Persuasion

As a journalism major I get to learn about public relations, photojournalism, and advertising. Public relations and advertising especially are both tools companies use to persuade consumers through different mediums that their service or product is better than the competition, and also that they are not faceless corporations and businesses but people like us. Whenever I watch t.v or walk outside i see many ads trying to persuade me to buy their products. This is the result of a the commercialization of American culture. On a lighter note when watching the presidential nominees give their speeches, they might have talked about the issues, like the economy and the war but the underlying message is that they want you to vote for them.

Sexist language

If I had to respond to this discussion I would say that I agree with the last post by sixpounder. I personally don’t see a big issue with the word ‘girl’, and I certainly think it is more respectful than words like h*, or b****, or sl**. Now if these were the words in use I might have a problem but most sites like myspace and facebook (I don’t know much about Flikr) censor derogatory words. It seems like the woman that started this post is making a mountain out of a molehill because I guess her class has made her more aware and now she is trying to use the new knowledge to assert herself. Kudos to her for trying to make a difference but in our textbook Coopman says that we should try to use non sexist or gender neutral terms to tackle that problem. Her idea for flikr to discourage sexist language by educating is commendable however; I doubt it is high on their list of priorities because it is not their issue. It is an issue of American culture, which is unfortunately also filled with sexism in the media.

Speech Buddies

The speech buddies this week were very helpful for me. 10.1 talked about how to shaper your speech to fit your audience. We reviewed the audience-centered approach before so I know how important it is to connect with the audience. 10.2 was very short and unclear, i couldn't figure out the point of it. 12.1 and 12.2 both focused on delivery- vocal and physical. I agree with the speech buddies that delivery is very important because it gives the audience an idea of how credible you are. 12. 3 was about how to practice and I liked the tip about practicing excellent versions of your speech. This was very personal to me because it was a tip that really stuck and that i feel i can use. Unfortunately I can be a very rigid person, so when i practice my speech i try to stick to my outline completely, which in both of my speeches showed. When I misspoke or forget a word or phrase I tried to stop or got vocally angry with myself and some of my feedback from classmates told me not to stop or get angry. I think they were right because watching myself in those moments made me feel less comfortable listening to my own speech.

Tag questions and hedges

In chapter 10, Coopman talks about using language effectively. In the section about language and gender, he talks about powerless language. He uses speech jargon in identifying concepts such as tag questions and hedges. I have never heard of these concepts but I understand when he connects them to an uncertain way of speaking. However, it bugs me that although he references his evidence for his assertions on gender, they are obviously based on some type of survey or statistic which I cant take as a fact. I do think it is important that he talks about these concepts because it can help us as public speakers identify possible red flag phrases that we never thought may contradict from our speeches.

Speech Buddies 9.1,9.2, 13.1(A+B)

I really liked these speech buddy videos they were very informative and did their purpose. I kind of felt like the techno guy really missed a great attention getter- he should have played a lil music somewhere in his speech because music can always reach all audiences. I thought the Kosher speech was pretty good, and even though she stumbled a bit she still persevered and finished her sentence. I liked that she defined her topic and not only informed us about what it means but what it means in a religious aspect. I also noticed that she put in an analogy towards the end of the speech and I liked that because it was like she spaced out interesting lines to keep the listener interested. The Kodak girl had great eye contact she scanned the room on both sides while keeping her body steady, i really liked that and may try to practice that because alot of people commented on me that i moved around too much. Overall the speech buddies were very helpful.

The Recency Effect

Wow, it sounds like the butterfly effect but what it means is that the audience is more likely to remember what a speaker presents at the end of the speech than what is said during the body. I have always heard of this theory but I never knew that it had a name for it. I think that it is true because I know that is one of the reasons the the thesis is restated at the end of the a speech or essay. For me, the conclusion of a paper has always been my weak point. I usually spend so much time perfecting my intro that by the time i have to write the conclusion I'm usually too tired or dont have enough time to write a really good one. Often times it has ended up being two to three sentences. Chapter 9 made me rethink my writing style and while I still think that putting alot of time into an intro is important, I think that maybe I should try writing my conclusion after my intro so that i will have more time to tweak it and make it stronger.

Self Evaluation #1

My spaghetti speech was impractical. I achieved my purpose, because I feel that I got my points across well, but I think my topic was ill chosen. As everyone was doing his or her speech, I started to feel anxiety because I felt that maybe my dish was too complicated for a demo speech. If I could do my speech all over again the first thing I would change is my topic, secondly I would practice a little more. During my speech, I definitely felt comfortable and confident, however I felt like I had so much information and not enough time. My speech turned out to be over 7 minutes, and I actually skipped over some parts. I think that my eye contact and tone was good, I’d probably give myself a seven for eye contact, but I did notice that I did one thing that was very distracting. My arms kept moving and I kept rocking myself with arms folded. I felt that this was very distracting and I was actually embarrassed watching myself do it.

My goals for improvement on my next speech are to not add in quotes last minute, because in my demo speech my speech went to long, which hurt my grade. In addition, I would like to practice more because I forgot some things and had to depend on my note cards too much. After watching my video, the first thing I noticed about my delivery is that I said—“umm” way to much which I also think is some thing I need to work on because it could be distracting. I think I did well on my source citations, I named two during my speech, I skipped one because I didn’t have time for the fact, and I forgot to give credit to my mom for giving me the recipe which should have been my fourth source. Compared to my classmates I think I did well on my sources because only very few people even gave sources. If I could grade myself I think I would give myself a “C” because I think my message came across clear, and my speech was organized— I gave a preview of my points then covered them in the same order. I did a lot of things wrong and that is why I knock myself down, I muddled my conclusion, I went over time, also I feel like I used my note cards to much. One bad thing is that I paused in my speech when I realized I was at 5 minutes I commented on being over time instead of just finishing my speech.

Honestly, I did not know that not having an actual demonstration would hurt my grade; I thought that having a visual aid was enough. If I had known that, I would have definitely picked another topic because it just was not feasible to carry all the ingredients to make spaghetti to school on Cal train. I guess another thing I could change is checking with my professor to make sure that my topic is actually practical. I would have to say that I am disappointed with the grade I did receive but it does motivate me to work harder for my next speech.

Speech Videos

It is very interesting to watch other students like myself in a speech class, the first video on Light Pollution was very organized and was like a problem/solution type of speech, the only critique i have for her is that she moves her hands way to much which can come of as very distracting and may take away from her speech. The video on Drinking had a very catchy beginning, however it was clear that the guy had not practiced his speech and his visual aid wasn't the best it almost takes away from the speech because it was all things that he could have said verbally so the visual aid was pretty redundant. I think in terms of volume both speakers were very audible and had pretty good eye contact.
Watching these videos can help me be more aware of little things that I do that may distract the audience as well as make me want to practice more so I wont look as ill prepared as the Drinking speaker.

Chapter 5 reading

Psychographics is a new concept that I had never heard of before reading this book. I think it is a great concept to learn about because i have always been the type of person to try to look at things from another person's point of view, but i didn't know that it was a concept that could be applied in public speaking, i always used demographics or my target audience to guide my writing or speaking because that is what i was always taught to use. Especially because I am from San Francisco which is probably just as or even more so diverse than San Jose, I guess I never thought about all the research that goes into speechmaking but after reading about this concept and how it is applied makes me look at people differently and now i see why some people are great speechmakers, they probably have a great handle of psychographics.

Speech Update

My speech topic is: How to make Spaghetti. I haven't done much research because I already know how to make spaghetti but I do plan to put a brief history of spaghetti in the beginning of my speech. My main points will be:

1. A brief history on spaghetti
2. Its cultural significance to me
3. What ingredients are needed to prepare it
4. How to make spaghetti sauce.

I think it is great that many people are doing foods because I love to eat. For a visual I will probably bring some spaghetti into class.

Aristotle's Rhetoric

Last semester I took English 1b with Professor Miller. It was actually one of my favorite courses at SJSU so far. The focus of the course was rhetoric, and up until that time the only way i heard that word being used was in "rhetorical" as in a rhetorical question. I never knew it was a writing/oratory skill. Well, Professor Miller never mentioned Aristotle in our rhetoric courses but we did learn about and use logos, pathos, and ethos appeals in our essays, so I have a grasp of the concept. I think it is really cool that this are some of Aristotle's ideas because he is one of my favorite philosophers. Also his concept of audience centered communication is great because that was also a concept that was emphasize in my class and it makes sense because connecting with the audience is very important. A great example of rhetoric is Martin Luther King's Letters from a Birmingham Jail.

Interviews

I wonder if anyone knows what an ethnographer is? It is basically a person (usually an antrhropologist) who studies specific cultures. Well a huge part of this person's work is to observe and interview. Back in the days, when I was in 8th grade a Stanford grad student came to my middle school, among others, to recruit a small group of assistant ethnographers. For some reason i thought it would be cool and I joined the group. My job was to watch student interactions and take notes. Also i was to setup interviews with students and some teachers. This was my first experience in interviewing, and i was even given a little tape recorder to record the process. This was 8 years ago, and for some reason I forgot about the whole experience until about a year ago when i was bored, i decided to check my name out on the web to see what would come up. My name was credited to the report that was done by the Stanford grad students. To check out the report click here.
Interviewing can be fun and if you ask the right questions you will be able to get a lot of information out of the subject. My advice to anyone who is conducting an interview is:

1. be prepared
2. take note of the answers to your questions
3. lastly be interested and lively, if you are dull and unattached the interviewee may fell uncomfortable and you wont be able to get the maximum amount of information you want.
   

Speaking Flash back

PHEW.... it is burning HOT outside.... been this way pretty much all week. Fortunately I work at an ice cream shop, so i will stay cool at work. This online course is a little bit more confusing than i thought because I keep misreading things. I think i am getting the hang of it now though... So... to answer the question about apprehension with public speaking, I would have to say that it doesn't apply to me. Honestly I have no problem speaking in front of people and I am quite used to speaking out loud...especially in class. However, I am not perfect and I am aware that I do have some things to work on, most importantly-my volume. When I was in high school I was on my school's mock trial team, and I played a defense attorney. At auditions I must have done well because I was awarded a major role- defense attorney. I was even chosen to do the Closing statement, which was a big deal. Too make this long story short.... i ultimately ended up trading my closing statement with my co-attorney, to do the opening statement. I was told I didn't have enough punch, and a closer has to be loud and most importantly remembered...every practice I thought i was loud but the cold truth was that i just couldn't get my points across loud and effective enough.

Happy Birthday to ME

YES!!!!!!!!!!!! today i am finally 21. Legal to do anything now. I bought my first margarita, and hung out with my favorite person in the world, my best friend and boyfriend....he is the light of my life. This was one of my best birthdays in years and now i am eating my happy birthday ice cream cake...which is very delicious! It is great to be off from school and work and not have to worry about either one..

Comm 20

School is back in and I am excited. This is my second crack at this class and i am feeling good about it. A little about me- I am a San Franciscan native, i will be 21 in 5 days (YAY!!!) and this is my second semester at San Jose State. I transfered from Sonoma State last semester and I am really digging San Jose. I also work at Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream shop in addition to being a full time student. Unfortunately I didn't get much of a summer break but i plan on doing some fun things for my birthday. I am excited to be taking Comm 20 online and look forward to speech days when I can finally meet my peers face to face.