Free Custom «The Outside of Class Speaker Evaluation Paper» Sample Essay

The speech analyzed in this essay was made during a seminar for youths.

The speaker managed to maintain eye contact with the audience throughout her speech. It was, in fact, the best of what the listener could learn in her speech delivery. Owing to the fact that she kept looking at the audience, this seems to have instilled some trust into the audience. Throughout the speech, one could feel that friendliness that hung in the air due to her good maintenance of eye contact. She did not seem to notice that she had some small cards lying on the podium before her since her notes did not seem to matter then. Instead, she looked at the audience in an assuring and fulfilling manner. No part of the audience was left unseen by her eyes as she interacted with those directly in front of her, those to her right, and those to her left. Moreover, she could be looking at some people, specifically and directly, in the course of her speech delivery. She seemed to have achieved the audience’s attention and trust as it could be seen that the audience was keen to let her continue her speech as they kept looking at her. They looked attentive and seemed to agree with her. At one point, the speaker looked at me, and I through that look, could feel the truth and validity in what she was saying.

The speaker was very vocal in her speech. She was loud enough for the audience to hear each and every word in her speech. One could feel that she was very enthusiastic about her speech, and this, definitely, appealed to the audience. Most particular was the way she pronounced her words. In fact, all words came out clearly and were well-articulated. The way she put stress on some of the words and sentences in her speech was very appealing. Every word she uttered seemed to have its own special effect as she went through her pronunciation of it. Her voice could be heard going through several variations throughout the speech. She seemed interested in the subject of her speech, and the audience could be seen to have gained so much interest from the way she managed her voice throughout the speech. Her rate of speaking was moderate, and she seemed to have no intention of rushing through her speech. One step at a time appeared to be her rule. The way she varied her tone was particularly interesting. She could be heard speaking at a slower rate when she was delivering the key points of her speech. When going through background material in the speech, she could be heard talking quicker. One could tell that she was not there solely to inform the audience of what they already knew but, instead, to offer them something entirely or almost new.

            At some point, her speech varied. Its inflection rose and the speaker’s volume increased slightly together with her speaking rate. It could be seen that virtually all the heads that were facing down would turn up to look at the speaker. Her vocal variations triggered attention of the audience. She varied her voice and put stress on some words. Through this, the audience could clearly get various meanings of her speech.

            The most interesting thing about the speaker’s speech was the way she used pauses. In fact, these pauses were effective enough. One felt her speech was well-punctuated and could easily separate her thoughts from each other in her speech. She would also pause in between major ideas to let the audience capture them distinctively. Moreover, she would purposely pause after mentioning difficult concepts. The reason for this was to give the audience time to contemplate these concepts.

            She did not ignore the effective use of gestures and facial variations. She would, for instance, point her fingers towards the audience when telling them that they are the future of their country. What is more, she frowned when she recalled that the government has not done enough to help the youth. Furthermore, when expressing hope, she smiled.

            Logic and consistency was embraced in her speech. She started from the general views and would then go to specific concepts. During the delivery of these concepts, she would give clear-cut examples of each. It was impressive how she went gracefully from one concept to another without any errors. As a result, this made her speech easily comprehensible.

            The speaker lacked in her ability to wholly engage the audience. Despite her effective employment of eye contact and gestures, the speaker failed to involve the audience’s side and perspective on the speech or subject of the speech. She ought to have sought feedback from the audience in order to insure that her speech was properly understood. Although she got such response indirectly through the audience’s nods and partly facial expressions, it would be more effective if she got it through their direct involvement. For example, she could take questions from the audience or use them as examples in the speech as well as ask the audience about their view on certain ideas. However, this would require an appropriate response from the speaker.

            Another way she could improve her future presentations is to embrace the use of body movements. During her speech, she maintained the same position, namely on the podium. However, there was enough space on the stage. Thus, she ought to have moved around the stage in order to capture the audience’s attention and to explore her examples further.