Group Reflection

Carlos Cartagena

SPC 2608 

Group Presentation Reflection

         The class presentations were very entertaining and informative, i was able to learn a lot from my classmates. After reflecting on the presentations i feel like i picked up a lot of useful information that i can use to perform better in public speaking. Ever since i can remember i have always struggled to speak in public or small groups. It comes down to multiple reasons ranging from preparation to my own anxiety that combined with the fact that i tend to avoid it out of my dislike for it, leads me to not being very good at it. However after watching the amazing presentations my classmates showcased, i feel like i now have the knowledge that i can implement to better equip myself for future situation in which i will need to speak in public. I now realize that the reason why i wasn't good at public speaking was not because i was inherently bad at it, but rather i didn't have the tools that are needed to be a good public speaker. Everything that was presented by my classmates i can use to better refine my public speaking skills. In addition i learned that public speaking is an art form that comes with its own set of techniques, without knowing about these techniques its easy to see why speech was so complex and overwhelming for me. When you don't have a structured framework of what your going to say, how you should say it, and what not to say public speaking becomes a enormous obstacle that i didn't know how to tackle. That being said because of my lack of knowledge it created a anxiety for me, all these things combined lead me to not being good at it.

        Group one was the first group to present, when Julian gave an introduction to the chapters and explained that the chapters go into detail about confidence in public speaking i was hooked. I knew there was a lot i could learn. Gabriella talked about using facts when presenting information, she said it will make you feel more confident in what your saying, this is because you will know that what your saying is based on evidence that's hard to disagree with. Lana went over chapter two which i think was the most impactful for me. She discussed uncertainty in public speaking, factors like not knowing what to say, how the audience will receive you, and not truly understanding what your presenting. She mentioned how understanding your topic will help eliminate some issues, such as not knowing what to say. I think this is true because if you thoroughly research your topic you will naturally know what to say. Lana then went over strategies to reduce the anxiety you might get from uncertainty. Three that stood out to me were resilience, mindfulness, and diffusion. I think resilience is a good technique to practice because you can not plan for every single outcome, being able to adapt will tremendously help you. This brings me back to what Gabriella said, if you understand your topic you can adapt better to different circumstances. For example you were reading from your notes but lost track of were it was you were reading, if you know your topic you would adapt and speak with your own words and not from your notes. The second technique is mindfulness, this one is important because if you are able to stay present you avoid overthinking. A lot of the times when we start overthinking it leads to negative thoughts due to the fear of looking bad Infront of people. If your able to stay relaxed and just focus on what your presenting to the audience it will drastically improve your mindset going into it. Finally diffusion, diffusion is not giving power to negative thoughts that might come up. You do this by choosing how you respond to them, when a negative thought comes up for example "I'm going to mess up and look bad", instead of continuing to acknowledge that thought let it pass and don't give it the power to control you.

        The next group that helped me to better understand public speaking was group three. Group three talked about the foundations of having a good speech. Hannah gave a run down of language and how it should be used, she said that informal language such as slang, jargon, and cliches should be avoided. This is due to the fact that cultures are different, some might not keep up with slang and other cultures might view that type of language in a negative way. Avoiding informal language helps to avoid those adverse reactions. Another method to have a better speech would be to use media, Jose went over how digital media could help the audience engage better with what your saying. It gives the audience visuals which can help get your ideas across. He went over how you should structure it as well, by highlighting key points and using meaningful images to keep it simple. He emphasized that you should avoid long text and unnecessary images. Jose bringing up the proper way to use digital is important because although digital media in your speech is helpful, doing it incorrectly could have the opposite effect that you want. It could distract the audience from what you are saying because they will be distracted by what you have on screen. Keeping it simple while at the same time highlighting the main points will improve your speech overall.

        In conclusion i very much enjoyed the presentations that my classmates showed us. The information is of tremendous help to those like myself who have a hard time with speech, they all did an amazing job and it was clear to see that they put a great deal of effort into they're presentations. You could see them using those very techniques they learned in real time which was fun to see. This information was extremely valuable to me and i hope to use it in the future.