Introduction to Public Speaking KIM WOODS ONLY

25 Skills and Analysis

This week we are learning to study and analyze speeches by critiquing our own speeches and our peer’s week two speeches. To help with that we’ll delve more into speech analysis. First, before posting your initial post, you’ll need to read this week’s lecture – The 25 Skills Every Speaker Must Have - by Andrew Dlugan.

For this week’s discussion you have two discussion question options but only have to post about one, but make sure you expand fully on that question.

Question A

After reading the article mentioned about 25 skills identify two or three points that really stood out to you on the list. Why did they stand out? Why are they important for public speaking? Would you look for these skills when analyzing and critiquing other speakers? Were there any points you did not consider as part of public speaking? Give us your thoughts!

Question B

Most audience members form an opinion of a speaker during the first minute of his/her speech. But how do we determine what makes a speech good… or bad? This week, we’ll look at an example of public speaking, and we’ll dissect it thoroughly. What did you like? What didn’t you like? Evaluate it multiple ways: watch the speaker’s mannerisms, gesturing, posture and eye contact. Watch a second time and critically analyze the content by seeing which skills the speaker used from our list in the article about the 25 Skills.

(YouTube Video: Permission granted by Patricia Fripp, http://www.fripp.com/)

Please watch this short video, then share your thoughts and reactions in the discussion board. Be specific in your observations.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/3A3hk5wROTU

In your initial post:

In approximately 150 words answer the discussion questions to the best of your ability. Give your thoughts! Try to think outside the box. If you see your peers commenting about the same skills review the article again and see if there’s anything you missed.

Follow Up Posts

Critiquing speeches and analyzing what’s important can be difficult. In two different posts address the following items:

For Question A: Did you consider these skills? Why do you feel these skills are important? Was there anything about these skills that were overlooked by your classmate?

For Question B: Do you agree with the observations your classmates found? Were there any skills from the list that your classmate overlooked? What did you feel was the speaker’s strongest skill used from the list?

Click here to see the grading rubric for this discussion forum.

Click here to review the Rules of Discussion.