Speech #1 - Your Hometown

This was certainly the most nerve-wracking thing I've done in quite a while. I sing, I dance, I act, and I always get a little nervous, but I was nauseous for two days before I had to do my speech!

For this speech, we had to talk for 5 to 7 minutes about our hometown. I figured, ok, easy, I live there now (and I've lived there almost my whole life). How hard could it be to talk about someplace I know like the back of my hand? Honestly, pretty hard.

I actually had to go and research a little bit of the history in my town. I knew before the speech who founded it and when, but other than that, I really had no clue. So, I researched the history of Livingston, NY and went from there. Since my town is so small, it was smooth sailing from then on out. I really only had a few things to talk about - the town hall, the post office, the library, the gazebo, and the rec park. Oh, and the cows. Cows, cows, cows...and corn. So, I had my uncle drive me from one end of Livingston to the other so I could take pictures - it literally took 20 minutes (and that's only because we had to stop every 1/4 mile). I threw together the slideshow in about 5 hours, and made a soundtrack out of one song.

For the speech itself, as far as prep goes, I just thought a lot about what I wanted to say. I made a sheet of speech points that were just reminders to myself about what I should talk about. For example, when I was talking about the library, I almost forgot how they ban books. It's a good thing I wrote "banned" on my paper. Then, unfortunately, the morning of the speech, I was in such a rush leaving from work that I left my speech points on the table. So from 8:00 to 9:15, I was frantically writing everything that I thought I was going to say - literally. I even wrote "Hi, I'm Jess Sweet and I'm from Livingston, New York" on the top, like I was going to forget my own name. I'm really glad I only glanced at that paper during the speech though.

I had six different audiences listed on my audience analysis, but really there were only two audiences broken into three sub-groups. I had "NY-urban, suburban, rural" and "US-urban, suburban, rural". All of the people in the audience were UAlbany students and in their 20s. It was when my audience analysis asked "What does the listener know already?" that things got a little messy, so bear with me. Of the New Yorkers in the audience, they may have known: Columbia County is mostly agricultural, the stereotypical rural reputation, the relative area, possibly the region, and what the region is known for (apples, strawberries, etc). Of the students who were not from New York, I thought that they might know that rural areas in NY are mostly agricultural and they probably also know the reputation of a rural town.

Every member of the audience basically needed to know the same information: how to get to Livingston, what to do once you're there, places to avoid, attraction of area, how to travel in Livingston, surrounding area, personal experiences, where to shop, how far away are recognizable landmarks or attractions. Everyone had the same benefits in listening: got to understand other lifestyles and to learn about a place in NY that they may pass on their way to school. The people from rural areas had an added benefit: they could feel connected to someone in the class that also comes from a rural area (aka ME!). After the speech, I just wanted the audience to understand my lifestyle and where I come from.

Self-evaluation is probably the hardest part of this assignment, because I'm usually not aware of what I'm doing in front of a room of people. I just get up there and think "ok, don't let anything distract you, keep a smile on your face no matter how horrible it all comes out...". I'm a chronic "umm"-er, so that was my first thought when I left work was "don't say um!". Of course, I would almost stumble every time I said "um" during my speech. The three most important points I wanted to make about Livingston were: 1) it is the stereotypical, picture-perfect small town; 2) there really is nothing to do for miles around; and 3) although it seems kind of boring, Livingston (and Columbia County in general) has its own charm and it's a great place to grow up. The three areas I excelled in doing the speech were: 1) I really don't think I sounded like I was reading off a paper, which most of the time I wasn't anyways, 2) I sounded much more confident than I usually do, and 3) I projected my voice well (I think...). The three areas I need to work on are: 1) remembering to relax and breathe - I know I looked like a goldfish a few times there, 2) incorporating more pop culture into something that has practically none (maybe by comparing and contrasting?), and 3) looking up and making more eye contact.

When I dared to actually look at people in the audience, I saw different reactions. Some people were very interested (judging by the way they were looking at me), some people were smiling, and others were just staring at me because they knew they had to be polite and pay attention. I saw a few confused looks every now and then (especially when I started talking about WHERE Livingston is), and a couple of incredulous ones when I talked about the library.

The student and teacher audiences were different from each other as well, although the feedback didn't vary much between the two. I could almost tell who was evaluating me, because they were staring at me like they were waiting for me to do something (maybe next time I should pull a rabbit out of a hat...). Similarly, you (yes you, probably the only person who will read this blog), had a range of expressions on your face. At one point (and I didn't dare watch too closely) you laughed, and other times, you looked like you were trying to memorize what I was saying.

I think for the next speech, I will actually remember my speech points. Also, since the speech, I've been pretty stressed out, and I've looked up stress management skills, and I think I might practice a few of those, especially since the next speech is more formal. I'm going to have to practice a lot more for the formal speeches. Also, I might record myself during the next speech just so I hear what I really sound like. I am both my harshest critic and my biggest fan, so it's hard for me to accurately judge how well I did (or didn't do).

After the speech, I walked out of the room feeling pretty confident that I did well. Or at least, I did better than I thought I was going to do. I was picturing myself freezing and losing my voice and forgetting what I was supposed to say. But I think having a little nervous energy is a good thing - it makes me more aware of what I'm going to have to do next.

And I think my Munchkins went over well too. Too bad I can't bribe them all next time! :)