Anthony Mulet — Post #1

 It is simple to say that after observing several presentations and even doing one of my own that I have learned a decent amount of knowledge about public speaking; at the very least, I know more now than I did before all the presentations. Well, firstly, it would make the most sense to discuss the presentation that I was a part of, as it was the first one to be presented on account that I was in group 1. What I learned from my group's presentation, from not only working on the presentation but also listening to them present, is the fundamentals behind public speaking. It really showed that it’s not only about the speaker themselves, but the audience plays a very big role when it comes to public speaking as well. The presentation helped teach me that it really takes both sides working together for it to be successful, as for information to be properly transferred, there’s a whole lot of preparation needed to be done. I learned about several different communication styles and approaches that connect to the listener in different ways. Connecting with the audience is very important, as they are more likely to pay attention to what you are saying if they find themselves connected to the speech. Another thing that I learned from this presentation is that there are a good handful of things that can get in the way and make both giving and receiving a speech way more complicated than it needs to be. It was a great experience working on and listening to Group 1’s presentation, but I’ve talked enough about that; I think I should talk about what I learned from Group 2’s presentation. Which while the first presentation laid the foundation, this one was more focused on the preparations that should be made for presentations. Their presentation spoke of different types of presentations and how they all need to be approached differently. I learned how essential it is to choose topics that you have an interest in to approach the speech with more confidence. Not only that, but setting and time restraints are very important; one must be aware of both the length of their speech as to appropriately pace themselves and where they are giving the speech as to more properly know the tone of the room. It also taught me that I need to phrase the thesis of a speech in a very simple, memorable way, while not being vague, so that the main purpose of the speech sticks with the audience more easily. Another thing that this presentation taught was that creating a working outline helps with making and editing the speech with great ease. They also taught us about getting sources of information for the presentation, such as doing interviews to get the information one would need to make a speech more reliable and trustworthy. Another thing they taught us was where to find certain types of information using different tools and how to search in a more specific manner. It was a very educational presentation from group 2, but I believe it’s now time to discuss group 3’s presentation. It seems that while the last presentation had a focus on the preparations for the speech, this one delved more into the ways to turn prepared information into a good presentation. They taught us that a very important to grab the audiences attention, as it’s the first thing they hear and will determine the mindset the audience will approach the rest of the speech with. On the other side of the speech, there’s the conclusion, which they taught us is an essential part of a presentation since it’s the last thing your audience hears; you want it to be very meaningful so that way they can leave with your presentation still in their head. Another thing they taught us was that the audience pays more attention to what the speaker is saying rather than the words that are on the screen. There is also an importance placed on how the speaker speaks, because some presentations require a more formal tone rather than an informal tone, yet in some speeches, using an informal tone works better than the other. Another thing that this presentation teaches us is how to integrate media into the presentation, which is a good way to keep the audience engaged, as it is something that grabs attention and helps better express what you are trying to convey to the listener without using words. Honestly, that presentation was pretty good, and I enjoyed it a decent bit, but now I will be discussing Group 4’s presentation. They started off their presentation by teaching the class about persuading with evidence and ethics, and a big thing that they mentioned was that the audience needs to have a choice. Another topic that was reviewed by Group 4 was understanding arguments, as they spoke about the three main parts that make up an argument, being claims, evidence, and reasoning. They also spoke about persuasive appeals, being types of arguments that can be used to persuade the audience, some of which were discussed in an earlier presentation. They also taught us to avoid logical fallacies, as they lessen the quality of an argument, which then lessens the strength of your speech. Then they proceeded with the topic of speaking through media and distance, which I find very relatable in this modern age that we live in, where most of what we say reaches the world through the use of media, which takes a whole different set of skills to do properly and successfully. Group 4 then proceeded to discuss speeches given on special occasions; apparently, there are around nine types of speeches, which is honestly a number that I expected to be a lot bigger. And that pretty much describes what I took away from all those presentations. It was honestly an assignment I found myself enjoying more than I thought I would. Personally, I think group 1 had the best presentation there, but I am biased in that discussion.