Faking it till I Hopefully Make it

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of watching two TED talks that I found not only interesting but I was able to examine and critique for further comprehension of what defines a good speech. This is especially fascinating to me because I have an immense and overwhelming fear of public speaking. In any group I am normally the most outgoing and outspoken one, but as soon as I set foot in front of a classroom, the room starts to spin, my hands start to shake, and I forget what seems to be the most innate task of taking in oxygen. So what factors cause these people to be able to communicate and convince an audience of so many? What allows them to successfully not only deliver a point, but to really engage and move everyone around them? I contemplated all these things as goose bumps spread over my arms, admiring and fearing for these speakers who deliver these messages to so many.

The first speech I watched was one done by an Indian woman by the name of Mira Vijayann. I would have to say I found more fault in this presentation in comparison. I admired and sympathized with her message of finding a voice against Women’s violence, but how she portrayed that message was not convincing. As her speech began, she broke into emotion, which I sympathized with as she described the horrific acts of sexual assault against her. However, as the talk progressed, I found there to be too much of a lack of emotion for the topic at hand. Her voice seemed monotone and not suited to provoke the emotion needed for such a heavy topic as this. She also seemed to look down a lot at a notecard which was irritating at times because you almost wanted her to be fully engaged with you. Another big thing I noticed was that her eyes never really told the story, only her words. Her eyes never portrayed the emotions and feelings her words did, and they didn’t illustrate the trauma or feeling that went along with such a gruesome topic. I also couldn’t help but notice her movement, which seemed to just walk back and forth over and over again in an unengaged way. I sound extremely harsh for someone who hates public speaking, but I couldn’t help but feel that if she had engaged more emotion into the tone of her voice and told the story not only with her words but also her eyes, this speech would have been even more awe-inspiring.

         Now, the next speech I watched was a little different not only in content, but deliverance as well. Ironically, I chose to watch a speech by Amy Cuddy about how your body language shapes who you are. Not only was I impressed about how unbelievably well she was at delivering the speech, but the content of the speech was exactly what I needed to hear. Several things that really stood out to me about her speech was the way she began it. From the very beginning, she was able to captivate the audience by asking them to observe their own body language. This pulled me in as I began to really care and grow interest in her topic as it related to me. Then, Amy began talking about the topic in a way that was not so much a lecture, but instead something that we were essentially a part of. She also seemed extremely confident and enthusiastic, making jokes with the help of visual aids and videos. Amy presented facts, which helped to convince me about the significance of her topic as well, and it made it seem more believable and important. Not only was I amazed by how well she went about delivering this speech, but also the content itself was extremely helpful. Basically, Amy told me exactly what I needed to hear as someone who dreads public speaking. Her point of the talk was that what we do, we become. If we act confident, we naturally become more confident in front of people by the way we present ourselves. So, by taking what I had learned about being a confident, captivating speaker from Amy’s talk, I also hopefully can fake it until I “become” it, or at least not pass out in front of the classroom.

         

The Wise Words of Spider-Man

Growing up, the Spider-Man movies may have had it right when Uncle Ben would ever so wisely advise Peter Parker that “With great power comes great responsibility”.  Lately, there has been a lot of buzz about some nude photos being leaked to the press. One author, Scott Mendelson, is trying to say through his article that the whole celebrity sex scandal is not necessarily the fault of the female celebrities, but instead that of those who stole these private photos. Mendelson feels that this is another blatant example of the overpowering sexism in our culture by scolding the women who chose to take these photos with their own rights to privacy, and were perpetrated by the men who exposed these private entitlements. Mendelson states here that “Instead of condemning those who would steal the private photographs and publish them online for all to see, we condemn or belittle the women who chose to create said private photographs in the first place.” I would personally have to disagree with Mendelson’s argument however, because I feel that it doesn’t take into account some very key points. First of all, Mendelson never actually took into account the fact that these women are celebrities and not everyday soccer moms.  Had that been the case, his argument would have had much more substance and I probably would have mostly agreed with his take on the situation. I personally am a strong advocate for women’s rights having known many people close to me who have been perpetrated sexually by men. This however to me is not the same thing. When you become a celebrity in my opinion, you automatically give up some of your rights to privacy. This is recognized even from a legal standpoint in terms of slander. Everyday, celebrities are bombarded by the press and media exposing truths and non-truths about them. This can be applied to all celebrities, whether you have facial hair or not. If Mendelson feels so strongly about perpetration, then why are all of these cases occurring million and millions of times worldwide completely ignored? 

Not only that, but also another key argument is missing in the article from my understanding. It was their choice to take these pictures in the first place.  They were not forced to take these pictures, and there’s nothing wrong with the fact they did. But having said that, these women are fully capable in understanding like everyone else that these photos could be exposed. Not because men are perpetrators of woman, but because anything that we do always has the possibility of being exposed. If they were not fully proud of sharing their birthday suite with the world, then they shouldn’t have electronically captured it at any point in time. The same principle applies for men just as much as woman. This is even putting aside the idea that these women are celebrities, and should have been fully aware with the freedom to make their own choices that this “non crime or sin” may make its way to the public eye. Now I’m not saying that these women would have to apologize because I’m not saying that this act was a crime. I am saying that they need to take responsibility and own up to the fact they took these pictures, as anyone (male or female) should before taking pictures of their most personal self, and maybe listen to your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man every now and again.

Hey Everyone! My name is Megan Quillen and I am a freshman here at UK. I’m from Commerce Township Michigan and am so excited to be here in Lexington where it’s not only a little bit warmer, but also the people are a little bit nicer! I am undecided what my major is as of now, but I’m hoping this year will make things seem a little clearer. For me, the song that really was able to express my 2014 was Beyoncé’s new album. To me she is such an inspiration of a powerful, self-confident and beautiful woman who I aspire to be like. Her unwillingness to give into the worlds expectations of women and there supposed roles in society helped me this year battle my own self image problems. Thanks to the Queen, I am able to face 2015 with confidence and an acceptance and love of who I am.