• MY BEST ADVICE: I personally think that the best advice I gave to another student was to take a deep breath before they went up for their speech. I noticed the student trying it the next time they went to deliver a speech. After they did this I could tell from their body language that they were more comfortable at the time.
  • WHY IT’S MY BEST ADVICE: I knew that this would work with this student since I was having the exact same issue and had to ask my Dad how he is able to deliver a speech to so many people. This is how I knew it would help them if it helped me. I am able to understand the problems that other people are facing by connecting to myself and the problems I have faced or helped others face.
  • BEST ADVICE FROM MY PEERS: The best advice that I have received from another student was to record myself when I practiced my lines. They said that it will help me find when I use filler words during my speech. Then I know when I am likely to use filler words and am able to stop myself.
  • WHY IT’S THEIR BEST ADVICE: I decided to take their advice but I took my own spin on it. Instead of recording myself, I would practice in front of my roommates instead. I would give them my detailed outline and a pen. I told them that whenever they hear my mess up or use filler words to mark it on the outline. I hate hearing my own voice so this allowed me to get the same feedback without having to do that. After trying this I was able to eliminate most of the filler words in my speeches.
  • BIG REFLECTIVE MOMENTS (BRM):
    1. I had almost every classmate tell me that I need to work on my eye contact for the next speech. I totally agree with their feedback and will come more prepared and confident throughout the speech. I also think that I psyched myself out because this was my first time going on the first day, I also went third.
    2. I felt more confident with myself and what I was speaking about. I feel that I was less nervous since I knew what I was talking about. I have had to coach people in the past on how to play hockey so this helped me out a lot. The only difference is that I felt more constrained than I normally do since I had a time limit.
  • WHY THESE REFLECTIVE MOMENTS MATTER:
    1. I wrote this reflection after speech three and I think this is a BRM because you are never going to be perfect. Whenever I finished my speeches I would read the advice I received from the other students. I would find that I would beat myself up over all the improvements I got. Then after speech three, I realized that I am never going to have a perfect speech and neither will anyone in the world. If you think that you don’t need to improve on anything then you aren’t putting the work in or pushing yourself enough to get to the next level.
    2. This reflective moment mattered to me because when I gave my first speech I was a nervous wreck. I was shaking, sweating, and had butterflies in my stomach. I remember right after I sat down I was embarrassed thinking I did terribly. That’s when I called my Dad and asked him how to fix this. He told me to take a deep breath and just go for it. The biggest thing that I took away was when he said: “No matter what happens in that class you are gonna do great in life and I will always be proud of you.” After I heard that I knew I could do it. I took his advice and the next speech I went in took a deep breath and thought I am gonna do great.
  • MY BIGGEST STRIDES:
    • I saw the most improvement that I notice in watching my dry runs was my speech impediment. From the first dry I ever did I could see my self stuttering my words and my lisp beginning to come back. I noticed how confident I was after re-watching my speech #4.
  • INTRO: I am just gonna come straight out and say it, I believe I deserve to pass this class and here is why.
  • 1) Giving Aaron advice during the year
    • take a deep breath
    • slow your breathing
  • 2) Classmate giving me advice
    • record myself practicing
    • Listened to their advice
    • Took my own spin on the idea (roommates and friends)
  • Overcoming my stutter/speech impediment
    • After watching back over my dry runs I noticed that my stutter was very noticeable at the beginning of the year
    • Gained more confidence in myself and speaking publicly
    • no more stutter or speech impediment
  • Outro: My final point is that I didn’t wear my hat to this speech to show you how dedicated I am to pass this class.