Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Persuasive Presentations
Wow! Fantastic presentations. I am so impressed by the academic effort made in these presentations. Working in groups isn't an easy endeavor and yet, these groups seem to work in harmony illustrating strong organizations and argruments. BRAVO! Please comment with a crititque to this blog with the student that you were assigned in class. Be sure to include both strengths and improvements in both delivery and content. Remember, feedback is a gift. So, help your assigned speaker improvement with some helpful advice!
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I thought Cory did a really good job with this speech! The topic of eating disorders and body image was an interesting one, and I thought she did a really good job of conveying what serious issues they were in the needs section. One of her biggest strengths throughout the speech was the information she had collected. She drew from a lot of varied resources and she gave really great details and ideas throughout. One weakness is that although Cory had some great sources, they weren’t always verbally cited or cited properly in APA format on the power point slides. Luckily, this is very easy to fix, and by going back through our class notes or to the noddletools website, she will be able to get these slides perfect in the future. Another strong point of Cory’s presentation was the visual interest of the slides, especially for the second need. She had some really strong images to back up what she was saying. However, some of the slides did not follow the 6 x 6 rule, which made them a little bit cramped. Again, by looking over the class notes, this is something that can be easily corrected. Lastly, I thought she did a great job with her delivery and transitions. When Cory was facing the audience dead on, she was very engaging and persuasive. She turned away from the audience to read off the slide at times, which took some of her momentum away as a presenter, but I think it was only because she was trying not to read from her index cards. Overall, I was very impressed with the entire group’s presentation and Cory’s part in particular!
ReplyDeleteCritique for Kathy O.
ReplyDeleteWow Kathy, you did an amazing job! I was very impressed with your research on the topic. Your strengths were your development of creditability and the adequate explanation of all the examples you used. You rarely referenced your note cards and that demonstrated a solid knowledge of your content. Furthermore, your voice quality was overall good, but sometimes I felt like you talked a little to fast. I think it was just that you had so much good information to say, that didn’t want to forget anything; but that was a minor issue. Citing was good.
One very minor thing that you can work on is your posture and poise. It probably was just your nerves, but you leaned back and forth, and twisted your foot a couple of times. Also, when you switched points you said a couple of “umhs”, but that’s a common issue a lot of people have, including myself. To help you get over this, one suggestion is practice in the mirror. It will help will build confidence in yourself, and help you to give a very smooth visual delivery.
In conclusion, it was an excellent presentation. Definitely one of the best in our group!
Critique for Allie R.,
ReplyDeleteWithin the first couple of seconds you made it apparent that you knew and believed what you were saying. You maintained eye contact throughout the whole presenetation. Your posture was excellent, there was no fidgeting or swaying. I also really liked your face expressions. They helped me connect more with what you were saying. For example when you were talking about how you didn't understand people's statuses and how no body cares when so and so is taking a shower. As you said this you had a confused look on your face which really helped me to connect with what you were saying. The only negative thing I could possibly say would be the occasional hand gestures. Overall, the presentation was great! Good job!
Critic of/for Dave
ReplyDeleteYou did an excellent job in this speech and I've seen, as I'm sure the rest of the class, that you're doing better and becoming more confident in terms of your public speaking skills. The attention getter was strong and the scenario method proved very efficient especially due to the fact that you divided the scenarios to males and females because the issue of body image does apply to each differently. I would just recommend that you would have started by asking something like "how many people have ever felt uncomfortable with the way they look?" or maybe even " "how many people here are happy with their bodies?" It would have put people in the state of mind necessary to tackle this issue. There almost seemed to be disconnect between the opener and the rest of your portions so maybe smooth out that transition.
You had a good tone of voice throughout your portion of the presentation and were able to fluctuate it appropriately and emphasize appropriate word that truly made your points.
Perhaps the biggest issue that needed work was the eye contact. Throughout the opener you kept looking up and down and at times would focus way to much on your cards and the power point slides. My advice would be to sit one person in front you when you practice. Forget about the power point and have no cards and simply try to verbalize what you want to say while continuously keeping eye contact. It will make you more comfortable working without the cards and could always visualize that person when actually delivering the speech.
The thesis was a slightly undefined but the preview was strong enough for us to understand the main purpose your presentation.
Finally, I would suggest putting your entire research down on the power point simply because it makes you seem more knowledgeable about the topic. Its Obvious you did research but its a good idea to have a quote or statistics from the start just to wow people. Finally, I noticed this is the second time that you are going first either for the group or in the class and I'd suggest maybe taking a 2nd or 3rd turn simply so that you can build on the energy and flow of either the class or the group.
Critique for German
ReplyDeleteI thought that you did an excellent job with your speech! You seemed very comfortable and confident while speaking. Your tone was also conversational which kept me interested in the presentation. I did not feel like you were preaching to me but rather just trying to tell me something. Another good part of your presentation was your eye contact. It made it seem like you knew your information well since you did not have to look at notecards. You established your credibility well which made me believe what you were saying. You showed a lot of resources which I thought was very good. You also mentioned what the purpose was so that I knew exactly where the speech was heading. I also thought that the attention getter was very good. Having the interview in the beginning demonstrated your point well and definitely caught everyone's attention.
It was very hard to find an area of improvement for you. However, one thing that I did find was that it was a little difficult to identify your thesis in the speech. I was unable to figure out what the different parts of your thesis was. One other area that I thought could use a slight improvement was talking with your hands. I was slightly distracted by that.
I thought that overall you did a great job!
Critique for Kenya
ReplyDeleteI think that you did an excellent job for your part of your group’s presentation. You are very excited and sociable when you speak and your excitement for your topic definitely transcends to the audience. You kept a nice, conversational tone the entire time you spoke, but sometimes you tend to get a little over excited and talk too fast. Just calm down a little bit and don’t forget to pause and collect your thoughts and maybe take a breath; you will not lose our attention in that short moment.
You also had very good transitions during your part of the speech. Every time you began speaking you used what the person before you had said to launch into your part and you always made sure to recap what you said and pass the speech on effectively to the next person. I also particularly liked your part of the speech because you had such good visuals. The graphs and charts you presented really backed up your information nicely and proved that what you were saying was true. Your own excitement for the information paired with the visual aids made your part of the presentation very entertaining and kept my attention very well.
The only suggestions I have for you are to watch your filler words (I caught a few “ums” and “uhhs” in there) and to slow down a little bit when you talk. Don’t sacrifice your energetic presentation style, but just remember that you have our attention, you don’t need to spit out all of your information too quickly. Take your time to articulate your thoughts a little more and I think about what you want to say next; those filler words will disappear and you will have a rock solid presentation. Excellent job!
Critique for Andy,
ReplyDeleteAndy, your part of the speech was well delivered overall. I thought you did a good job with the presentation of the material. I wish I could be as calm and relaxed as you look up there. I was impressed by how you had your material under control. You made it very easy for me to understand the main points and you also took your time in showing us these very interesting websites. It was indeed a little funny that you said you “use them for your girlfriend”, but that made your speech even a little more interesting.
Having had the same part of the speech as you did - the action/conclusion part, I can relate how hard it was to bring everything together, state the thesis again, summarize and wrap everything up while still giving action steps. I think you did well overall although I think the conclusion could have been somewhat stronger. I don’t think I heard you mention the thesis again and there was no real memorable statement.
As far as your critique goes for the last speech, you definitely improved on these points. You barely looked at the power point at all and delivered freely (almost no use of note cards, right?). You were definitely not fidgety, as I already mentioned you looked very calm and professional. Good job!
Critique for Alyssa
ReplyDeleteI was very impressed with your work on this speech! Throughout the entire presentation you showed a thorough understanding of your information. I noticed that you had phenomenal research. You established credibility at the beginning of your speech with a good source, and continually stated sources the whole time- I counted up to seven or eight! Also, you explained all your slides very well, down to each graphic and photo. I liked how you described the scenes in the drunk driver quote. While presenting, you kept a conversational tone that drew in the audience. You also dressed neatly and looked very professional.
The first time you spoke, you read off your notecards a bit much, which created a problem because you did not have enough eye contact. But by the second time around you looked up a lot more, creating a much better connection with the crowd.
Overall, I thought you did a fantastic job! Your preparation was impeccable- I was honestly nervous to follow you as the need step in the next presentation! The only improvement I could suggest for you is to make sure you keep good eye contact at all times during your speech.
Critique for Vicky
ReplyDeleteOverall, I thought Vicky did an awesome job. You definitely presented the benefits portion of the presentation with lots of confidence. In terms of delivery, you had a conversational tone to your speech and you were smiling. I did not get the feeling that you were nervous, you looked calm and composed. You dressed very professionally which added credibility to your speech. Dressing professionally tells the audience you took the time out to get ready for the speech. You were even able to create a time for the audience to laugh/chuckle after displaying a photo of David Beckham, mentioning that the ladies still love him even though he isn’t “jacked” or “built.” The content of the message was to the point. You did not add unnecessary jargon to fill up space. You remained in the boundary of the benefits and did not overstep your boundary with any of the other parts of the speech. You did your part and you allowed your fellow team members to present their information. The pictures and all of the information were cited correctly on the power point. The argument was strong in terms of providing benefits for the men and women. You provided equal benefits to healthy eating and exercise for both genders. Transitioning from point to point flowed very well, you even transitioned well after the plan section.
Improvement: Although the information was cited well and the information was well research, I would have liked to hear more from you. In comparison to the group members, you spoke the least in terms of time. Perhaps, adding more quotes from journal articles that referenced the benefits section would have added to the length of your presentation. Great Job!
Critique for Sarah
ReplyDeleteSarah you did a phenomenal job with your plan step of your presentation. In all 3 cases you had thorough knowledge of your subject. You really adapted your research to the audience well and had great arguments.
In your 1st plan you cited a couple of times (I counted 2, but there could have been more). You had good audience contact, although your connection, mainly eye contact, was more focused on your information and note cards. I think this was the result of your nerves being that you just started 1 of 3 presentations. You really knew your materials and had good examples of your plan. Your UTube clips supported your presentation well and you had good transitions. As a suggestion, I think starting out you wanted to 'nail' your presentation so just have confidence in yourself and make better eye contact because you already knew your material.
During your 2nd presentation your eye contact improved. You had very good transitions and good use of words for both your plan and your transitions. You had great citations, e.g 'The Portman Group', 'The Century Council' and you had a clear knowledge of your facts. This was a good application of your research!
Your 3rd presentation had a good plan with great steps to support your plan. It was very persuasive with the examples you used: Tanguary & Guiness. Very strong arguments again. Your use of note cards were well placed with your citations and your eye contact improved greatly.
I can only say as a suggestion for the next time that you have confidence in yourself and to try to think that every part of your presentation is over and the last step, as you did better as you moved along through the speech.
Again, that would be my only suggestion as you did a phenomenal job! Congrads
Critique of Jessica
ReplyDeleteYou made a connection with the audience with your attention getter, and were smiling the entire time. You had a lot of energy, and your smiling allowed you to kick start a pleasant theme toward your group presentation. You had nice hand gestures, and a very positive attitude. Things to improve on is to watch your "ums", you said a lot, and your eye contact. You were looking at your notecards a lot, possibly out of nervousness- I do it too. You just need to practice more and become more comfortable with the material, and you will get better.
Critique for Hannah
ReplyDeleteHannah, I thought you did well and you made some good progress from your last speech. Your ideas flowed alot better and you seemed alot less nervous than you did last time as well. I also noticed that you barely used your index cards until the end where you used them a bit much, but overall not that much at all. I also noticed that you had more of a confident swagger about yourself as you spoke. It felt like you knew exactly what you were saying and you knew that you knew as well (if that makes any sense). The only thing I would you say you can improve on is, at the end, it seemed like you got a little flustered and resorted to reading off of the note cards alot. But other than that, very much improved from your last speech. Great job!
Steph,
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a really great job overall on the presentation. It was obvious that you were well prepared for your part of the speech. First of all, you did an excellent job citing. You really made sure that you brought in your sources when it was necessary and you were able to incorporate them while keeping your conversational style. This style was also evident in the lack of space fillers that you used. I heard maybe only one “um” during your report. That is a huge step towards creating a connection with the audience. You were able to collect your thoughts in a professional manner and demonstrated confidence by eliminating those fillers. You also had great transitions. You picked up nicely where your partner left off and you introduced the next speaker while still maintaining a steady and conversational pace. I also really enjoyed your personal stories. I thought that they brought a lot into the presentation because it showed how you were extremely interested in the topic you were discussing. This, in turn, made the audience more interested.
Just one thing to work on for next time would be to focus your information more. Some of your information was a little too off topic or jumbled around. Just make sure everything you say relates clearly back to your main point.
Other than that great job!
I thought that Stephanie did excellent on this speech. You seemed much more comfortable in front of the class this speech and your presentation reflected that. You were still a bit stiff and nervous looking in the very beginning but once you realized you knew what you were saying you loosened up and gave a really great speech. I would really like to see you smile more though! You had AWESOME citations in your presentation and it really made me feel like you were credible. Your speaking voice has a nice tone to it and you were very articulate and easy to understand. You maintained a steady conversational tone almost entirely throughout your portion of the speech. I did notice a time when you tripped over your words a little bit, but you got right back on pace with what you were saying and that impressed me a lot. Overall, I thought you did an excellent job with this speech. I would like to see you be a little bit more enthusiastic next time about the material, but your impressive information made it seem like you were truly interested in your topic. Awesome job, Steph!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI thought Angela did a really good job on the speech. I thought her citing was done very well throughout the speech. She made good contact with the audience and did not refer to her notecards a lot. You could tell she did a lot of research for the topic because she had a strong argument. She made some very nice transitions throughout her speech as well. I really liked her personal experience that she added in. She did need to watch the amount of "um's" in her speaking though. That is my only thing that I think she needs to work on. Overall, I thought she presented well and looked comfortable up in front of the class. Nice work Angela!
ReplyDeleteCritique for Andy...
ReplyDeleteThroughout the speech the projection of Andy's voice was clearly and strong. His examples were very useful and connected with his presentation. I also thought he transitioned well into the conclusion and constructed it very well. Be careful with the hand gestures because it can draw away form the presentation.As well as personal information that might be disclosed might work against you rather than for you, sometimes.