SPCH 1315 Audience Analysis and TED paper

Lindsay Jacobs

685 Words

TED Speech Critique and Analysis

An important part of improving your own public speaking skills involves working on becoming a better listener. Through analyzing and critiquing others’ performances we can learn how to improve our own speech presentations. Please view Dr. Amy Cuddy’s TED.com presentation “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are” and complete the analysis below. (I will provide the link to the video for you to watch.) Remember that a good critique puts aside personal opinion and judgment of “liking” or “disliking” the speaker. Be objective!

Dr. Amy Cuddy Ph.D. is a Social Psychology professor and researcher at Harvard Business School. She studies how nonverbal behavior and snap judgments effect people from the classroom to the boardroom. TED “ideas worth spreading” began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment, and Design converged. The world’s leading thinkers and doers give a short, powerful talk that is recorded and then published online for the world to watch. TED’s agenda is to make great ideas accessible and spark conversation.

1. Briefly summarize what the main points/key ideas were that the speaker presented. In other words, if you had to sum up the whole speech presentation in 50 words or less, how would you explain it to someone who hasn’t watched the speech? Be extremely brief and concise to avoid a penalty for directions

2. Analyze the speaker’s use of voice. Please discuss what you observed about EACH of the following: 1. Volume = too loud/too soft or easy to hear? 2. Rate/pace = too fast/ too slow or steady pace? 3. Tone of voice = what emotions did you heard behind the words? 4. Pauses = were they purposeful for dramatic effect or did the speaker lose their place? Did the speaker stumble or were they smooth flowing? 5. Did the speaker use filler or repeat words such as “uh,” “um,” like,” “you know” etc.? 6. = Was the speaker clear and articulate or hard to understand? 7. Did the speaker have good, captivating vocal variety or a monotone/dull voice?

#2 & #3 should be the bulk of your paper!

3. Analyze the speaker’s use of body. Please discuss what you observed about EACH of the following: 1.Eye contact = did the speaker look up or look down at notes/teleprompter? Did he/she scan the entire room? 2. Posture = upright or slouched? 3. Stance = did he/she stand in place or move around? 4. Movement = purposeful and/or distracting movement(s) (fidgeting, shifting, bouncing, rocking, pen clicking, swaying, etc)? 5. Gestures = too much or too little? Did gestures enhance or distract? 6. Facial expressions = did the speaker show any emotions on his/her face? 7. Personal appearance = was it appropriate for the occasion?

4. Putting your personal feelings to the side, objectively critique what you observed. Tell us the ONE most ineffective aspect of the presentation (don’t say “it was good/nothing was ineffective.”) Tell us the ONE most effective aspect of the speech. Overall, was the speaker’s presentation ultimately EFFECTIVE or INEFFECTIVE? Why do you feel that way?

-Your critique should be, at minimum, 500 words long. However, it can be as long as you need it to be. Simply put your name at the top along with your word count. If you don’t put your word count it will be -1 point off for directions. Number your answers 1, 2, 3, and 4. Write in complete sentences, not just words or phrases. Don’t re-write the questions. Proofread for spelling/grammar issues. Refer to the syllabus for the late work penalty!

Quality/Quantity- Reflects understanding of the material, includes relevant content, is well organized and easy to follow. How thoroughly do you answer the questions? Do you meet the minimum word count requirement?	Directions	Spelling / Grammar
2 Good – Thorough in both quality and quantity	1 Follows all directions	1 Free from error
1 Fair – Issues with quality and/or quantity	0 Doesn’t follow all	0 Errors
0 Poor – Major issues with quality and/or quantity	directions

PLEASE USE MY EXAMPLE PAPER AS A TEMPLATE FOR YOUR OWN PAPER

First Name Last Name (PUT YOUR WORD COUNT)

DON’T RE-WRITE THE QUESTION

WRITE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES

DO NOT TRY TO WRITE THIS PAPER USING THE ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN FROM A SPEECH

JUST NUMBER 1-4 AND ASNWER THE QUESTION

1. Must be 50 words or less!

2. To fill the word count requirement, touch on every detail about use of voice.

3. To fill the word count requirement, touch on every detail about use of body.

4. Discuss the ONE most effective and ONE most ineffective aspect. Critique what you observed. OVERALL, was the speaker ultimately effective or ineffective. Why?