I just had a speech that I thought was quite adequate. Although I could not help but notice how most was just glancing at there computers or phones. The most disrespectful thing you could do to the speaker. At one point I felt to just stop and wait for them to lookup.
And that's not all of it either. Half of the students were not prepared, some talked way to fast and others just had too long or too short speeches. I swear that one student got blue after forgetting to breath.
I'm still amazed on how many people don't know how to do a basic speech, sure nerves get you but still, you would think at this age people would know how to do it properly.
Am I too uninteresting or is it just people don't care and worry too much about their own speeches. Mind you, not all speeches are bad, some are brilliant when everyone is concentrated and interested. And that does feel good.
What's your experiences on speeches and observations?
I guess that most of the students are still learning their speech on their computer/phone while you are delivering yours. Add to that the fact that most of them aren't here to learn but just to get good grades and you get a class almost full of people who don't really care what you have to say.
Its a bit of pity really . You kind of want them to learn on the subject you're talking about.
You can't teach them if they don't want to learn. Take this from a guy who's been burned too many times trying to "fix" others by "making 'em learn". I first wanted to write a whole comment about how I did my presentations, but decided to go for something more concise. If the speech is something you have to do for a mark of any sort, enjoy doing it for your own sake. Have fun talking about what you like, and find something to like in whatever it is you work with. If you're passionate about the subject, you'll certainly enjoy presenting it to others: just think of it as reading a lecture to a group of friends and share your passion with them. You won't lift their eyes off the screens with wishful thinking, but your emotional charge may do just that without you even trying. Can't give you an advice on doing speeches of your own volition - never did one myself - but I imagine it's not far off. Instead of "making them learn", make them want to learn by showing them what there is to learn. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime".
An instructor I have a lot of respect for once told me "the only two places where people seem happy to get less than what they pay for are the dentist's chair and the classroom". I've seen some phenomenal lecturers who have spent 30-40 hours putting together a 3-hour lecture and students will still be on facebook/twitter/reddit/snapchat/whatever in class. In my tutorials I have the ability to control cell phone use, but I'm not about to ban laptops. At the end of the day, I've found it easier to make peace with the fact that, no matter how good your presentation is, it's impossible to get everyone to pay attention all of the time. If someone wants to look at their phone rather than listen to me, I'm pretty much okay with that, so long as they aren't distracting others. I've found openings to be really key to getting people to pay attention. In the first ~10-25% of the presentation, I try pretty hard to get the maximum number of people on board. Some will stop focusing at some point along the way, and there will be some people who will never start paying attention, regardless of what I do, but I like to spend the first little while trying to engage the audience as much as possible. Humour is super effective in short bursts, but difficult to sustain. Setting the stakes is always key. Narrative can really keep things moving and keep people engaged in the longer term. Public speaking is definitely a tough skill, and not one that's easy to develop without putting yourself out there and failing spectacularly at least a few times. Lots of people suffer from pretty intense anxiety about it, and different people deal with it differently, but "nerves" can be paralyzing for some, particularly if they're coming from environments where being outspoken is shunned in some way.
I'm an accomplished public speaker. Product presenter. Storyteller. Emcee. Motivational speeches. Trainer. Advocate. Actor. Etc. Standing on stage, drawing the attention of the crowd, and engaging them in an idea, a story, a movement, whatever... that's a skill I have, and have had for a long time. It began as a natural talent, and then I realized that it was a blunt knife that could be sharpened. So I took classes. Improv. Voice acting. Story crafting, etc. Then I went to work and practiced, practiced, practiced. The real training ground for me was being a Ghost Tour guide through Seattle's Pike Place Market at night. Drunken revelers all around, homeless people begging for change, and the overall creepy atmosphere of the closed market at night... it all conspired against me, to draw my audience's attention away. So I had to work at EVERY aspect of my performance. My words. My voice. My body. WHERE I told a story. When I told a specific story. Whether I did the "gory" version, or the "spooky" version, or the "kid-friendly" version. Nowadays, people know they can hand me a mic, give me 10 seconds of context, and I can hold the attention of any room. (Even without a mic, actually.) I don't say this out of hubris, or self-aggrandizement, or anything like that. I had a natural talent for something, I learned how to control and channel that talent, and now I can put it to work. Like a woodworker does with a planer or a lathe or a chisel, I learned to use the tool and make stuff with it. So the underlying structure and methods are all transparent to me. When I see a speaker on stage, I know why they moved their hand like this, and why they chose that wording, and where their eyes are looking, and how they feel about their talk and if it is working. I realize very few people have this insight to a good talk, and don't know how to express a point to make a compelling argument. It gives me more patience with them. Public speaking is not something everyone can do easily or effectively. So I think I have more compassion for those who know they suck, but are still so moved by their mission that they still overcome all the fear and doubt and talk. Afterwards, I try to share that with them, and give them thanks for having the passion to do what they did, despite it being scary and hard to do.
I had to give a speech once about sustainable homes/communities in college and I rambled about chickens for a while. Once back in high school for an entrepreneurship class we had to present business plans. The girl who went before me had a ton of props and shit so I got extra nervous for being so unprepared. Well I was doing a bagel shop and my friend pointed out that I did in fact have a half eaten bagel. So that was my prop and even the teacher couldn't help but laugh most of my presentation. I'm sure if I think on this more I can come up more examples of terrible presentations I've done. Moral of the story, I fucking hate public speaking. Oh god I just remember the party I had to host once, never again will I attempt to address a room of talking people.