my best advice:

“This speech and your delivery was amazing! You had a clear thesis and your points were organized well, so it was super easy to follow. I think the way you spoke was perfect for a toast, it was casual and light-hearted. I think using more specific examples, like what makes him funny would be great to add.”

why it’s my best advice:

This feedback was to one of my peers on the latest speech, so I was able to consider all of the elements of effective public speaking we have learned so far in this course. Overall, the feedback is positive and I clearly stated what was done well and what I’d consider altering in the final run. I think my constructive criticism is helpful because it offers a specific and achievable adjustment rather than a vague critique. I think by offering my positive feedback about the delivery and organization of the speech, it lets the speaker know the successful qualities of the speech that they should maintain in the final run.

best advice from my peers:

“I love how genuine this is! All of your words seemed so well thought out. I liked how your main points worked together to support your thesis. I think she obviously means so much and I get that. I think you should try and maybe add hand gestures or something of that sort just to add more emotion. Like when you say how she was the loudest on the sidelines you do a big smile, and that was awesome.”

why it’s their best advice:

I think this is the best feedback I received because it provides things I did well and a specific way that I can improve my speech. The positivity of this feedback was really encouraging, especially how they stated it was well thought out and genuine which I found important while preparing this speech. They suggested adding body language to add emotion, and I appreciate this clear and feasible suggestion to improve my speech.

my biggest strides:

dry run vs final run

In the final run of this speech, I think I delivered more emotion which is something I’ve been working to incorporate throughout the semester. Usually, I am so focused on articulating well and not messing up which limits the emotion in my presentations. However, I learned through watching other speeches and practicing how to incorporate more body language, facial expression, and changes in tone to convey my feelings. At 0:48 and 2:33 in my final run, I used small hand gestures to emphasize my message. Thanks to feedback from my peers, I have found that these small changes have a huge impact on how my speech is received by the audience.

the secrets to my success: