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.
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