Final Self-Reflection

TO: Sarah Billington

FROM: Thomas Chilcott COMM-1020-Sp17-400
DATE: 04/26/2017
RE: Final Self-Reflection

This class has served to reinforce some ideas for public speaking that I already had, but it has
also given me some new perspective on other ideas I havent considered for quite some time.
The importance of things like research and preparation has been confirmed for me, while the
nature of my speech anxiety, it turns out, is not what I always thought it was. While I cant say
that this is a class I would have chosen to take, of my own accord, it has given me some personal
insight, and taught me some new skills that I think will be of some value in the future. Sadly, I
must report that the lessons I learned in this class have come at a very high cost, and my
distaste for public speaking, Im afraid, has actually increased.

Organization
Organization is one of the knowledge areas I felt was reinforced, for me, by this class. But I was
also introduced to one or two new ideas about organization, such as the idea of a spatial pattern
of organization for speeches, which Dan Rothwell discusses in chapter 8 of his book, Practically
Speaking (Rothwell, 2017, p. 140). I hadnt ever considered spatial relationships as a basis for
organizing speeches, but yeahdirections. Monroes Motivated Sequence (Rothwell, 2017) was
another interesting, new concept for me I am intrigued by the idea of organizing a problem-
solution speech and adding a visualization element to it. I hadnt previously used an
organizational template like the one used for the speeches given in this class, but it was
absolutely consistent with the type of pattern I naturally use for organizing my thoughts for many
of the papers I write.

Appeals and Integrated Evidence

Logos:
Logos is my strong suit. I am primarily motivated by reason, logic and quantifiable
evidence, so the application of these, as motivators, comes naturally for me. Logos is the
application of logic, to form a sound argument. In his book Practically Speaking, Dan
Rothwell explains that, Skepticism is a process for acquiring beliefs and changing them
when warranted (Rothwell, 2017, p. 203). He describes skepticism as critical thinking and
evaluation of evidence and reason. Rothwells definition of skepticism reigns in my prior
perception of the word, which was something closer to cynicism. Going by Rothwells
explanation of skepticism, I feel that I have long practiced Rothwells version of skepticism
as my natural process for receiving and evaluating information.

Ethos:
Ethos is a speakers credibility, in the eyes of the audience. Ethos is important because a
speaker who is not perceived as credible faces an extra challenge in maintaining an
audiences attention and having his/her message favorably received. In spite of my
naturally dry, muted manner of speaking, I feel that my audiences generally accept me as
a credible presenter of information. I think this is because I feel and project a measure of
confidence in my command of the materials I present. For example, when I presented my
Demonstration Speech, I was speaking about a subject with which I am intimately familiar,
and of which have a wealth of knowledge and experience. Upon concluding my speech, I
was asked several questions that indicated sincere interest in my topic, on the part of my
1
 audience.

I realize that I could more effectively draw my audiences in by presenting myself in a

warmer, more personable manner. But its not in my nature, and I feel that when I try to
be more engaging, it comes off as forced and ingenuine. As Dan Rothwell explains in
Practically Speaking, Listening to a speaker stubbornly try to be funny without success
can be an excruciatingly uncomfortable experience for all involved. (Rothwell, 2017, p.
105) As I accumulate experience speaking to audiences, I will gradually try to add warmth
to my presentations, but I am certain there will be a long learning curve for me, in this
department. As an inexperienced public speaker, I will continue to invest in my colder
approach to gaining and maintaining credibility as a speaker.

Pathos:
Pathos is my weakness, in terms of the appeals. I am not an emotional person, and I am
not very motivated by feelings. Consequently, Pathos is the appeal that I tend to turn to
the least, when speaking to an audience. This is problematic, since most people are more
motivated by feelings than by logic and reason. Pathos is also the most powerful of the
appeals, in terms of grabbing and holding an audiences attention during a speech. In his
book Practically Speaking, Dan Rothwell states that, A startling statement, fact, or
statistic can rouse audience attention (Rothwell, 2017, p. 102). In applying this idea, as
well as heeding the earlier caution regarding humor, I have tried to include statistics, brief
narratives and items of broad interest-appeal in my speeches, in an effort to win my
audiences attention, rather than risk being perceived as fake and sacrificing credibility.

Delivery and Visual Aids

Visual aids should serve to add clarity, through visualization, to complex ideas not divert the
audiences attention from the speaker. For my Demonstration speech, I misunderstood the
requirements for the visual aid and I ended up leaving my visual aid displayed throughout my
speech, behind me. This, of course, goes against what Dan Rothwell said in Practically Speaking,
Cover your poster or drawing, graph or photo when not actually referring to it (Rothwell, 2017,
p. 198). My reference to my visual aid, in this case, was also very brief, so I dont think my
teacher ever caught the reference while grading my speech. This cost me all the points for the
visual aid portion of that speech, which served as a reminder to me that visual aids need to be
used appropriately. There are many different forms that visual aids can take, but PowerPoint is a
natural go-to for me, since I am good with computers. I used PowerPoint for both my Informative
and Persuasive speeches, and I felt good about the aids I prepared for those speeches.

Audience Assessment and Adaptation:

This is a topic that I was happy to cover in this course, though I didnt feel enough emphasis was
placed on it. In Practically Speaking, Dan Rothwell describes and offers advice for speaking to
audiences he describes as: Disengaged Listeners, Agreeable Listeners, Hostile Listeners, Eager
Listeners and Unexpected listers (Rothwell, 2017, p. 40-41). I actually went out of my way to
craft situations where I was speaking to each of these audience types, with the exception of
Hostile Listeners I didnt feel it would be reasonable to deliberately seek such a situation, just
for a school assignment. In the case of my Informative Speech, I presented to two different
audiences, one that was Disengaged and one that was Eager and the two presentations had
very noticeably different feels to them (for me, at least). The result was that my delivery of the
same speech was very different, as I tried to adjust to the situation and maintain my audiences
focus.

Early in the semester, I thought this topic would play a more prominent role than it did, so I put

2
more thought into it than I apparently needed to. I wrote each of my speeches with an emphasis
on tailoring it to the audience I was planning to present it to. In the case of my Personal Artifact
Speech, I didnt get the audience I had planned, but I got the audience type and composition I
had planned for. What my speech videos didnt capture was the warm reception I got, after my
speeches, from my audiences, reassuring me that I had written my speeches appropriately.
When I received the grades for my speeches, I got the feeling this attention to detail wasnt
much of a consideration, but I was very grateful to my listeners for their praise and
understanding. My experiences in this class have also reaffirmed my belief that the audience
should be a key consideration when preparing for a public speaking engagement.

Speech Anxiety Management:

Preparation and Rational Reappraisal, as explained by Dan Rothwell in Practically Speaking
(Rothwell, 2017, p. 30-35), are the two most important strategies for me to overcome my speech
anxiety. By familiarizing myself with the material I plan to present, I will reduce the number of
mistakes that I make during my presentation. And by making fewer mistakes, it will be easier for
me to forgive myself for the remaining ones, during my delivery. Referring again to my
Demonstration Speech, I was well prepared to speak about the topic I had chosen (the
importance of strong passwords). Throughout my speech, I was using thoroughly familiar
terminology and explaining concepts that were second nature to me. This meant that I wasnt
stumbling on my words, nor struggling to recall details about the ideas I was communicating.
Because I was comfortable and making few mistakes in my presentation, I wasnt fixating on a
lot of imperfections in my performance, and I was free to remain relatively relaxed. That is the
zone I hope to get into, in future public speaking situations.

Lessons Learned:
I have already begun applying what Ive learned in this class. Ive recently been tasked with
teaching a Professional Development class for my Army National Guard unit. While I wasnt
given much lead-time, this class has taught me the value of preparation for public speaking, so
Im doing all that I can to be ready to present for my class. As Dan Rothwell said in Practically
Speaking, When you are adequately prepared, you have removed most of the novelty and
uncertainty from the speaking situation (Rothwell, 2017, p. 30). This brings me to another take-
away the uncertainty of the situation is what really bothers me about public speaking. I used to
think it was the focus of attention on me, but Ive learned through my experiences in this class
that its just my distaste for being unsure of the outcome. Also in Practically Speaking, Rothwell
stated, You are expected to make mistakes, especially during your first few speeches (Rothwell,
2017, p. 33). While I didnt find this to be the case when my speeches were graded, I think the
underlying message is sound audiences do not expect perfection from speakers; its okay to
make the occasional mistake.

I am relieved to finally have this course out of the way. Two of the universities I have been
accepted to require a Public Speaking course to satisfy their general education requirements.
Having completed this course at SLCC, it is one less thing Ill need to worry about in the next
stage of my education. I honestly tried to keep a positive attitude about this class, and I really
wanted this to be a chance for me to get better at and feel better about public speaking.
Unfortunately, the amount of work demanded, and the pace at which it had to be completed and
turned in, was FAR beyond anything else Ive experienced in a single class. This was aggravated
by the fact that I took on a fairly aggressive class schedule this semester, which I chose based on
my success over the previous three semesters. Over the course of the semester, COMM-1020
consumed well over half the time I put into school work, and I spent noticeably more time on
school work than I did last semester, when I was registered for one credit more than this
semester. I think I could have taken just this class and maybe one more, and that would have
been enough to keep me busy for the semester. The experience has left me so exhausted that I
even contemplated taking the Summer semester off, and postponing my graduation from SLCC.

3
I am sure that I will gradually recover, but for now my distaste for public speaking has been
elevated to full-blown contempt.

Works Cited
Rothwell, J. D. (2017). Practically speaking. New York: Oxford University Press.