Self Evaluation

 

  Self-Evaluation and Speech Critique

  I believe that this advanced public speaking course has been greatly beneficial to me and well help me in my overall success in my future career. I have learned useful skills that I can carry with me into job interviews, internships, and my career not to mention just in my daily life. This course has helped to further build upon my past experiences with speech classes both in high school as well as in the basic public speaking class at Southern Arkansas University.

    Throughout the semester I feel like I have made great progress in my overall speech abilities. I have become more aware of certain vocalics that I had gotten into a habit of saying. These vocalics things such as "um" and drop g's. I have recognized that I use "um" as a place holder for when I am unsure of what to say or needing to take a beat to think about what I am going to say. I have noticed myself starting to fill the space with either a brief pause or the word "so". However, I do still end up saying "um" from time to time. 

    Another area I feel that I have improved upon regarding public speaking is in my use of a presentation or notes and becoming more comfortable in using them. In High School I had a very strict public speaking teacher whose strictness caused a buildup in nervousness around using a presentation or notes. I always had points taken away for incorrectly using them. Through my time with both of my public speaking courses at SAU I have come to find out that there should be comfortability in using your slides and that you do have the ability to look at your slides and to use them as a guiding tool not just a visual for your audience. I feel like this has in turn helped me to reduce any nervousness I may have when it comes to a speech or presentation. 

    Overall, I feel that the advance public speaking course has been and will be greatly beneficial to me. I have learned vital skills in ensuring that my pronunciation, presentation, and overall confidence become overall better. And while I do have some things to work on, I believe that I have made great strides in reaching my goals for public speaking.