Life in a Bag Speech Self Evaluation

In preparation for this speech, I first made a general outline which listed each item I wanted to use and some main topics I wanted to cover for each item. My next step was to expand that outline into a full sentence, manuscript-style speech. Once I had that done, I practiced the speech aloud, timing it and adjusting what needed to be changed. After I became confident that I could remember all the main points and the examples I would use, I broke the speech back down into a general outline on notecards, writing key ideas that I didn't want to forget, and practiced it a few more times using only the notecards, again with a timer. I feel that these were all correct steps to make myself prepared for the speech. Next time, I plan on practicing more.

Before the speech, I was very anxious and just wanted it to be over already. I was not able to sleep the night before, and was very nervous as I was driving to class. I even wrote down the wrong room number in my frantic state and ended up being a half hour late to class. This did not help calm my nerves. During the presentation, I was relieved that I seemed to remember everything I wanted to say. I hardly had to look at my notecards. However, standing in front of the room was awful. I felt everyone's eyes on me. I felt the urge to speak quickly so I could return to my seat. My entire body was shaking. I moved around a lot to try to hide it, and filled my speech with "um"s because my voice was shaking, and I was having difficulty getting the words out. Afterwards, I was anxious to see my grade, but glad that it was over. My hands were trembling until I got home, about an hour and a half later.

For the next speech, my delivery will certainly need to be improved. Since it is an informative speech, and I won't be talking about myself, hopefully I will be less nervous. I also feel that more practice would help soothe my nerves. Practicing in front of a person or group of people should help even more. For the next speech I will try to practice at least once in front of my family or my boyfriend, instead of by myself. Also, this will allow me to get their feedback on things I can improve in my speech, including both content and delivery.