Speech II – Pharmaceutical Companies in Livingston, NY

For Speech II, I had to do a little bit of research to find out what kinds of companies Livingston wanted (actually, I just asked the Town Supervisor, who is a friend's dad). Once I found out that we like green companies, I just picked a type of company that had been in Livingston before. The easiest part of the speech was my audience analysis. I knew there were different parts of a company that were involved in a company moving to a new place (company representatives & financial representatives), and that there would always be people who opposed a company. Then, I basically just wrote a speech that would convince ME to invite a company to Livingston. A persuasive speech is pretty easy if you know who your audience is (I think that applies to all speeches…). The morning of the speech, I got to class early and practiced it about five times when it was just on paper, then I went to the library and practiced it again with the teleprompter (which I'd already done at home too).

I assumed, that since I gave my first speech on Livingston, I would lose everyone's attention if I gave them the Livingston background again (even though, technically, they're a different audience this time around…). When I gave information on Livingston, I kept it very vague, and just told them what they needed to know (lots of open space, lots of open land, people who want jobs).

I'm still my own worst critic, so I wasn't really happy with the way I presented my speech. I was okay with the manuscript, but as soon as I opened my mouth to talk, I just got faster and faster and ran out of breath. I don't know why, because I didn't feel nervous, and I almost had the speech memorized. But I just got faster and faster until I ran out of breath, and then, I pretty much blew it. Otherwise, as far as organization goes, I thought I was okay.

You wrote "good introduction" on the back of the speech evaluation. Maybe you should point out to me what made it a good introduction. I absolutely STINK at writing introductions and conclusions (even though, as an English major, you'd think I'd be good at them). So maybe if I knew what it was that made it good, it would help when I go to write Speech III.

The student evals of my speech pretty much matched yours – good speech, but the pace was off. I just don't know how to slow back down once I start going faster, because I think it just sounds ridiculous when someone takes a big breath in the middle of their speech. However, I'm not really sure how having a vague introduction worked (which is what you wrote in response on my extra credit self-eval). I guess other than not directly identifying an audience…

For the next speech, I think I'll be fine with slowing down, because I won't be reading it from a teleprompter. Having to change note cards and formulate my ideas as I go along will force me to slow down. I just have to get it into my head that pauses are okay. Maybe if I write "PAUSE" on my note card, I'll remember to take a breath. I think the hardest part of the second speech will be dressing up again – I'm definitely uncomfortable with wearing clothes like that, just because the clothes themselves aren't very comfortable. Never was a skirt (or even slacks) girl.

What DO you wear when you address the Dept of Commerce?