Hat Speech

Good afternoon, my dear readers!

I`d like to congratulate all of you with the first day of spring. Hoorah!💃 Here in Novosibirsk we met the first day of March with lots of snow and cold wind. I hope that you are luckier with the weather))

Today we had a very efficient double period on oratory. Our task was to present a "Hat Speech": we had to pick up any headwear and tell a story about it. We also had to wear it during our talk. I liked it so much! All of the speeches in our group were very different. There were lots of brilliant ideas how to organize and deliver such an unusual talk. I think that everyone was great! We also discussed the evaluation of speeches: evaluation charts in particular. They are created to make a hard process of evaluation easier. There are lots of different charts with various basical principles. We`re going to learn not only how to write and deliver a speech, but also how to evaluate it. It`s essential for us, because we are future English teachers. Now I will try to evaluate my Hat Speech with the help of the Self-Evaluation Chart. I hope that you`ll find it useful for your own public perfomances. You can see the video of my Hat Speech at the top of the page👀

A PROCESS OF SELF-EVALUATION. KNOW THYSELF

1. Did you make an effort to gain the mental attention of your audience in the introduction to your speech?

I think I did. In the introduction I used a problematic quote from the film "Fight Club" which is one of the ways to get the attention of the audience. I said that I had started to think about this quote, and this was a kind of invitation for people to follow my line of thoughts. I also asked a rhetorical question: "Could you even imagine a person who has absolutely nothing? I don`t think so". I also made references to the people`s experience: "I think everyone here has her favourite piece of clothing, a jewel..."

2. Did you clearly state the topic or question?

I can`t say that it was absolutely clear for everyone because I didn`t say "I`m going to tell you about...". I used a quote instead of it. The quote was actually the topic of my speech. In the conclusion I correct it a bit according to my thoughts. I tried to pronounce the quote very clear and distinct, but maybe not all the listeners caught it. But during the introduction I began to think about the matter, so it was pretty clear.

3. Did you map the direction your speech was taking?

Fortunately,  this time we had an opportinity to prepare our speeches at home, so of course I did map the direction of my speech. It had an introduction about the quote, then the body where I was talking about my hat and finally a conclusion where I tried to persuade the listeners to own and to be owned only by positive emotions, not bt material things.

4. Did you support the major ideas with examples, instances, facts, quotations, or proof?

I made an effort to do this. I had a quotation, I gave examples of how people use things (for everyday activities and as a source of good memories), the whole story about my hat was an example and proof for my idea that we are owned not by material things but by the emotions and memories which they contain.

5. Did your speech have a conclusion?

Yes, it did. There was summary (I repeated that I like my hat because of the memories of school years and it`s a kind of proof that people need their favourite things) and there was also action and appeal ("Let`s try to own and to be owned by these positive emotions and not by material things")

6. List three areas of your last speech that you beleive were the most effective.

1) Speech content: Support. I think that my use of facts, a story from my own experience, examples was rather efficient. They helped me to inform the audience, to expand my speech, to deliver the most important ideas.

2) General Effectiveness: Adherence to time requirements. We had a time limit of 3 minutes and I managed to keep my speech within it. My speech was neither too short, nor too long.

3) General Effectiveness: Creativity. I think that my speech was creative and interesting. It contained an interesting, not widespread quotation, a real story which was delivered in a funny way with jokes. It was individualized, because it feflects my own thoughts and points of view.

7. List three weaknesses of your speech.

1) Vocal presentation. At the beginning of my speech the tempo was too fast. Then it was OK, but in some places it was too fast again. I didn`t range the pitch of my voice at all. Sometimes I had mistakes with pronouncing some words, so the articulation was not very clear.

2) Posture. During the speech I often put my hands behind my back and crossed them which is a closed posture. I gave to be opened for the audience.

3) Facial expression. I have to work with my facial gestures, because they are too active and a bit strange. They have to be slower and calmer, otherwise they look nervous and strange.

8. Pick one area of organization or content that you desire to improve in your next speech.

I would like to develop the cohesion of my speech to make it more logical and easier to listen to. I think that not all the listeners got the main idea of my speech. I should also use clearer summary in the conclusion. In my Hat Speech it was too small.

9. Pick one area of delivery you desire to improve in the next speech.

I would like to improve physical presentation of the speech, especially facial expression. I have problems with facial gestures and I hate it in myself. I`m a choleric person, that`s why my face is changing all the time and people can find it strange. I should learn how to contol it.

What do you think about my Hat Speech? I`d be glad to read your comments.

Thanks for reading it☺