This speech hopefully helped give you confidence to step out and begin networking. Today's competitive job market requires networking...you need to start forming connections now...you have to be the creator of your life!
Share in this impromptu speech three awkward or ineffective moments that you discoverd in your speech. What did you learn that you need to "brush up" on to become a stronger and more memorable message?
This speech was the one I felt most comfortable with because I got to talk about my accomplishments and since it has to do with something I am very passionate about, I felt more confident. Awkward moments definitely did happen though: I knew I shouldn't have apologized for "bothering" her right when I said it so that threw me off for a second, I thought my handshake felt strange because I didn't even think of doing that before, and lastly, I shouldn't have asked for her business card since I would be seeing her again in a short period of time.
ReplyDeleteTo make my message stronger, I need to look back on my classes at TCNJ and find some things that could be seen as impressive and show that I can be a student and still be able to work as much as I do. Overall, this gave me a little bit of a confidence boost in myself and I think it was the best speech I have done in this class.
I agree with the feedback that I did not allow Rachael to speak enough to make the speech more of a conversation. I should have asked her a question or two instead of talking about my self most of the time. I also could have given a little more detail about the specific skills I could bring to the job, even though I think I was effective in showing that I have skills that can transfer over from retail pharmacy to the hospital. Finally, I need to continue to work on the pace of my speaking. I always speak too fast, and if I slowed down I would be able to stop saying "um" so much and I would also have been able to allow Rachael to say something in between my responses.
ReplyDeleteIn today's speech I felt that I could have taken better advantage of selling myself and how I could benefit "Brianna's research group". With future employers it is important to show them how you can help them and improve their business and I should have focused on that. Even though it wasn't said in class I felt that I rambled a little and was not as concise as I had wanted to be but this was a result of my nerves. I also felt I could have interacted with Brianna a little more to make it more like a conversation. Overall I think this speech went very well because it was something that I was very comfortable talking about.
ReplyDeleteI was a little nervous going in to the speech because I wasn't sure what to expect. The first thing I should have worked on was explaining my second skill better and how it would have made an impact on the event I wanted to work out. The second point I should work on is having a better conclusion. I needed to make it stronger so the person would remember me and ask me to work with her team. My final point to work on is being more concise. This was due to my nerves taking over and I know I wanted to say more than I did. However, I forgot to mention some points. Hopefully this won't happen in a real life situation.
ReplyDeleteThis speech came pretty naturally to me. I think knowing how to market yourself is definitely a valuable skill to have, though it definitely can be a bit awkward and uncomfortable. I struggled with determining the right amount to say, because if I said too much I'd sound like an infomercial and if I said too little the networking opportunity would not be effective. Also I have to keep in mind that people will often not be as receptive and conversational to networking attempts as my partner was. I think I have a few things to work on, but overall the speech was pretty strong.
ReplyDeleteI felt most comfortable delivering this speech than the others that we have had to done for class so far. I think that the conversational setting put me more at ease. Despite my comfort, I do remember me thinking to myself to slow down a little bit, especially when I was talking about my previous class and internship experience. Those two elements of my speech were the most important because they demonstrated my capabilities as a future PR professional, so it would have been more effective to explain those experience slower. I also should have avoided saying “sorry for interrupting,” as it made the conversation start off in a little bit of an awkward fashion. Finally, I definitely should have introduced myself earlier, so that Caitlin wouldn’t have had to ask for my name. That way, I would have appeared more confident to her. Overall, I enjoyed delivering this speech and feel that it was extremely beneficial for potential future run-ins with people I want to network with.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed completing this speech and I felt very comfortable delivering it. However, there is always room for improvement. One critique that I was given, and agree with, was that I should be the one leading the conversation. Melissa asked a lot of great questions but I should have volunteered that information instead of waiting to be asked. At the end of the elevator ride I asked for Melissa's contact information, but I did not establish a time to contact her. Next time, I would ask for her information and tell the person I would email/call them by the end of the week. One final thing I would change about my speech is to ask more questions about the person I am speaking with. I did a good job discussing myself, but it is equally important to show my interest in the other person I am speaking with. Overall, I thought my speech went well and I am thankful I had the opportunity to complete this assignment because it will be useful as I near graduation.
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite speech thus far. It was the most realistic and useful exercise. There have been many times that I have seen or met important people and wished I knew what to say to them without feeling unprepared. There were, however, three awkward moments during my speech: I did not ask the other person questions. By doing so more conversation could have been generated. The second awkward moment was that I felt as if I were bragging about myself. I want to learn how to highlight my accomplishments without being perceived as ostentatious. The third awkward moment was when I felt as if I could not use my hands. Limiting my hand gestures caused anxiety for some reason and I began to use filler words such as “um”. This was by far the hardest thing to do because I use my hands unintentionally while I speak.
ReplyDeleteThe positive aspects of my speech included having a good conversational voice, speaking at a normal rate, and knowing information about the person I wanted to get information from (a perspective supervisor for an internship).
While this was definitely the most awkward speech for me, I learned the most about myself. When I am put in an uncomfortable situation I use my hands more so I need to be conscious of that when I talk to someone so that I seem more confident in myself. I also used words like "maybe" that also make me appear to not be confident in myself and my abilities. I was critiqued for being too enthusiastic, and that most people would not find that to be inviting or may just see it as being too much. But that actually is how I speak to people I am genuinely excited to be talking with. I need to tone that down so that I do not come off as being contrived or insincere. Even though I know that I truly mean the enthusiasm, most other people will not.
ReplyDeleteThis speech did teach me that networking with people does not have to be awkward. I did not understand how practicing in class would help me if I was ever actually in a situation like the one that was set up in class, yet I think just getting over the strange feeling of approaching people really helped. And the things I was able to highlight about myself are definitely things I will use in the future.
Personally, I always get nervous when I have to make an impromptu speech or think of answers on my feet. I always think that I am not going to know what to say or that I will say something wrong. During my speech, I shouldn’t have opened up with “I don’t mean to bother you” because it makes you sound like you aren’t confident and that you aren’t in the right place to be asking someone questions. I also should have asked exactly what position the lady held within the company. However, she did say she was there for a couple of years so that let me know that she has gained some credibility within the company. Lastly, I should have given her my information as well so that she would be able to pass that along to her boss and they would be able to look out for the email that I would send them.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I did think I had a good conversational tone, which was nice to hear from the audience because I always worry that I sound so nervous when I speak. I just need to learn how to relax and be confident in myself and then my message will come off that way to whomever I am speaking to.
While I learned a lot about speaking impromptu, I do not think this was my strongest speech. Unfortunately, I think my critiques were similar to what they were during my first speech. I think I tried to memorize too much of the speech because I tried to get the points down too exactly, when I should have just relaxed and talked about the easiest speech subject I could be assigned- myself. I did not make enough eye contact with my audience, which in this case, was really important because my audience was the single person I was trying to sell myself to and network with.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do think I still have some things to improve upon, I do think this was a useful exercise and has helped me understand how to network properly. Hopefully in future situations I can successfully use some of the points I had talked about last week.
I actually enjoy speaking impromptu rather than having a prepared speech. Whenever I have a prepared speech it always sounds too rehearsed which then makes me sound robotic. The impromptu speech, though the topics were previously picked, were much better. People seemed so less nervous all around and I feel that no one was horrible. I understand I should have not assumed he was available to meet me, but in any case a professional would have said something along the lines of "I have a busy schedule but here is my information I'm sure we can work something out."
ReplyDeleteI felt that I did a good job of exchanging information; I said something to the effect of "Here is my email and phone number, if I could have your information that would be great..." instead of just saying "maybe can I have your number..." Of course there is always room for improvement, but I feel that with the critiques from the class as a whole I can really improve.
I felt as if the impromptu speech was my strongest speech yet. I felt more comfortable due to the fact that is was more of a conversation and not a formal presentation. There were however still areas for improvement.
ReplyDeleteThe first area of improvement is that I needed to address more about myself without having Cory ask questions. In a real life conversation the person I was speaking with would not have asked me so many questions. Also I needed to initiate my interest and why he should really go out of his way to contact me early in the conversation. Finally I still need to relax. Even if it did not show as much I still got anxious for no reason. I enjoy talking with people but I guess being in front of a the class makes me anxious, and this is something that I must work on before I enter the business world!