Self Analysis Speech Comparison

Self Analysis Speech Comparison

Comparing my self-introduction speech (my first speech), to my persuasive speech (my last speech) was interesting. They were completely different topics but with a slight growth in speaking ability. Such as eye contact and nervous body language, speech preparation and structure, and delivery of speech.

First I am going to talk about the difference in eye contact and nervous body language between the first speech and the last speech. In my first speech my face was flushed a cherry red, I was shaking, and every time I would try to make eye contact I would lose all train of thought. In my last speech I was not nearly as nervous, you could tell by the color of my face. I was not as nervous, so I wasn't shaking. I was still not great with eye contact but I could stay focused enough to look up and actually remember what I was talking about.

Next I am going to talk about the structure and preparation of each of my speeches. My first speech did not fulfill all four functions of the speech introduction. I did not list my main points in the introduction of the first speech but I did in my last. I could really see the difference; how following the format makes everything flow together. Like transition statements, I never saw the importance in those until I watched myself without transition statements, what a mess. My persuasive speech followed much more of a pattern and was fluid.

The last point I would like to discuss in the delivery of my speech. The delivery was still not up to par but I think I have made a vast improvement. My first speech was pretty shaky and the last speech had more of a rock holding it down. I was much more confident in myself. I spoke strongly about my topic emphasizing words, to grasp the attention of my audience.

So in conclusion if I had another semester of speech, I could maybe speak to large group of people, completely confident in my delivery. But I still have a touch of anxiety in preparing to speak and my writing skills still need some work. I am really happy with what I have achieved in the class, yes it could have been more if I was tougher on myself, but I cannot believe how much more comfortable I was being up there. So I give myself a seven, on the one to ten scale of improvement.