I'm someone who is at home in front of an audience. Be it singing in front of auditoriums full of people on stage or blurting out an almost-funny joke in the middle of a crowd, I have never really been afraid to put myself out in front of people. This lack of stage fright is weird to many people, and my friends find it too good to be true. Many of my classmates posted about being nervous for their speech, which makes it all the more admirable that they did so gosh darn well with their speeches. What I lacked in nerves, though, I made up for in procrastination. In this regard, this speechwriting assignment was a learning process for me.
Throughout high school, I was a bad procrastinator. I know many people say this about themselves, but it was especially apparent in my case. I would start my weekend homework at midnight on Sunday night, and usually end up finishing it 5 minutes before class started, if at all. In high school, it was easier to get by while doing this, but college is a whole different monster. I started my speech at, like, 11 p.m. the night before, and WOW was that a bad decision. Let's just say it was one of my latest nights yet, even considering the fact that I'm a chronic night owl. In some ways I'm almost glad I did this, however. It taught me a very important lesson about assignments and time management.
This assignment also taught me how to write an effective speech. In high school, I never took into account the rhetorical strategies that I was using when writing essays or lectures. Now, every time I write I will pay close attention to the interplay between the ethos, pathos, and logos of my rhetoric. Up to this point, I was a firm believer in only using logos to convey my message (even though I had no idea what the word logos meant; nor did I know that it even existed.). This class made me realize that ethos and pathos are very important as well-pathos perhaps even more so. When speaking to a crowd, you can't just throw cold facts at them and expect them to no stare out the window the entire time. All of history's best speakers used language, volume oscillation and dramatic pauses to give their listeners the "chills" that accompany an effective and historic speech. From now on in my writing, I will make sure to utilize all three corners of the rhetoric triangle. Who knew that I would actually learn things at Penn State?
Gabe, I could not have known you started it at 11 PM the night before unless you told me. I'm extremely impressed! I too need a better understanding of rhetoric triangle, so no worries. And yes, who would have known that we would learn things in college?!
ReplyDeleteI also consider myself to be a bad procrastinator, but you take it to a new extreme.Props to you for doing such a great job, though! I learned the same lesson: time management is much more important in college than it was in high school. How weird to think that college is actually teaching us something!
ReplyDeleteYour posts are witty at times slightly sarcastic which make them all the more interesting to read! I too am surprised to hear you only started your speech at 11pm of the night before, but I guess that just emphasizes how comfortable you truly are in front of an audience. Also, I liked how you recognized your mistakes and listed on how you plan to fix them. Overall, job well done.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure many of your classmates will find your lack of nerves enviable, Gabe. If you can reign in your procrastination habits (easier said than done, of course), you'll be able to use your natural ease in front of a crowd for pretty amazing purposes.
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