a lot of information that was planned to have been said but I guess that comes with being nervous.  With the Demonstration speech coming up, I’m even more nervous because I have no idea what to do it on and having less time to prepare for the speech.  It may been easier though with demonstrating how to do something which will give time to think on what to say next.

Overall I think that my inspirational topics are coming from my beliefs, things that I strongly care for and strive to achieve.  So with the things that I say in my speech get peoples’ attention away from how nervous I seem and they actually start thinking about the message within my speech.

Ryan

Remembrance

Two down, two more to go! I made it through my informative speech! I was extremely nervous, going on the first day, but everyone was very supportive and helped me get through it.  It helps if you just breathe!

My speech was about my great grandma who had dementia, and how it effected her and my family. It was not only difficult on her, but on my family and me as well. One of her favorite things to do was sew, and she made all of the grandkids baby blankets. I brought mine into the class to show. Eventually she forgot how to sew, but I take pride in the fact that I still have something in remembrance of her, along with something she loved to do.

I had no intention of crying, but somehow I ended up doing just that. Everyone was still very supportive, however, and now I’m not as nervous anymore about giving speeches. I’m starting to like this class more and more everyday! Everyone’s speeches were very interesting and everyone did a great job! I am really looking forward to hearing everyone’s demonstration speeches!

-Haley

Surprised!

The informative speeches are over and everyone did a terrific job! The whole class is very supportive and makes it easy to talk. I feel comfortable speaking and do not dread it. Speech class was the one class I thought I would hate and could never get through and here it is almost over and it is my favorite class this quarter. That came as a big surprise to me but I think it has a lot to do with our wonderful teacher and caring classmates. They make it easy to not only complete our speeches but to talk about sensitive topics that are personal to each and every one of us! Thanks to all my classmates and to Candee!

-Ashley

Once I got the First Sentence Out…

I thought that everyone did a good job on their speeches.  I think that everyone was pretty nervous before that got up there but once you get in front of the class you are pretty much trapped up there so you might as well act confident.

I was pretty nervous.  Well, at least I thought I was before I got up there.  I don’t think many people could tell I was but the thought of getting up there was really getting to me.  Once I got up there I just took a deep breath and went at it.  But unlike some of the people in the class my note cards said very little, and I hadn’t practiced what I was going to say out loud, only in my head.  So I think that is what made me the most nervous.  But I think that it helped me the most because I wasnt trying to remember what I was going to say and thinking about it the whole time.

I just focused on the crowd of people sitting in front of me.  Once I got the first sentence out I had all the information I needed in my head and it came to me as I was talking of how I formed each sentence.  It was kinda like I was just talking to a peer about tiredness not a whole group of people who I really don’t know a whole a lot about.

Looking forward to doing my next speech, hoping I can figure out something good to do it on, so that it was as good as this one.

Clinton

Preserving Your Family History Thru Scrapbooking.

I would like to start by apologizing to everyone.  My speech was not all it should have been.  I started the day off wrong and left my notecards and half of my items I wanted to share with you at home.  That is no excuse so please forgive me.

I believe that we need to preserve our family pictures for our children and grandchildren and so on.  As I sit down and look thru the pictures that were my grandmothers I am sad because I don’t know half of the people who are there.  Are they my great grandparents? my great-aunt or uncle?  When we don’t have the ability to know who people are or what was going on during that time frame we start to lose part of our history and our family.  I know I was never able to meet my dads mom since she died when he was a teen giving birth to her 7th son, but I was able to when I was about 25, that’s when I was given a picture of her.  I had never even know what she looked like.  What color was her hair or her eyes.  I always wondered if maybe I looked like her.   Being able to connect with a picture and put and actual person with the name was my way of getting to know her.

I am so passionate about pictures and learning something about someone, I wanted to do all of you the justice of knowing more.  Thanks for being understanding.

Tina

I’m Almost There!!!!

While in the process of making my speech I was very nervous of talking about my situation in front of my class but then other students got up and talked about similar situations. So I thought,  just go up there and do it all ready!! The night before my speech I couldn’t sleep thinking about what the class would think about my speech since it’s so personal to me. But when I was getting ready for school I realized I had a class that would support me so I got in class and right before I got up I could have fallen over.

My introduction was probably the hardest because when I revealed my topic everyone got real silent and just stared at me. Soon after my introduction I got comfortable and realized that everyone in the class was there to support me. It was very hard to talk about my situation because I went to school with some of the students in the classroom. They had no idea that all this was going on in my life at that time.  I just don’t want people to feel sorry for me. I want them to look at me and realize how strong I was to get through the situation with two of the most wonderful siblings! And most important, I want parents or future parents to be careful about their decisions, to think with  their children in mind. The choices parents make effect their children. There were also some other problems that I struggled with that I didn’t mention in the speech like I tend to hold my emotion until I can’t anymore, and it’s very hard for me to trust people anymore.

I am really glad I made it through that speech and my class was one of those that helped me when I got in front of them. I really do hope that I’m not as nervous for the next speech. And I only have two more to go then I know I made it through this class. So far I really like how the class is being done and how supportive the class it.

Thank You!!

Brittany

I Consider My Informative Speech a Success and Here’s Why

Today, I gave my third speech today. Boy was I nervous. It was a last-minute topic change…literally.  I didn’t like my first topic so I switched to schizophrenia. I think this was a good choice. The only down fall to this was I had to work on remembering my speech,  and creating the power point and actually writing the speech hours before it was my turn to present.

I feel I did well.  I did stumble on a few parts and my mouth got so incredibly dry that I was having trouble speaking and I forgot a part and started to sweat….  BUT I didn’t pass out and I did okay with little preparation, so I am happy.

While giving my speech I realized that it’s okay to be nervous.  It happens to everyone, some just hide it better than others.  I also, decided that visual aids and class participation really helps the audience understand your points and helps them connect to your topic.

In closing: I consider my informative speech a success because I wasn’t afraid to do it, so in my eyes I succeeded.

Hannah

My speech topic: Is cheerleading a sport?

Wow, I thought that first speech was going to be rough. After having probably three mini panic attacks and continually moving myself to the bottom of the list it was finally my turn. I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous. Once I got up there though things didn’t seem so bad. I looked at my notecards and went absolutely blank. So, I just started talking, which went surprisingly better than I expected. The words started to just come out, and gradually, it started to seem more like a conversation. That took a lot of the pressure off and I relaxed. I think everyone did a great job, and I’m actually not dreading our next speech. This doesn’t mean I won’t make sure I’m last though!

Haylee

Cousinly Love

My informative speech topic was one very close to my heart. I am the oldest grandchild on my mother’s side of the family. For years it’s been only me and my brother as the grandchildren, niece, and nephew. I can remember the phone call five years ago that changed that. On August 29, 2005 my aunt gave birth to Owen, the newest addition to the Beath/Black family.

I’ve always had a love for younger kids. I love being around them, I love holding them, and I love interacting with them. There’s just something about kids that brings me joy. (I’m especially ecstatic about Owen’s 3 month old baby sister, Layla. She was born February 28th!) A couple of years after Owen was born, another little boy, Elijah, was born to my other aunt and uncle. So now my mother’s side of the family is complete, although I know we wouldn’t object to another baby or two if it happened 

Now that I’ve expressed the importance and love for my younger family members, I’ll get to the topic of my speech. Owen was born with a bleeding/blood disorder called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, or ITP for short. He did not start showing the signs of it until around age two. ITP is when the immune system destroys platelets necessary for normal blood clotting… which results in the person having too few platelets.

The signs Owen shows of this disorder are the easy bruising and the bleeding under the skin, which look like red pin-points that resemble a rash to occur. He will also get very pale, and dark circles appear under his eyes. Sometimes, the smallest things can cause bruises. Anything from shoes on the back of his feet, to a light touch. Owen goes to the doctor for platelet counts frequently, and anytime they’re too low… it’s off to Children’s Hospital for days until he’s healthy again.

Doctors have said that if Owen’s ITP was acute (short-term), his symptoms would’ve stopped by age two. He is now five, almost six. More than likely Owen will be dealing with chronic ITP for a long time. We’re not sure if he’ll be able to play sports when he is older, due to the contact. However, Owen has played soccer and basketball recently at the YMCA and through his elementary school since there isn’t much contact at such a young age (he’s more there for the socializing on the field or the court, not so much for the action… God love ‘em!).

I decided to give my informative speech over ITP because not many people know about the disorder, or the seriousness of it. It gave me a chance to research it and get to know about it better myself!

Shayla

Not as planned

So my informative speech didn’t go as I planned it to. Its my own fault. I felt like I could have prepared it better than I did. On a side note though I did better on volume then anything. Which was one of my main concerns.

I am excited more about my demonstrative speech then anything which I feel I will nail it better than all. I can’t wait to get started on them and see what everyone will come up with. I will close with only a month to go til classes including finals are over. Hard to believe, I feel as if it has gone by fast.

Dottie L.

Trying to Get it Right

Besides the fact that I left out one of  my points and the conclusion in my informative speech, it actually went pretty well.  I practiced my speech ahead of time and I kept messing up just while practicing.  I thought to myself How am I supposed to get this right, in front of people, when I can’t even get it in a room by myself?  So I practiced more and I ended up getting it.  When I gave the speech in front of the class I tried to remain calm and not to appear nervous.  For some reason my speech ended up working out even though I feel I could have done better.  I could have done a better job making eye contact with everyone in the room because someone wrote on the comment sheet to not just look at him the whole time.  Also, since I ended with playing the dulcimer I ended up leaving out the conclusion, so next time I will hopefully make sure to conclude.  But I was glad that people learned about the dulcimer from my speech because most people didn’t even know what it was.

I really enjoyed everyone’s informative speeches.  Everyone did a good job and the topics were very interesting.  Just like with the reading speeches, it was cool to see what topic everyone would choose, but this time we had to write the speech ourselves.  Everyone seemed to do a good job at constructing their speech and at delivering them.

Mary Johnson

All is right with speech

Wow! I cannot believe how easy it was after I got started. I still cannot remember everything I said. And it was over pretty quickly. Unbelievable! My topic was something I truly love. My cats are wonderful and quite different from other cats. After I got started I could of probably spoken all day. I’ve had the joy of my Egyptian Maus for years. And they continue to surprise me.

There were so many wonderful speeches in class. It was so obvious that my classmates enjoyed their subjects, much like me. From Gideon’s speech about Star Wars to the two speeches about hunting. It was educational. Patty’s speech and Mark’s speech stand out in my mind the most. Patty’s speech on the origin of Mother’s Day was well timed and informative. Mother’s Day has always been special to me. I don’t believe Moms get enough credit. When she announced the white carnations were for me in remembrance of my mother I could not help but shed a few tears. Mark’s speech was very well delivered and I could tell he truly believed in his topic. He chose to help a long tradition of assisting wayward youths. He was inspiring. I would have never guessed housewives began it. Amazing!

Mostly, I was amazed at all the survivors in our class. How much so many have been through. The grasp of understanding and the horrible experience so many of them have endured seems unthinkable since they are all so young.

Overall, all the speeches were well delivered and very informative. They were a great learning experience. The techniques I learned in the beginning have become invaluable to me. Especially the squeezing of my hands to release pent up energy. I believe I am ready for my next speech. Yay!

Speech giving has become an enjoyment. Thanks Candee you’re a terrific teacher. Thank you for making it easy for me to learn and thank you classmates for listening and making me comfortable.

Jamie

What is Anna’s Army?

I was really amazed at how many people in my class did not know what Anna’s Army was.  When I first meet Anna I had no clue what Anna’s Army was or what they do.  But once I saw how adorable and strong she was I knew I wanted to help and get involved to help spread the word.  I mean look how adorable she is, wouldn’t you want to help also.  So I ask do you know what Anna’s Army is or what they do?  For all of those who don’t I’m going to share with you.

I think this is amazing what the Reno family is doing for Cystic Fibrosis.  Not too many families would be able to keep doing what they do especially after losing a child at such a young age.  I had a chance to meet Anna and her family when I went to bible school with my aunt.  During the bible school they were raising money for Anna and her family to buy Anna her own dresser because she had to share with her sisters and she wanted her own.  This was just a couple of years before she passed away.

Anna’s Army began when Anna Reno, a little girl from Hillsboro was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.  Anna was diagnosed with CF when she was 3 months old, and her family started the Army, to help raise money for research and a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

Today I will share three things with you: 1-Cystic fibrosis 2-Anna’s story and 3^rd Anna’s Army

Cystic Fibrosis or CF affects the lungs and digestive system.  It is one of the most common chronic lung diseases in children and young adults, and may result in early death.  In 1965, Mary Weiss had 3 young boys who all had CF.  She began doing research on CF and done this without her boys knowing.  Until one night one her boys caught her and he told her he knew what she was doing.  And she asked him what he thought she was doing and he told her that she was researching “65 Roses,” which sounds like Cystic Fibrosis.  The term 65 Roses then became the term they used to tell children who can’t say Cystic Fibrosis.

Anna was 3 months old when she was first diagnosed with CF.  Anna grew up with CF she did everything most little girls do.  She was a cheerleader, played soccer, she made the honor roll, and loved the color blue.  Anna was 8 years old when she lost her battle with CF on March 29, 2009.  Even though she has passed her family has kept the Army going and it keeps getting stronger every day.  The Reno’s has done many events to help raise money for CF.  Every year there is now an Anna’s Army day in Hillsboro; it is the 3^rd Friday in April.  Anna knew about this day and was quite excited about it but she passed just weeks before the first big day.  The event still went on and continues to go on every year.  Each year the event keeps getting bigger, they have so much to do for the whole family and its all for a good cause.   Andi and Justin Reno, Anna’s parents says this day to them is their super bowl and they love this day.  Everyone in the community coming out to help them year after year is amazing and they are grateful for everyone involved. This year was the third year and they raised $18,000 just at Anna’s Army day, so far this year they have raised over $30,000, there goal for the year was only $25,000.   They do many events throughout the whole year.  Most of all the events are local and all money raised goes straight to the Cystic Fibrosis foundation.  Anna’s Army has raised over $160,000 since they started this Army.

Anna’s Army will keep continuing to be strong until a cure for Cystic Fibrosis is found.  Just remember someone with Cystic Fibrosis is just like everyone else except they take longer to heal.  If they get a cold it could take them up to 21 days to get rid of it where it would just take us a couple days or so.

In closing I have discussed what CF is, told you Anna’s story and explained what Anna’s Army does.  So, if you want to know more and what you can do to get involved you can go to  www.annas-army.com or join Anna’s Army on facebook.

Annie

Informative speech!!! WOW!

I would like to start by saying that I am glad that my informative speech is over. I really did not expect to become that emotional. I knew the subject was very close to my heart but I have always been able to contain myself when speaking about the past. However, I have never discussed it in front of that many people. It was a feeling I can not explain. I was not scared, I was not embarrassed, I actually felt very strong even though I may have appeared very weak.

I thank each and every person in our class for writing such kind comments. This class is awesome to say the least. Every speech in here has been really cool and unique, everyone of us are showing what is important to us whether we know it or not. I just want to say that we are all going to walk away with good memories from this class.

Randa

Two down, two to go

Last week most of the class tackled their second speech. However, this speech actually had to be memorized for the most part and we had to write it ourselves, unlike the books, poems, etc. that we read for our first speech. I wasn’t really nervous before I gave my speech but the second I started talking I got very nervous for some reason and I’m sure it was obvious because I could hear it in my voice. I didn’t have anything to be worried about but I think the reason I was so much more nervous during this speech than I was my last one is because this speech was much easier to lose my train of thought and more difficult to pick up where I left off. Everyone else that went last week did an awesome job. Hardly any of them sounded nervous at all and I envy them for that! I think another reason I was nervous is because everyone that had gone before me did so good and that made it more nerve- wracking for me. There are always people in the class that give very touching and inspirational speeches and I really enjoy those. My speech last week was about Kamp Dovetail and on our response sheets that we get back from each student, someone told me that they want to get involved in Kamp Dovetail and they would like their daughter too as well. Even if I get just one person to start volunteering there then that makes my speech about Kamp Dovetail well worth my time. Kamp Dovetail is such a great place to be involved at and I encourage everyone to try and be a part of such a great cause!

Julie

Phew!…..Wait, that wasn’t so bad.

OK, so Tuesday’s speech went so much better than I had thought! I was sick to my stomach after waking up that morning. I thought,  “I gotta put this off, I gotta put this off.” I felt so unprepared and was sure I would make a complete fool of myself once I was up there. Yeah my topic was on Star Wars and Star Wars was something I’ve grown up with my whole life. I know it inside and out (basically).

One of my first fears before organizing my speech was that I would go over people’s heads. I was afraid the topic would go over heads and come across as totally geeky. If it hadn’t been for my meeting with Mrs. Basford the Tuesday prior, then I know I would’ve gone over some heads. She pointed out that what I had planned would go over someone’s head if they had never seen a Star Wars movie before.

So I went home that day and considered how to deliver it in a way that would explain the core of star wars and just leave out all the technical talk. I believe that the speech went well and I’m pretty sure it didn’t go over anyone’s head. Once I got up there I was still very nervous, but it turned out that I actually enjoyed talking to my fellow classmates. I enjoyed looking them in the eyes and informing them on a topic that I found fascinating. I can’t speak for them and say they enjoyed it as much as I did. I did get  positive responsive  from the feedback slips and those are the best encouragements!

Looking back now, if I could change anything I did, I would change all the worry and stress I had before giving the speech. I don’t know if I’ve found my voice yet, but I think I’m getting close!

Gideon Meyer

How to cope

The last thing I wanted for my second speech was for it to be as sad and as hard on me as my first speech was. So I tried to make it one of hope.  That though cancer is a scary diagnose you can pull through it and any other stress placed on you. When I was finished I wasn’t sure if it came out right so I didn’t even look at my feedback papers till I got home….all I can say is thank you. Again my fellow classmates were supportive and caring.

I’ve learned that I can give a speech even though I hate to be the center of attention. Speech class has most definitely taught me that we ourselves are our own harshest critics.

Christina