COM101:PrinciplesofCommunication

Fall2011Semester
SoleAuthor

ReflectionofArtifact:PersuasiveSpeech
LearningOutcome#4:Studentsareexpectedtodemonstratetheabilitytodevelopand
conveyoralandwrittenmessageseffectively.

IproducedthisartifactduringCommunication101:PrinciplesofCommunication.It
wasarequiredpersuasivespeechassignment.Studentswereaskedtoselectapersuasive
topicoftheirchoicethathadtwoclearlydifferentpointsofview.Inthiscase,Ichosetowrite
mypersuasivespeechontheviolenceinvideogamesandthenegativeimpactsithason
childrenandteens.
ThisartifactdemonstratesthatIhavemettheoralportionofthisdepartmentalgoal
becauseIwasabletoorallydeliverapersuasivespeechtoaclassroom.Ifirstcreatedan
outlinetohelpguidemethroughmyspeech.Ibeganthespeechwithanaffectiveattention
grabbingsentence,usingaquotefromaCNNHealtharticlethatstated,About90%ofU.S.
kidsages816playvideogamesandthespend13hoursaweekdoingso,(Harding,2013).
Aftercapturingtheaudienceandestablishingethos,Imadetheclaimthatviolentvideo
gamescanbedirectlylinkedtopoorbehavior.Ithenproceededtodeveloptheproblemwith
violentvideogames,whichisthattheycancauseaddiction,depression,andaggression.I
thensatisfiedtheaudiencebytakingintoaccounttheappropriateprecautionstotakewhen
purchasingvideogames.Thisallowedmetoaidtheaudienceinvisualizinghowfollowing
theseguidelineswouldpositivelyimpactchildrenandteens.Forinstance,thenumberof
childrenandteensdiagnosedwithaddiction,depression,andaggressionwouldbelowered
drasticallyandpeoplewilllearntoplayvideogamesthataresuitedtowardtheirpersonality
andmaturitylevel.Finally,Iinspiredtheaudiencetotakeactionbyencouragingthemtovote
forthelawsthatwillhelpenforceandensurethattheviolentcontentofvideogameswillonly
besubjectedtoageappropriateaudience.Presentingthisspeechallowedmetopracticemy
oralcommunicationskills.Accordingtomyprofessor,Ireceivedagoodscoreforvocal

variety,anexcellentscoreforbeingfluentandarticulate,anexcellentscoreforhavingenergy
andenthusiasm,andagoodscoreforusingnonverbalsandmovementeffectively.However,
Ineededtoworkonmytendencytorelytoomuchonmynotesandoutlinewhenspeaking.
Thiswasrevealedinmyfairscoreof2formaintainingeyecontact.Andalthoughmyvoice
wasexpressive,itwashinderedbyreadingmyspeech.Developingthispersuasivespeech
taughtmethatmemorizationandpracticeiskeyforaneffectivespeech.
IfIweretodothisspeechagainIwouldhavememorizedthespeechmorecarefully,
soIwouldrelylessonthenotesinfrontofmeandmoreonmyownmemory.Thiswillallow
metomaintainbettereyecontactwithmyaudienceanditwouldalsohelpenhancemy
expressivevoice.InadditionIwouldpracticedthespeechmore,inordertobefamiliar,
comfortable,andconfidentwiththematerial.
IhaveengagedtheseideassinceIdidtheassignmentthroughotheroral
presentationsIhavegivenatCarrollUniversity.Thesepresentationshaveallowedmeto
growcomfortablewithgettingupinfrontofaclassandpresentingaproject.Forinstance,last
semesterinmyBusiness101class,wewererequiredtopresentourbusinessplansatthe
endofthesemester.Beforepresentingthisfinalgroupproject,Iwassuretorehearsemypart
severaltimesoversoIwasfamiliarwiththematerialonthepowerpointslides.Ialsowassure
toelaborateonthebulletpointsincludedinthepowerpointpresentation,soastonot
overwhelmtheaudiencebyprovidingtoomuchinformationontheslides.Practicingthe
presentationbeforehandandthoroughlyunderstandingthematerialallowedmetobe
preparedandanswerquestionsposedbystudentsandtheprofessor.Inaddition,itallowed
metomaintainexcellenteyecontactandvocalvariety.
Iwillusetheseideasandskillsinthefuture.Asmentionedinpreviousreflections,I
hopetopursueacareerinjournalismandorpublicrelations.Inordertoeffectivelyarticulate

mythoughtsandideastoothersintheworkplace,Imustbeabletoeffectivelycommunicate
withothersorally.Insomeinstance,thismayincludegivinganoralpresentationorspeech.
Therefore,Imustbepreparedwhenpresentingtoothers.Thismayincludecompletingsuch
taskssuchas:researchingmyidea,rehearsingthepresentation,maintaininggoodeye
contact,expressingvocalvariety,andusingnonverbalsandmovementeffectively.Thiswill
helptoensureaneffectiveoralspeechandorpresentation.