Knowledge of audience
I respect what the 18th century knows. Since my item was toilet paper, I referenced the toilet they had back in the day: their chamber pot. I mentioned their "toilet paper", which would be the straw, grass, Sears catalogue, etc. I also touched on how they disposed of the waste, as crude as it was. I felt like I was fairly in touch with the audience since I knew their habits when it comes sewage.
Voice
My diction is clearer than I thought it sounded. I was nervous but it turned out better than I thought. My voice is light and clear but can also dip down at times. I think my volume was at a good level, not too loud but not too quiet. I used a few fillers, such as "um" and "whatever", which I don't even know why I did, especially the "whatever"! My vocabulary was understandable; I kept it simple. Even when I had a big term, such as perforated, I defined it for my audience.
Body Language
I don't exactly demand attention. I make a lot of facial expressions and smile, which may have put my audience more at ease. I gesticulate throughout the speech, especially when I was trying to explain how toilet paper was actually made. I stayed in the zone of the camera, but I wasn't stiff. I made eye contact a few times but I was actually looking at the back of the room, and sometimes I looked upward or down at my paper. My posture was upright and I think it means that I was fairly confident when I was presenting. I did not slouch, twitch or continually shift myself around as if I was uncomfortable. I was nervous at times but it didn't show through.
Preparedness
I looked at my notes about 5 times, but they were fairly quick so I didn't think it took away from my presentation too much. Surprisingly I did not run out of things to say. Some of the things led into another, such as when I had to explain septic tanks and plumbing. The timing ran smoothly and I did not rush through anything.
Overall Effectiveness
I was effective and informative because most of my speech was factual. I could have been more engaging, however. This is because I memorized most of the stuff I was saying and wasn't passionate about it. I mean, it was toilet paper. If I were to go back in time, then I'd have brought in an actual roll of toilet paper as a visual aid. I also would have remembered the name of that guy who took the splinters out of toilet paper and axed out most of my fillers, especially the "whatever". It gave my presentation a really informal tone to it, and I was worrying about it afterwards. I also wish I could speak louder, clearer and make more eye contact.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
¿Que pasa comida?
This week in my Spanish class we had to write about a Spanish topic that we were interested in. I chose to do food and tapas, which are appetizers. I got to thinking about the relationship between Spanish and English language. I find it cool how English borrows certain words from the Spanish language already. Some of these include mosquito, taco, and calamare.
Spanish language is simpler than English..in fact, most languages are. There is a lot that's lost in translation. Spanish words tend to overlap in meaning, which is confusing. For example, papa means potato, but Papa, with a capitalized P means pope. And on top of that, papa can also mean father. Could you imagine if you ordered a pope with your steak in a restaurant, or called your dad the Pope? You'd get funny looks.
Of course, English has all that business too when it comes to homophones, homonyms and homographs. I imagine that a Spanish speaker would have a spinning head if they tried to absorb it all at once. I still have trouble with grammar and mechanics. I don't even know what a predicate is and I bet a lot of other native English speakers don't!
Spanish language is simpler than English..in fact, most languages are. There is a lot that's lost in translation. Spanish words tend to overlap in meaning, which is confusing. For example, papa means potato, but Papa, with a capitalized P means pope. And on top of that, papa can also mean father. Could you imagine if you ordered a pope with your steak in a restaurant, or called your dad the Pope? You'd get funny looks.
Of course, English has all that business too when it comes to homophones, homonyms and homographs. I imagine that a Spanish speaker would have a spinning head if they tried to absorb it all at once. I still have trouble with grammar and mechanics. I don't even know what a predicate is and I bet a lot of other native English speakers don't!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Diction, accents
You never really notice the way you speak until someone points something out to you.
There seems to be the trend that people assume the way they enunciate is the "right way" until outsiders say it sounds "weird". It all comes down to whether or not you've grown accustomed to something. Geographial locations come into play here. The South always have that southern drawl, along with colloquialisms like "Hey y'all!". In English we did an exercise on diction and it was easy to see how The North slur their "T's" into "D's", such as in the word "butter". The word "water" is pronounced differently everywhere! Around Jersey, it's pronounced "wooder". To actually hear it pronounced they way it should be, with the t "emphasized", it sounds strange.
There are many "accent" challenges on Youtube. It's interesting to see how we all speak differently when it's all the same language in the end. If anything we should pay homage to the originators of the language and speak with an English accent. I wonder how that happened, that the British enunciation was not carried over when the language settled in America.
There seems to be the trend that people assume the way they enunciate is the "right way" until outsiders say it sounds "weird". It all comes down to whether or not you've grown accustomed to something. Geographial locations come into play here. The South always have that southern drawl, along with colloquialisms like "Hey y'all!". In English we did an exercise on diction and it was easy to see how The North slur their "T's" into "D's", such as in the word "butter". The word "water" is pronounced differently everywhere! Around Jersey, it's pronounced "wooder". To actually hear it pronounced they way it should be, with the t "emphasized", it sounds strange.
There are many "accent" challenges on Youtube. It's interesting to see how we all speak differently when it's all the same language in the end. If anything we should pay homage to the originators of the language and speak with an English accent. I wonder how that happened, that the British enunciation was not carried over when the language settled in America.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
public speaking
It's said that public speaking is ranked the #1 fear for most people. I used to be, and still am, one of those people. It's gotten easier over the years though. For one thing, I don't stutter as bad as I used to, and I'm trying to eliminate those infamous "like's" and "um's".
Where exactly did these filler words come from? Who was the first person to start using these words to bridge those awkward gaps in your speech? The answer may be untraceable like a lot of things. It's almost a part of your culture to use these words in everyday conversation too. I overhear many conversations and people tend to over-exaggerate a lot of situations by constantly saying "very", "so", and "literally". That sentence itself used too much "too much".
I think public speaking will probably get better as you experience more things...and practice doing it a lot. That's the only way you're going to get better at it. To this day I still don't know if speaking in front of people you do know is harder/easier than speaking in front of those you don't.
Sometimes in English we watch these videos called TED talks, and although I don't always follow what the actually speaker is saying, I watch what they do...and how they project their idea. It doesn't matter what you say most of the time, it really is how you go about it. I hope one day to be an effective public speaker like so many I have seen before.
Where exactly did these filler words come from? Who was the first person to start using these words to bridge those awkward gaps in your speech? The answer may be untraceable like a lot of things. It's almost a part of your culture to use these words in everyday conversation too. I overhear many conversations and people tend to over-exaggerate a lot of situations by constantly saying "very", "so", and "literally". That sentence itself used too much "too much".
I think public speaking will probably get better as you experience more things...and practice doing it a lot. That's the only way you're going to get better at it. To this day I still don't know if speaking in front of people you do know is harder/easier than speaking in front of those you don't.
Sometimes in English we watch these videos called TED talks, and although I don't always follow what the actually speaker is saying, I watch what they do...and how they project their idea. It doesn't matter what you say most of the time, it really is how you go about it. I hope one day to be an effective public speaker like so many I have seen before.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
stranger than fiction
Stranger than Fiction is a movie about an IRS auditor who one day hears a voice that narrates his life. The strange part is that no one else can hear this voice besides him. Will Ferrell stars as the main character, Harold Crick. So far I enjoy this movie and I hope that it'll get better too. Normally, when it comes to movies, I'm very picky and my attention starts to wander off. I don't know why, but I automatically judge movies when I first hear of them. But this one seems nice. I think my taste in movies would definitely be weird or bizarre movies, like Donnie Darko.
If I were to hear a voice that narrated my life, I'd be creeped out but kind of fascinated at that same time. It'd be nice to have another perspective on my own day-to-day actions, like say for instance, if I got a 100 on my test, it would be nice if someone repeated that to me for my own benefit. I feel like there are definitely moments in real life where music could come into play too...like when someone proposes to me (hopefully), there'd be some sappy indie music playing in the background. Band of Horses maybe. Yeah that'd be nice.
I'd like to make this post longer but unfortunately my ideas are tapped right now!
If I were to hear a voice that narrated my life, I'd be creeped out but kind of fascinated at that same time. It'd be nice to have another perspective on my own day-to-day actions, like say for instance, if I got a 100 on my test, it would be nice if someone repeated that to me for my own benefit. I feel like there are definitely moments in real life where music could come into play too...like when someone proposes to me (hopefully), there'd be some sappy indie music playing in the background. Band of Horses maybe. Yeah that'd be nice.
I'd like to make this post longer but unfortunately my ideas are tapped right now!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Language barriers
Today in class we watched a TED video that talked about languages and the restrictions it places on people. But on the other hand it also can benefit us, if we want to protect our ideas from other people. I always wonder about that. When someone copies me, it is not "the sincerest form of flattery", I think it's stealing. But like the guy in the video said, if I communicate that I allow you to do it, then it's not stealing. It still makes me angry when I see someone take my ideas however..
Anyhoo, that's a little off-topic. My mom and I got in a tiny argument over dinner and while I could express most of my thoughts clearly, my mom had to improvise. Cantonese is not as specific as English is. My mom can definitely understand what I'M saying, but she can't fully articulate what she's thinking. And I don't know whose more at fault here for this barrier. One side is that my mom and dad did not exactly keep up with teaching Cantonese to me while I was taking ESL classes; the other is that I did not make more of an initiative to continue it as well.
It's mind-boggling how many languages there are in the world, and how these two in specific vary so much. Even as I was watching a Korean drama the other day, the differences between Chinese and Korean are huge. Korean would be very difficult for a native English speaker to even begin to learn. Romance languages aren't as hard because they have a similar root...but Asiatic language seems to be very hard. For one thing, you have to develop the "tongue" for it.
But I can't say any one language is hard. Funny how we deemed English to be the most universal language when really it is one that causes the most difficulties. But I suppose that's life right? Gluttons for punishment.
Anyhoo, that's a little off-topic. My mom and I got in a tiny argument over dinner and while I could express most of my thoughts clearly, my mom had to improvise. Cantonese is not as specific as English is. My mom can definitely understand what I'M saying, but she can't fully articulate what she's thinking. And I don't know whose more at fault here for this barrier. One side is that my mom and dad did not exactly keep up with teaching Cantonese to me while I was taking ESL classes; the other is that I did not make more of an initiative to continue it as well.
It's mind-boggling how many languages there are in the world, and how these two in specific vary so much. Even as I was watching a Korean drama the other day, the differences between Chinese and Korean are huge. Korean would be very difficult for a native English speaker to even begin to learn. Romance languages aren't as hard because they have a similar root...but Asiatic language seems to be very hard. For one thing, you have to develop the "tongue" for it.
But I can't say any one language is hard. Funny how we deemed English to be the most universal language when really it is one that causes the most difficulties. But I suppose that's life right? Gluttons for punishment.
Monday, February 4, 2013
it's all in the deets
So I just got done having an impromptu heart-to-heart with my sister.
It's amazing how much I actually learn from these chats. I mean, do you really listen to what people say to you? If we did, the world would be 100x more productive.
People will hear what you say, but they don't always listen. Some would say it is "selective hearing", and I believe that. When you take the time to listen to words and roll them around your mind, you start to gain perspective.
One topic came up and it was about social norms, about how people are expected to say certain things at certain times. Words can make someone feel put-out, or just that much happier. Take, for instance, if you were invited to dinner at someone's house and they ask you how it was. And you could say "Pretty good" in a flat monotone, or you could respond earnestly with "I really loved it, it was great!". I find that sometimes I fall into the dull responses category, but not even on purpose. I say "pretty" and "kinda" before many of the replies I give, and I realize that it makes things sound uncertain. That kind of tone can hurt another's feelings. Although I do not mean any harm by it, another person will not know that. So the point of this was to emphasize the importance of diction, of tone. It's not what you say (although that's important too) but mainly HOW you say it.
Words can be sharper than knives!
It's amazing how much I actually learn from these chats. I mean, do you really listen to what people say to you? If we did, the world would be 100x more productive.
People will hear what you say, but they don't always listen. Some would say it is "selective hearing", and I believe that. When you take the time to listen to words and roll them around your mind, you start to gain perspective.
One topic came up and it was about social norms, about how people are expected to say certain things at certain times. Words can make someone feel put-out, or just that much happier. Take, for instance, if you were invited to dinner at someone's house and they ask you how it was. And you could say "Pretty good" in a flat monotone, or you could respond earnestly with "I really loved it, it was great!". I find that sometimes I fall into the dull responses category, but not even on purpose. I say "pretty" and "kinda" before many of the replies I give, and I realize that it makes things sound uncertain. That kind of tone can hurt another's feelings. Although I do not mean any harm by it, another person will not know that. So the point of this was to emphasize the importance of diction, of tone. It's not what you say (although that's important too) but mainly HOW you say it.
Words can be sharper than knives!
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