journal 6

            While reading through the speech 3 prompt I was immediately struck with an idea. I knew that this idea wasn’t anything special, but I also knew that there were plenty of unique ways to do it, and most importantly, I had to be taught how to do it myself, so I instantly thought “why not teach others the same way I was taught”. So I did just this. Throughout this speech I learned an abundance of things. Speaking to people by not only just using your words but also by incorporating objects can better help you engage with your audience. With this speech, I feel as though I did a much better job with my outline, which in turn allowed my overall speech to flow a lot better. Having more key points, larger text, and a more organized outline allowed me to better engage with my audience rather than my paper. Not only was I teaching people the simple task of folding a towel, I was also giving them part of my background in the retail business. I feel like while I was teaching people this task I was once taught, I was able to change the tone in my voice, make better eye contact, and also engage with the people who may have been watching. I knew this was a simple task, but I had to be taught this at one point in time, so I knew that if I could engage with my audience, I would be able to be successful. One thing that I struggled with was making consistent eye contact. Having other objects involved gave me something other than the audience to look at. In my dry run I found myself focusing on the object more than the people in front of me. In my final I found myself looking up more the audience but still having that feeling of need to look at my object to hide from the crowd. Overall, I think I have made some good strides and will keep these new concepts in mind to further improve my upcoming speeches.