Speeches Pt. 2

So now I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the speeches that were oh so many days ago...........

OK, done. I think that I’m going to break my thoughts down into three sections to better explain myself, and so I don’t start hudge-dubbing around.

Public Speaking:

I have to say that I was stunned at how scared people are of public speaking. Especially since our class is a very argumentative class, which means that every day we’re having loud discussions where we’re speaking to all members of the class. I don’t quite understand why talking behind a lectern is any different than talking behind a desk. Additionally, I noticed that, while we were all given the freedom of mobility, I noticed that only once person actually wandered around the class (I found the wandering to actually help the presentation, but I’m not sure if it would have worked for other people’s presentation). 

Rhetoric:

People in general did a good job following the logos/pathos/ethos system, and using the Toulmin system in their arguments. Occasionally, I found that some people wouldn’t have enough data/statistics, or too much appeal to logic, in their argument, but for the most part the amount of appeal to logos, ethos, and pathos fit the arguments presented. I noticed that one person, Mr. Dobbs, used “props”, which I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to do, but in his case I think, while it didn’t necessarily help tremendously, it didn’t subtract from his presentation at all.

Content:

Lastly, I was kind of surprised by what people chose to argue for, and how they did it. Erin Bortz had something similar to an epiphany in the middle of her presentation, where you could tell that she was deviating from what was written down on her outline and speaking straight from what she truly believed. JD Hoover argued for another high school. And I’ve never heard of some of the organizations argued for, such as Dress for Success, or the VH1 program.