Bever
Speech KHANHTRAN
Ms. 1315
Friday 18, 2011
INFORMATIVE EVALUATION
I have finished my informative speech and, I would like to improve some areas of the
speech, even though I received ten extra points. I think that to make a good presentation of this
speech, I must have a wide knowledge of the topic of which I am speaking. This is why I chose
Vietnamese culture as my subject for speeches, because I am Vietnamese, and I am personally
informed about this topic.
I was very confident about my speech as it was arranged in a logical order and with
purpose. The main ideas and details of the speech, I had memorized, but I still felt apprehensive
when delivering my speech in front of an audience. I took a deep breath, remembered my
training, and relaxed before beginning. That truly did help my nervousness relent to a great
degree. During the speech I repeated several words, even though I had practiced the speech
numerous times. Perhaps, for me, the words are very difficult to read in English. However, I
conveyed the main content of the speech to the audience as clearly as possible. As hard as Ive
tried, my speech still exceeded the time limit. I want to do better and I practiced as often as
possible. However, I must overcome the limitations of my second language, and learn to not
speak so slowly. Upon receiving my evaluations, much of the feedback advised what I should
do correctly next time, and what I was doing wrong. I read these evaluations and the feedback
of my speeches paying attention great to what my peers had to say. These opinions were not
only important to me, as they had the same class and assignment as I did, but their opinions
were honest as well. They were not writing to hurt me or humiliate me, they were simply writing
to enlighten me of my strengths and weaknesses; therefore they were most honest.
When I received the critiques of my fellow students, they seemed to focus on the
following four main areas:
eye contact
organization and presentation
preparation
introduction and conclusion
When delivering my next speech, I plan to make more eye contact, and not look at the
podium as much. I plan to spend more time organizing and preparing my next speech. I will set
aside more time to prepare for the speechs delivery in particular. Finally, I will make a
concerted effort to make a clear and presentable introduction and conclusion for all of my
speeches to follow.
In all the areas that I have addressed; whether I excelled or needed improvement, the
experience that stands out most prominently to me is that of finding my own voice, using it to the
best of my ability to present my speech and to capture my audiences attention. I am thankful
that I took this class, as it will help me express and write in other college classes as well as in
real-life situations as well. These skills will help me in the most mundane encounters of life to
the most academic; from buying a pair of blue jeans to delivering my dissertation for my PhD.