Speech

[structured]

I find that giving a memorized speech is much more difficult than giving one that is off the cuff. You are more likely to get caught up or stutter that way and it will make you look like a poor public speaker.

Just review your topic thoroughly without trying to memorize it. Make a few important bullet points and put them on a flash card if you need it. Confidence and fluidity are way more important than content.

[nando]

I had a blast in my speech class. I did a lot of fire/brimstone type speeches incoorporating some humor. I did a speech on peak oil theory, it was hilarious - people literally sat there with their mouths wide open afterwards ($5 gasoline in 2003? OMG!). I also did one on the practices of the poultry industry, it was serious but I had a few funny moments that made people laugh. Basically it's an easy A, just don't worry about it - everyone else is going to be too worried about their own speech to care about yours. And no stuttering - "Uhm" "Ah" "uhh" makes you sound like a moron. :p

[herbivor]

I try to envision giving a speech to one person that's moving around the room. That way it feels like a one on one discussion. I also deliberately talk slow as if English is everyone's second language. That makes me relax more and the words tend to sink in with the audience better. And definitely do not read from anything, unless you are the President and can't speak for yourself:)

[mrsleeve]

. And definitely do not read from anything, unless you are the President and can't speak for yourself:)

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA


I just came back in here to tell the OP to call up the prez and see if he could barrow TOTUS, it seems that thing can make anyone into a Brilliant public speaker

[Ryan...]

Like others have already said; everyone else either A) Doesn't care and wont listen, or B) Is too busy sweating bullets waiting for their turn to go.

I would do what nando said, add some humor if possible. Trust me, if you can get the class to laugh it makes the speech 50x easier. It will help relax you, and the class will go back to daydreaming :)

[Ral]

being funny is great, but trying to be funny won't usually get you anywhere. Stand up straight, and above all don't look down more than a few seconds at a time/don't use time-filler words like "um", "Like", etc. If you need to pause, pause.

[Ryan...]

^^ True, not saying to be a comedian the whole time, but a little humor can go a long way to calming you down.

[Conki]

being funny is great, but trying to be funny won't usually get you anywhere. Stand up straight, and above all don't look down more than a few seconds at a time/don't use time-filler words like "um", "Like", etc. If you need to pause, pause.

Oh I so hate it when 'like' is someone's every other word. Have you guys noticed that only girls talk like that? And mostly the dumb ones. Can't stand it grrhhh

[s0urce]

Beta Blockers!

[Ssolidarity]

haha thanks guys, i looked over this before class

but really the speech was alright, better than I expected. Felt that I looked at the flashcards too much but whatever. Yea I cant stand that class at all, if we go over 6 minutes we get an automatic F on the speech and we have to write like 5-7 pages for our outline thats word for word what we are going to say so I was pretty nervous about breaking the time limit.

Thanks for all the tips, I'll read these again before my next speech.............

[Ryan...]

Good to hear, I hate when they have a max time limit. I had a speech that had to be between 30 and 35 minutes. Any more or less and the best possible grade you could get was a C. I finished in 35:10 or something gay like that, got a C on it :(

[Fusion]

If they're looking at you, they're just judging your nads.
If you make a joke and they laugh, they've gotten a chance to finally laugh at your nads.
Don't wear anything that makes it look like you have potatoes in your underwear.
If you panic, fake a heart attack.

[HarryPotter]

lol ^

[blunttech]

I would try to get out of it. Just dont show up or call in sick. Ive tried to live my life this way for the most part. anything uncomfortable avoid at all costs

[Ssolidarity]

holy thread revival batman! Last speech tomorrow. Can't wait for it to be finally over with

/coolstarrybra