Andrea Hansen

COMM 1010-833-303

Professor Stephen Haslam

March 17, 2019

Appearance

I was dressed far more casually than I should have been for a presentation. I wore a

sweatshirt, black pants, and boots. I think my casual clothes made the presentation seem more

casual, instead of professional. My hair was an entirely different story. I had my hair in a pony

tail, but it had loosened up throughout the day, and had kind of fallen off to one side, and

definitely looked more casual than it could have looked. I wished that I had put a little more

effort into my appearance that day. My posture was incredibly casual, and I wish I would have

made myself stand up straighter. I always have a pretty big problem with posture, honestly,

because I am just an around-the-clock sloucher. Having better posture when presenting can show

your audience that you aren’t too casual, that you know what you’re talking about, and that you

are confident not just in how you present yourself, but in what you’re saying as well. My glasses

did fall down my nose a few times when I was looking down at my outline to read off of, and I

thought that was a little distracting as well.

Organizational Pattern

My introduction went how I had planned it to go, however, almost as soon as I started

talking, I forgot the word I was supposed to say and kind of stumbled a little bit, but I tried to get

back on track. I previewed the main points and I felt that my transitions went as planned. Once I

started getting further into the presentation, I kind of stopped looking at what I was supposed to
be saying, which I honestly told myself over and over again not to do, but for whatever reason, I

felt that it would be fine. I wished I hadn’t done that, because in doing that, I wasn’t able to stick

to the outline, and I wasn’t able to include all of the information that I had planned to include. I

forgot to even include my conclusion, because I was running out of time, and I didn’t want to go

over the five-minute mark any more than I already had. I felt that my word choice was pretty

good. I tried not to say filler words, for example: like, um, uh, so, kinda, ‘cause etc. I did say um,

like, ‘cause, and kinda more than I wished I had, but it could have been worse I guess. I kind of

had to rush through the actual steps of the Heimlich maneuver because I went a little too long in

describing some of the beginning parts. I didn’t ask anyone afterwards if they had any questions

either, and I feel that I could have, I wasn’t sure where I was on time, and so I didn’t want to take

up any more than I already had, since my entire speech was about 6 minutes and 25 seconds

instead of 5 minutes.

Vocal Qualities

I tried really hard to not let my voice shake, which I always seem to have a problem with,

but I actually feel that I did pretty well with this presentation. I was trying to focus really hard on

not tripping over my words, or forgetting words because I was focusing so hard on trying to not

look nervous. But I did end up forgetting a few words, or kind of taking an extra second to

remember what I was supposed to say. I wished I had done better about being calm during the

presentation, but I still think this is the best presentation I have ever done. The amount of times

that I used filler words, or pointed to the screen from where I was standing instead of describing

what I meant made me seem way more casual as well. I felt that I should have practiced the

speech even more, but not just alone in front of the mirror like I did. I wished I would have

practiced in front of other people before actually doing the speech. My pitch was a little all over
the place, and I think it’s because I felt nervous being up there. I tried to keep it balanced, but I

feel that practicing more would have helped me a lot. I spoke loudly so that everyone in the room

could understand what I was saying, and I tried to enunciate my words as well.

Delivery

I used pointing gestures when I was describing something on my slide instead of just

describing it verbally, or walking over to the slide to point to the actual thing I was talking about.

I also used gestures to describe where to put your hands when giving a dog CPR, as well as

where to put them when doing the variations of the Heimlich maneuver. I felt that I made

adequate eye contact with the audience. I tried to look at everyone around the room instead of

only staring at one side of the room, or only staring at the back wall to make it look like you’re

staring at the audience. My stance was very casual, and I wished I would have practiced how to

stand in front of others, or in front of the mirror so that I could see what my tendencies are, and

try to fix them before the presentation. I didn’t really move around a lot during my presentation,

because I didn’t want it to seem like I was all over the place, however, I think it could have

helped my audience understand more if I had gotten out from behind the desk to show how to do

the Heimlich, or to walk over to the slide to point when I was having a hard time finding the

words to describe the image. I looked down at my outline a lot, and I think I noticed that I was

doing that during the presentation, because I tried to correct it and look at the audience more I

hadn’t practiced this, though, and this also caused me to lose my place in reading off of the

outline, and that’s kind of where I started saying things that I could remember needed to be said.

I definitely could have done a better job on the delivery.

Visual Aid
 My only visual aid was the PowerPoint, and while I felt that it looked visually pleasing, I

didn’t include any transitions, or fancy things within it. I tried not to make the background colors

and images too distracting, so that it wouldn’t pull away from the information being given. I do

feel that I could have put transitions or effects in it. I think the audience could clearly see the

words on the PowerPoint, and I made sure to make the images large enough so that everyone

could see the diagrams of the Heimlich maneuver. I didn’t have any videos or music or anything

that could potentially lead to technical difficulties.

Audience Connection

Pathos: I think the audience was able to feel involved from my stories about my personal

experience with my small dog. I also think it helped that most people know someone with a dog,

and it helps them to think about if they were in a situation where a dog needed the Heimlich

maneuver. I made eye contact with the audience which I believe helped me connect as well.

Logos: My research and techniques for the prevention and handling of choking situations

helped the audience to see that there are many things that could contribute to choking, and there

are also many things you can do to help your pet if they’re choking. If you try one way to

remove an object, and it doesn’t work, there are variations that you can repeatedly go through

until you have the object removed. I think showing evidence that there isn’t only one way to give

your pet the Heimlich helped the audience feel that the variations can cater to any type of

situation or dog.

Ethos: I was able to use reputable resources from both Petsmart’s Banfield Pet Hospital,

as well as Petco’s PetCoach online veterinarian help, which are two of the most well-known pet

stores in the nation. I was able to quote experts from PetMD, as well as SPCA of Texas, which I
think showed the audience that what was being presented was credible. My appearance did not

benefit me, and could have given the audience the impression that I was not prepared.

Strengths

The amount of eye contact I made with the audience, as well as me keeping my voice

shaking in check were my greatest strengths during this presentation. The eye contact helped me

to be involved with the audience, and keeping my voice strong, and my tone consistent

throughout helped me look more confident being in front of an audience. I was pleasantly

surprised when watching the video afterwards, because I was truly unsure of how I actually did. I

was pleased to see that I didn’t look as nervous as I felt, and I was happy to see that I actually did

make a lot of eye contact with the audience. I was worried at first that I had only felt like it was a

sufficient amount of eye contact because I was nervous, but I still believe that it was sufficient.