I learned a lot about the foundations of speaking in front of an audience to convey a message during this course. It was also very fun being able to write my speeches for the class and putting my beliefs about different topics into words that best fulfill the purpose of the speech. The main benefit I gained from this class was being able to consistently practice speaking in front of an audience nearly every time our class met. However, there were also many different pieces of information I gained about topics such as the best demeanors to have during specific types of speeches, the best way to present the information in your speech based on your goal, or the proper amount of time to spend looking to your audience during a speech. The factor that I struggled with most in this course was becoming more comfortable with speaking in front of individuals who I was very friendly with. However, I became much more comfortable with this as the course progressed. I am much more experienced and practiced with public speaking now that I have completed this course.
This artifact is a speech that I presented about the United States’ need to improve our education system in the area of mathematics. Our goal for the assignment was to give an informative speech to the class to present information that they were not greatly familiar with. During my speech I referenced America’s math scores in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test, which tests different nations scores in English, science, and math. Also, I explained how during my experiences as a tutor I had seen many students greatly enhance their math skills by going back and strengthening their foundations in math. I chose this topic for my informative speech because I believe it is a growing issue that needs to be addressed before it becomes too serious.