The Perfect Production: TED Talk on the Problem of Native American Education

Link to TED Talk: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mosenV-0LjE&feature=youtu.be 

Public Speaking Synopsis

At the beginning of this class course, I made goals for myself to aim to accomplish after the class ended.  As the end of this class is coming near, I am looking back on my goals and accomplishments over this past semester for public speaking.  My two biggest goals that I made for myself at the start of this public speaking class, at the beginning of the school year, was to become a less nervous public speaker, and to help learn more memorization strategies before giving a speech. 

One of the goals I made at the beginning of the course was to get more comfortable with public speaking.  Although I am still a nervous public speaker, I feel like I have definitely improved compared to how scared I used to be when talking in front of a crowd.  Yet, there is still room for improvement as I feel that I can still be nervous when talking in front of my peers.  

In addition, before going into this course I would rarely make eye contact with my audience because I was too focused on reading information on a screen or on prepared notecards.  However, in different parts of this course I was forced to memorize speeches.  Memorizing what I would say in a speech allowed me to better connect with my audience since I would be able to make more eye contact.  Furthermore, in this class, I learned and used many strategies to help me to memorize text.  Therefore, without taking this class, I would have less of an understanding on how to be able to memorize and become more familiar with parts of my speeches.       

Ultimately, what I am most proud of in this class is that I was able to complete all of my memorization speeches.  Coming into this class, I was never able to memorize any sort of text, except song lyrics that I would listen and sing to during car rides. After successfully memorizing a few of my assignments, I am very pleased with myself for learning strategies to help me to do so.  However, there are still some things that I need to work on.  For instance, like stated before, I think I still have a lot of room for improvement to become a less nervous public speaker.  Although as a result of this class I sway a little less, sometimes, I still can get a little nervous and don't articulate my words clearly.  But, I think to help accomplish this goal I need to keep on practicing my public speaking.  Then, hopefully, each time I give a speech or talk in front of a crowd, I will establish more confidence for talking in front of such a large audience.  Finally, one of the most valuable things that I believe I will take away from this class is all of my knowledge on the topic of public speaking.  Not only did I learn tips for memorization, but I also learned important things to remember when publicly speaking (like eye contact, project your voice, clearly speaking, don't be fidgety, emphasize emotional words, etc.), what should be included into a debate to make a specific side of the argument stronger, and how to gather credible information for any given research assignment. 

Excellent Editing

After reviewing my TED Talk in class with classmates, and my teacher, I have discovered what is missing from my speech and what I can change in my speech to make it the best it can be.  Some of these things include developing a hook, having a clearer and more profound takeaway. 

Before today, I really had no hook at the beginning of my speech.  A hook is something that is used to grab the reader attention.  I started my speech by saying that I am a native american.  However, this is not something that is interesting for the reader to hear to truly grab their attention.  Instead, I edited the beginning of my speech and included a more interactive hook for the audience by saying: "Here at Cheshire Academy we have so many resources like our newly updated library with a vast variety of books, mac book computers, SMART boards, large supply of textbooks, our school portal, and projectors to show our powerpoint presentations.  Do you ever consider what our education would be like without these resources?  The most basic of native american schools on indian reservations do not have these things.  They don't have advanced technology that we are privileged to have in this modern technology-run world. "  By changing my hook, I now interact with my audience more and have a more interesting start to my TED talk about the problem of native american education. 

Secondly, I was told by peers that my takeaway was too broad and wasn't clear enough.  A takeaway should sum of the purpose of the whole TED talk.  In addition, the takeaway should give the audience something to contemplate.  I agreed that the take away in my TED talk wasn't very strong.  Therefore, I changed the takeaway of my speech to give an overview of a native american's life.  Then, I ended my TED talk expressing that "If this TED talk has impacted the way you look at Native Americans, then donate to the Native American Rights Fund and help these less fortunate people to live a better life, get a better education, and have more of an opportunity for success."  By saying this, I invited people to help the native americans and donate money toward a well-deserved cause, and I persuaded the audience to think about whether they wanted to help.

Overall, I would say that to make my TED talk better, these were the two things that I had to change.  Now that I have edited and changed them, my TED talk is more interesting for the audience to listen two.  Without a good hook and a good takeaway, a TED talk isn't complete.  The hook and the takeaway are two of the most important aspects of a speech and should be as strong as possible to help develop a great TED talk.