TED Talk Update

Hi everyone! 

It's been a while since I've written any posts. . . School has been super busy as winter break is getting closer and closer. All the teachers want to finish everything before the break. In the meantime, in my Public Speaking class, we've been working on TED talks. But before that, we have to write the speech that goes with it. What do you guys think about the drafts? 

I believe that one of the strengths of my speech is that it a topic that is different and unusual, but still relatable. Travel is something that everyone has done, and the experiences that people gain from travel includes such a large range. For example, everyone can probably think of one trip that they were forced to go on, or was just downright irritating. And because I can help them through their journey, I have caught their attention from the start. Not many people have been lucky enough to to have had the same experiences I had, and learned as much as I did. Going to India, after all, isn't some small task. But because everyone had traveled somewhere, somehow, they can relate to my feelings and thoughts.

One weakness I have in my speech is that the length could turn some people off. Although the material is quite interesting, after a while hearing the same person talk about the same thing, can be a little boring. To try to solve this problem, I think I will try to make my voice, less monotone, and more flowy to keep it more like a conversation than an monologue.

One thing that is pretty easy for me is that I can talk about my travels, very easily because it is something I enjoy very much. Sharing about one of my passions with others is effortless for me when talking causally, but making it seem unrehearsed when actually it is written before is much harder. For this project, we are allowed to use a teleprompter, where the speech will be projected onto the screen in front of us. Our teacher will be the one adjusted the speed of the speech and anything else necessary. When I read my speech with the teleprompter, I didn't realize that the teacher would change the speed according to my pace, so I was trying to keep up with the speech thinking that the teacher would define the pace. That is one think I need to work out; making sure my speech sounds the way I want it to using the teleprompter. 

I learned a lot from watching others read their speeches. Other than the actual content of the speech, the way that they structured their speeches and how they read their speech was very interesting. The structure helped me evaluate if the structure I had, was effective enough for the audience to listen to. Also, the way that the speakers read their speeches made a big difference. The things that they were complimented about and the things they were criticized about help me look at my speech to see how I could improve.  

Well, that's it for this post, I'll see you next time on Internal Utopias!