Self Evaluation 2

One more down, 2 speeches to go. I have to admit that so far I am finding this class both harder and more fun than I thought it would be. I get so worked up before every speech that it forces me to forget everything else I am stressed out about. With Mondays speech I would say I did a better job than the last one, but I still have some things to work on. I think I achieved the purpose of my speech, to teach about Square Foot Gardening. I was nervous, but not as nervous as the past 2 speeches. I could actually look around the room and feel like I was somewhat in control of what I was doing. My one big challenge now is to overcome my nerves enough to make my speeches conversational. I find that I am so jittery that the best I can do is to practically memorize my speech, then rattle it off. I know that affects my speaker audience relationship as several of my comments said that I needed to speak in a more conversational tone. Next time I will practice more for different people and I think that may help me get over the nervousness of presenting. I think my content is pretty good, writing the speech/outline is my favorite part. If only someone else could present it! As far as delivery is concerned I hope to be more natural, and to be able to relax to the point that I feel like I am talking to a group of friends. This speech was better than the last because I practiced with my power point much more and I timed myself every time I practiced. I did look at the power point slides, which could have been distracting, during some of my speech. I would give my eye contact an 8. I thought I deserved a high B or low A for my speech. I would say everything was good except my delivery, which could be more casual. I mentioned 3 sources in my speech. I would definitely say this speech was better than the last. I practiced more with my props, timed myself, and was a little less nervous. I think dimming the lights helped too!