Jorge Guerra Blog #2: Reflection on the A.I. Presentations

       Who doesn't love a good presentation? Especially if they're as informative as the ones presented by my fellow classmates. My groups presentation focused on the ways you can gather and organize information. Brief research helps you discover and narrow out your topic. This can also help with organizing ideas, preparing your introduction and conclusion as well as supporting the ideas. The internet can be a useful tool when planning your speech. Many search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing have an option to filter your search to specifically find what you're looking for. You do have to be careful and verify that the information is correct. Along with supporting your ideas, organization of your ideas matter. Kamryn did her slides on the 3 different principles or organizing an outline. I learned the principle of subordination helps you decide what material you have gathered is more important or less with the use of indentations or symbols. Principle of division explains the importance of using subpoints when dividing a point. She also goes on to explain how to organize the body of your presentation. The introduction, body, and conclusion are the three main components and it would be proactive to identify the main points first. For a better explanation, you can divide your three topics into main ideas and be sure to make them as equally important as the other. The language you choose to use can make or break your speech as well. Our language is symbolic in how they can represent object or ideas. They can also affect the way we feel, causing a change in our moods. When we are preparing a presentation its important to know that language is a great tool that can help organize our thoughts. Our brain does this cool thing where we are able to put things into categories for better understanding. 

       Group ones PowerPoint was appealing to the eye. I like how they set the theme for their presentation with many different colors. I think that's important for any PowerPoint. Its a great way to catch your audiences attention and get them to remember what you are trying to say. Their presentation discussed the complexity of creating and deciding a topic for a speech. The second presenter, Britney, specifically stood out to me. I loved that she gave tips on how to prepare for your first presentation. Gathering materials, being organized and planning were some of the points she made for a smooth presentation. She stressed that its extremely crucial to practice. I feel practicing also makes you content with your speech. The more you practice, the smoother the comprehension of your speech will be.  She also went over Impromptu Presentations. These are like presentations on the spot, where you have no time to plan. Even though you cant plan for these, you can still be organized by picking a topic you have experience on. For this type of presentation, picking a topic you enjoy and have practical knowledge on helps entertain you and your audience. Listening is also a fundamental part of speech. Being a good listener can help you better the way you are speaking publicly. Hailey talked about this in her part of the PowerPoint. She gave useful tips on how to become a better listener. One of the important ones was to concentrate your attention on the speaker. Giving your undivided attention ensures you are taking in all the information given off from the speaker. She also  says that you should ignore or remove physical distractions. She has a good point. When you are distracted, its hard to actually understand what is being said to you. Loud noises, disturbing activities or even stress can alter the way you receive the presenters information.

       To be a great presenter, you have to persuade and make your audience understand. Group 3 focused on these topics. I appreciated the part of the PowerPoint where Melanie explained how you can use critical thinking to improve the message you want to deliver. She explained the importance of clarity and the way it can help analyze ideas, arguments to ensure a clear message. Considering alternative views is also necessary when using critical thinking and reasoning. When you express this in your speech, it gives the audience a deeper understanding. In Melanie's presentation I learned what a fallacy is. This is when an error in reasoning weakens your argument. She gives specific types of fallacies such as name calling, using the word either/or which assumes that every issue has two opposite positions and the Bandwagon Technique. Bandwagon Technique is when the speaker encourages the listener to do something because everyone else is doing it. I'm sure we've all been in a situation where a friend is convincing you do to do something because its a new trend. Its like peer pressure and that doesn't make anyone comfortable. Moving on to another interesting topic, special occasion presentations. Fabiana does an amazing job at describing the different characteristics. Purpose, style and organization are the key to a speech. Special occasion speeches may be more formal in the tone than traditional, informative or persuasive speeches. She includes a video in her slide that I thought was beneficial to the topic. This video is of a man named Chris Anderson and he speaks about the secrets to a great TED talk. He states you should focus on one major topic, give your audience a reason to care, build your topic based on familiar concepts, and to make sure your topic is worth sharing. These are all helpful tips to ensure a great talk for you and your audience.