My Middle School and High School had this program called ETS (educational talent search) where some old guy would come in and talk to us about our future and tell us how unprepared we are for it. We would do a whole bunch of career planing activities and short evaulations that would place us in our ideal job settings. Although I found some of thier advice useful, the speakers were often dull and boring. Most were monotonous, and a lot did not speek of the age-group. They would often speak to us like we were done and did not understand everyday English. I do not feel that they properly analyzed their audience before preparing their presentations and speeches. One good thing did come out of those boring ETS sessions however, I realized that when i present or speek to a crowd one of the first things that I will do is make sure to analyze my audience. I am planning on being an elementary school teacher so this will come in handy. It is a lot harder in my oppinion to talk to children in an educated way than to address an adult or some one my age, because I cannot assume that the child knows the same big words that I do. I have to generalize my speeking to match their abilities, and that is all a part of analyzing the audience.
As far as some presentations in the past, many have caught my eye, and most of the good ones I remember well. A lot of them had incredible verbal support. One in particular that I remember was in Middle School. In History class we were learning about the Hollocaust and they hired a speaker to come and talk to us. This guy was incredible. He was able to undoubtly catch the attention of 200 middle-schoolers for his hour long presentation. His speech ran over part of our lunch time and we were free to leave whenever we wanted; we didn't. We were so impressed with his knowledge and speech that we would not dare to leave in the middle of his story. He did not have any visual representations, nor did he do anything fun or wierd with his body. He simply sat in a chair and talked about the Hollocaust; but it was the most beautiful and horrifying story I have ever heard. He used details that put us at the seen and revealed the tattooed numbers on his wrist that placed him there too. By the end we were all in tears, and some of us had nightmares about it that night. I will never forget what I learned from that speaker as he touched my heart forever!
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The Hollocaust speakers are the best! I love listening to them. I could do it everyday. We had one in high school and junior high and both of them were very good. I also know it is much easier to speak to kids my age or adults because we assume they are a lot like us. I am studying to be a high school teacher so I feel that it will be easier to keep them interested.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to you in the sense of becoming an Elementary Teacher in the future. It is a good thing to have speakers that are good at properly analyzing their audience. Speaking to children can be a challenge but it can be fun too. I also had a Holocaust speaker come to my school and it was interesting and they definitely kept my attention.
ReplyDeleteI think that the way you tell a speech makes your speech. If you speak in a monotone voice you sound uninterested in your own speech. If you sound interested and into your speech, people will actually want to hear about what you have to say. The Holocaust speakers seems so amazing because they are so into what they are telling about.
ReplyDeleteEek...sorry you had to sit through such boring sessions with the ETS folks. You're right, you can learn a LOT about how to be a good speaker by looking at what other people have done wrong...and then avoiding it.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you've been to a speech that had such a strong impact on your life - powerful stories, like those from the survivors of the Holocaust can definitely make for interesting presentations!