Outside of Class Presentation

My Topic:
For my out of class speech I chose the topic of the sleep aid vitamin, Melatonin. I understand this is something most people are probably familiar with, however, I have heard of very few people who actually use it. I delivered my speech to 12 women, mostly moms, at my sister's baby shower this past Saturday. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to inform a group of women who looked exhausted about how to sleep better.

I began the speech with my personal experience of sleeping or lack of sleeping for that matter. For these past few years I have had difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep but since I have started using Melatonin I have slept wonderful. I informed the women of what Melatonin was and the importance of sleep. I recognize how difficult that is to accomplish with babies and young children and that is why when you get the chance to sleep you should be getting the best sleep possible. I used google slides to integrate a presentation with my speech through my Ipad. I referenced a youtube video from TedTalks and the speech was from Jeff Illiff titled, "One more reason to get a good night's sleep".

My Critique:
My critique was based on twelve questions and each of the twelve questions had a one to five rating with five being the best possible. I used the rubric that was in the syllabus that we were graded on for our first hip pocket speech for the questions and I added one more of my own. The one I added had to do with using the word "um", since I tend to revert to this word when I get nervous. I scored well on my critiques that were passed out to everyone.

It was a comfortable setting for me since I knew all of the women and I found it much easier to remember the things I wanted to present. However I was still nervous, no surprise. This helped me to understand that I need to work on staying calm while in front of audiences I am not entirely comfortable around. Another thing I can improve is talking slower. I was informed that I start speaking rapidly when I have my train of thought, but as soon as it ends, I take too long of a pause. The recommendation was for me to slow down and let my train of thought continue and that way when a stop does occur it seems more natural instead of abrupt. Public speaking is not something I have ever had a desire to do, however, it is a skill that can be used throughout my entire life. Through the opportunity of presenting my speech I learned new things that I need to continue to practice.

Overall, I'm glad I had the experience to gain more practice with speaking in front of an audience. I'm extremely grateful for the people who were willing to listen to my presentation and help me improve in many ways.