Portfolio

Here's the link to my portfolio! 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B92wkkTgF9VaSWxvY25PV2JKRENNSmJrcHFQZnVrY3NRWUU4

Thanks for a great semester!

Nick

Start.Stop.Continue Speech 4

Group: Trax Shoes 

Members: (Perez, Ling, & Linda)

Effective Moves:

Tar Ashore, Tar no-more!

• This repetitive catch phrase was, in fact, catchy
• It provided humor/entertainment - satire of an infomercial
• Made a common solution to multiple problems

The Dump’s Blueprint

• Very captivating spatial aspects
• Lack of words on screen allowed them to connect with the audience more
• Visualizing their layout helps follow their discussion from “room to room”

Ai’s Opening Video

• Video was well put together and had my full attention
• The funny photoshop and post-edit work were on point - I wanted to see what came next
• The video showcased them walking into the classroom and then (in real life) they did, which gave a very “Disney-World-Show” kind of effect which was super interesting
• You could see the effort that was put into the making of the video from the “classmate inputs” to the green screen effects which kept me engaged.

Start:

• I believe throughout this class I’ve been able to accomplish everything i’ve wanted to start doing from increasing hand gestures to fixing posture and even introducing slight pauses every once in awhile. Though there are definitely some things I would like to stop doing.

Stop:

• I still want to eliminate “uhm” from my speeches and I have yet to accomplish that entirely - Though ironically I do feel it ads a sort of genuine aspect to what you’re saying when used slightly. I suppose it depends on the genre of speech.
• A few instances I noticed I would glance to the floor in an almost spaced-out way while speaking. Though it was slight, I would like to eliminate this as well
• Aside from these few things, there’s been many aspects throughout this course that I’ve taken off the list from “start” and have moved to “continue.”

Continue:

• I loved the topic my group chose for this assignment, I believe I proposed the idea after being inspired by Ling’s cool shoes she was wearing that day! If you like your topic it definitely shows in your work!

• Since we were pitching to Decker’s we kept our presentation style rather formal which is good because it shows we’ve managed to adjust to our audience.
• Vocal tone and fluctuation was something I think we did greatly as a group - Ling has definitely improved throughout our group practice!
• Kinesics - our group was definitely great at using expressions and gestures. From Linda pointing to each aspect on the screen guide to accent what she was saying to perez, holding objects up while explaining, we were physically engaged
• I believe generally as a group we spoke loud enough for everyone to hear without shouting, though our ending “fight this number” phrase could have been more projected and enthusiastic.
• We generally kept a pretty succinct pace throughout our presentation - nothing seemed rushed

Shark Tank Outline

Speech 4. Shark Tank.

Group Members: Linda, Chris, and Ming

Product: GPS tracking shoes for children/

Projected company: Decker’s Shoes in Goleta

Objective:  Convince Decker’s:

A: Take our full product (consisting of shoe design and patent) and carry it on their shelves

Different Roles (Subject to change)

Nick - Introduction, possibly an overview of topics to be discussed, Analysis of our good cause (ie. Proceeds go to ‘Ride for Missing Children’) Competition, Reinforcing the product

Ling - How the company started (Personal Anecdote) as well as counter arguments

Chris - Highlights of the product (Features)

Linda - What market we have (Demand) (Stats)

Other aspects of product:

• App that goes with shoes to track
• Chargeable Tracking Device
• Able to move to new pairs of shoes

Questions for thought - Research

• Price for shoes
• Price for GPS Tracker
• Possible Product Price

Start.Stop.Continue #3

Effective Moves:

Perez

• I really liked how Perez really didn’t write anything on his slides
• He provided pictures to help guide his thoughts but he wasn’t standing there reading off the board
• This adds a sort of credibility as it seems like he really knows what he’s talking about

Connor

• Just as last time I liked Connor’s use of props
• This time he emptied his pockets and threw coins down (rather forcibly)
• This immediately captivated the audience and provided an entertainment aspect

Linda

• I liked that she opened the speech with a question
• This is a classic move but it’s very effective
• It forces the audience to engage themselves and their own lives into the topic at hand
• I also thought Linda was very well put together throughout her speech with a very succinct tone.

Start:

More hand gestures is always encouraged. I do make use of them in my speech but at times I can be found “twiddling thumbs” or other nervous ticks.

• Speaking with the hands adds a sort of fluency to what you’re saying
• It was an improvement from speech #2

More practice is also always encouraged

• This speech probably received less rehearsal than my previous ones and that is due to the timing. Having this speech right before spring break allowed it to be due around the same time as midterms and other class projects so my attention had to be divided among responsibilities.
• Maybe once or twice it seemed as if I was just reading off the board

I need to start making even better eye contact.

• This was definitely an improvement from last time, as I made a conscious effort to look to the crowd after or during each point
• This is so very important because it keeps your audience engaged.

Stop:

I said “uhm” a total of 15 times.

• This is a huge fall back from the last speech where I managed to only use 4 and even a drawback from the first speech where I used 11.
• I attribute this again to the amount of stressful projects and midterms due at the time of this speech which prevented a desirable amount of practice.
• My goal is still to completely eliminate this filler “word.”
• I noticed that almost ¾ of the filler words came in during my last few slides which were the slides I had dedicated the least amount of preparation to.

Ease off the screen even more

• I feel like I’m improving this with every speech but I’m nowhere near perfect
• This again, can be improved with more practice knowing the gist of what I want to say before I say it.

Continue:

• I again believe that my topic was interesting enough to keep everyone engaged and showed that I was actually interested in what I was talking about instead of just getting the assignment over with by using a generic speech.
• I felt that the formality of my speech was appropriate for my intended audience
• I again felt the tone of my voice was good for this speech as my vocal tone fluctuated thus preventing a boring mono-toned presentation  
• Again, I felt that I came off confidently and didn’t look or sound nervous ( aside from a few word jumbles)
• Kinesics! My facial expressions were good, I didn’t come off as stone cold. The smiling allows for a positive and comfortable vibe in the room.
• I liked that I provided an overview slide as an introduction and a “what it all means” slide.
• Although they weren’t perfect and there’s always room for improvement I feel as if I did allow for some slight moments of pausing during my speech, these were to replace those annoying “filler words” and allow for a paced and controlled overall atmosphere.
• I made it a point to move away from the computer and stand more central while pointing to things on the board.
• I think this time around I was able to project my voice much louder than I had prior and I think that’s due to feeling more comfortable as this isn’t the first or second speech
• I believe I now have the pacing down - In this speech I saved the video for the end as it wasn’t a “make or break” part of my presentation and only after getting through all the meat of my argument, I played my highlighting video.
• I like that I make my slides visually appealing, I put a lot of work into the the design of my slides and I think that really keeps people engaged. Examples ( my Goldilocks Zone diagram I made with gifs, The Galaxy background)

Are We Alone?

Topic:

It is a consensus that Aliens do not exist and that we are alone in the Universe, it is my goal to argue that we are not alone in our existence but are accompanied by other worldly beings.

Could possibly use a more specific approach to aliens:

Extraterrestrial life have visited our planet

• Area 51
• UFO sightings
• Apollo conspiracy

Overview.

My presentation today is going to… (Introduce topic)

The three main points of this presentation will be

1. Exposing the consensus
2. Explaining the opposing view
3. (                     )

Exposing the consensus:

Film:

What do all Alien movies have in common?

War of the Worlds?

Alien Vs. Predator?

Prometheus?

They’re all under the Genre of Science-FICTION

They’re considered fiction because the vast majority believe the existence of aliens is an idea reserved for the mentally impaired who run conspiracy websites out of their mother's basement, but what if I told you those conspiracy theorists share similar ideas with geniuses like Stephen Hawking? Or Nasa employees?  

Bible teaches implicitly that the only things He created with intelligence are the angels, man, and the animals.

-Further Development-

Explaining the opposing view:

• "We don't know much about aliens, but we know about humans. If you look at history, contact between humans and less intelligent organisms have often been disastrous”- Stephen Hawking Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge(http://www.space.com/29999-stephen-hawking-intelligent-alien-life-danger.html
• 400 Billion Stars just in the Milky Way Galaxy alone
• With at least 200 billion galaxies out there (and possibly even more), we're very likely talking about a Universe filled with around 1024 planets, or, for those of you who like it written out, around 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets in our observable Universe- http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/01/05/how-many-planets-are-in-the-universe/
• On Earth we find ourselves in the “Goldilocks Zone,” which means that conditions are just right for hosting life (like the third of the three bowls of porridge in the fairy tale Goldilocks, it is neither too hot nor too cold, but just right.)
• Other plants also fall in this zone and are believed to have water which can lead to life
• In the last 20 years advances in technology have led to the discovery of hundreds of new planets, many of them identified to share similar characteristics to earth in terms of their climate.
• Nasa employee quotes (Still looking for the documentary)

Closing:

• Overview of what was covered
• Restatement of Radical idea
• Maybe a poll of class to see their general views

Start.Stop.Continue #2

Start:

I really liked Connor’s use of props in his Police Interrogation Speech

• When he slammed the papers down it had everyone’s attention
• It gave you a first hand feeling of what he was explaining
• The entertainment aspect made it enjoyable

I also really liked Polly’s choice of video

• Though it wasn’t an actual example of what a server should act like when taking an order, it was humorous
• Everyone knows what it’s like to have their order taken so instead of showing the audience something redundantly obvious she showed us what “not to do” in a creative and entertaining way
• This “mean” waitress was out of the ordinary and therefore kept everyone engaged

Though I made an improvement from last time, I still need to use more hand gestures

• This was an area on my rubric which showed a need for improvement
• Speaking with the hands adds a sort of fluency to what you’re saying
• I made an effort this time to use more and restrain from showing nervous hand ticks but more improvement is needed

I still need more practice prior to my speech

• Practice will enhance my confidence in what I have to say and thus help me ease off the board

I need to start making better eye contact.

• This goes hand and hand with my over-reliance on the screen. If I stop looking at the screen so much it will allow more opportunity to really connect with the audience by dispersing eye contact over everyone.
• This is so very important because it keeps your audience engaged.

I would still like to pace myself better

• At first I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to talk about anything for 5 minutes, but after I really got into my topic, I found that there was so much I wanted to talk about. This became an issue when I went to address the moves. I had been so worried about going over the time that I quickly went over the moves slide without giving a full analysis of why they were important.

Stop:

I said “uhm” a total of 4 times.

• This is a great improvement from my use of “uhm” 11 times in my previous speech. Even with this improvement I feel that it shouldn’t be used at all, so hopefully by my last speech I will be able to completely ban the use of this “filler.”

Stop relying on my screen

• This was a note made on my grading sheet that went slightly below expectations. I want to make sure I don’t leave any of my information out so I tend to constantly look at the screen in order to make sure all my points have been made
• This again, can be improved with more practice by knowing what I want to say before I say it.

Stop leaning to one side when I’m presenting

• Although I like the tone a casual stance gives in terms of making myself and others feel more comfortable, I don’t feel it is appropriate for a presentation. Posture is key to how you are perceived and even though my audience isn’t a very formal one, a firm stance is something I need to get in the habit of.

Continue:

• I again believe that my topic was interesting enough to keep everyone engaged and showed that I was actually interested in what I was talking about instead of just getting the assignment over with by using a generic speech.
• I felt that the formality of my speech was appropriate for my intended audience
• I again felt the tone of my voice was good for this speech as my vocal tone fluctuated thus preventing a boring mono-toned presentation  
• Again, I felt that I came off confidently and didn’t look or sound nervous. This is especially important because I know as an audience member that when I perceive a performer to be nervous, I become anxious for them which distracts myself completely from what they’re saying and makes the entire performance rather unpleasant to watch.
• Kinesics! My facial expressions were good, I didn’t come off as stone cold. The smiling allows for a positive and comfortable vibe in the room.
• I liked that I provided an overview side as an introduction and closing to my presentation. I learned this technique in Interpersonal Communication last semester, it really helps your audience follow along with what you’re presenting as well as reminds them at the end of what you covered, further reinforcing your points.
• Although they weren’t perfect and there’s still room for improvement I feel as if I did allow for some slight moments of pausing during my speech, these were to replace those annoying “filler words” and allow for a paced and controlled overall atmosphere.
• I liked that I was able to move around more during this speech, though it wasn’t as much as I would have liked, I made it a point to move away from the computer and stand more central while pointing to things on the board.
• I think this time around I was able to project my voice much louder than I had prior and I think that’s due to feeling more comfortable as this isn’t the first speech