informative speech #2
It's late, I'm tired, and I just finished recording informative speech #2. I kind of rushed myself getting it recorded; I will probably get docked points for excessive use of notes; but my deadline is here. I should have heeded that bit of advice on the front page of the course syllabus: Start this course now!, and kept it going a little faster. Tomorrow, I help my daughter move from Hastings to Wichita, a move that brings sadness to my heart, but I'm excited for them. My school shooting speech is by far the most interesting speech for me. I enjoyed reading and learning the information, trying to understand what causes children to do these things. This would have been a good speech to do in front of a group, just so I could see their reaction, to see if it was the same as mine. My wife thought it was kind of boring with all the statistics,but I thought it was pertinent information. After I realized that I forgot to add my final notes to the speech, and added them, the speech was almost to long, but I felt the information I presented needed to be in the speech.
citation
I had a hard time citing a survey on the Alfred University website . No author was available. I started to use the example for online scholarly project on pg 275, #85, but decided that was incorrect. I went back and used the main example on pg 273, and omitted the author's name info.I also had a hard time finding the date off some articles, but eventually typed the title of the article on the website search box, and a date came up with the search results.
how ironic can that be
I chose to speak about school shootings for my second informational speech assignment. The article in the Hastings Tribune about the kids in Riverton, Ks. reminded me how I felt about this subject, and some of the classes I have attended as an EMT dealing with this subject. Anyway, as I was working away, with CNN rolling in the background, when they announced that some kids in Alaska had just been arrested for plotting to shoot-up a school. Six kids,
IN SEVENTH GRADE, were going to cut electricity to the school and start shooting. They cited revenge for being picked on, imagine that!!! A parent heard rumors and foiled the process. In my research, it was noted that only about 50% of kids would tell an adult if they heard about a shooting plot. Now I wonder, How many people reading this blog have heard someone threaten to shoot someone at school, and did they have the means (a gun) to do this??
mod 8, participation in small group discussion.
In February, I volunteered to do the application for the fire grant. Just another reason among many why I am behind in Speech class.We discussed some ideas that we as a department thought might benefit us. As it turned out, this small group turned out to be just one person, me. Anyway, after reading chapter 18, I have realized that having 3 people working on this would have made it much easier and less time consuming. As a small group, we could have sit down and discussed some equipment problems, brainstormed some solutions,developed a list of goals, and then applied for what was eligible, and what we needed. With the right personnel, we could have avoided interpersonal conflicts, eliminated any hidden agenda that may have been present, and worked through this tedious process. The reflective thinking method of discussing problems would have worked well. Some of the problems that we could have defined would be: 1) air pack equipment for the pesonnel in the Oak station, 2) a reliable source of water for the Oak station, 3), and composing a list of equipment for the Nelson station. Some of these ideas were presented to me after the deadline for submission of application. Next, we could have analyzed the problems, and prioritized a list, based on need and eligibility. Third, we could have established criteria for solutions. We would need to make a budget to establish what the equipment would cost, determine how much the cost-share would be, and ensure that the solutions would alleviate the problems we were addressing. Fourth, we should have generated potential solutions. We could have derived a list of equipment with bids from different manufacturers, with the different prices listed.Also, with more than just my perspective, we could have developed a much better list than I did, and the need expressed in the grant could have been more clearly defined. Last, we should then select the best solutions and present the recommendations to the entire squad. We could have done this via an oral report, explaining the purposes, procedures, and recommendations of our group. Then we could have answered questions. We could have held a symposium, and each member of the small group could have presented an aspect of our solutions to the squad. Then each person would be able to answer questions that pertained to their subject. A panel discussion would probably have been to formal for the needs of this group. Instead of all that, I came up with some ideas, obtained pricing, submitted the requests, researched the answers to the questions on the application, and am now hoping that all goes well.
module 8 speaking event, small group
I attended a storm spotter meeting at our firestation. Represenatives from approximately 4 other departments attended this meeting. It was presented by meteorologist Cindy Fay. Her agenda was to organize the weatherspotter network for the year, tell us what information they wanted from us, and tell us what they could do to help us prepare for the storm season. She began her presentation with a slide show and narrative on how thunderstorms form, different type of thunderstorms, tornado formation, etc. Then she showed us how they try to determine tornadoes on radar, and showed us how to verify what they assume is happening. I know from personal experience that each member of the group is committed to their responsibilities of understanding storm formation, maintaining personal safety, and reporting what is happening through the appropriate channels. We do not have any individual assignments, except a schedule of when we are to go out and storm spot. Cindy provided numerous real video recordings of tornadoes and storms, some of which we remember from years past. She also provided statistics for storms and tornado events in Kansas and Nebraska for the previous year. Her presentation was inteesting and informative.
additional post regarding cruise ships
We once went on a cruise to Jamaica and Cayman Islands. It was quiite an experience for me, as I never expected it to happen. A lot of the experience was almost overwhelming. Flying to Miami, boarding a huge ship with about 30,000 strangers, going to faraway places outside the safety of our country,seemed like a huge risk to me, even though it was exciting. Now I read about and see on television about people disappearing on cruises and never heard from again. Kinda makes one wonder, doesn't it???????
preparing and delivery informative speech #1
I had a real hard time getting back to speech class after vacation, and then spring brings so many opportunities to procrastinate. The subject I chose to write about was on severe weather, and I attended a weatherspotter's workshop to reinforce my knowledge about this subject. It seemed kind of ironic that while I was developing my ideas for my speech, we were in severe weather watches and warnings. I even took a break once and went out for about half an hour to spot for tornadoes. Nothing developed here, Hastings had lots of wind, but no real damage.I did not have any trouble finding information to discuss, in fact, I had to eliminate some information to maintain the time frame. I think I could have written a speech on each of my main points. One thing that confused me was the fact that FEMA redone their website after I done my speech outline, but before I had my citation list finalized. The website address I had copied no longer worked, the "page had been moved" and no forwarding address was present; it said to search the website. I eventually found the new page. Presenting the speech still seems to be a challenge, but it is a little easier than it was in the beginning.
