Reflection (1000 words)

When I signed up for public speaking, I did it for two reasons. One was because it was just another class to take but also I felt like it would help me become more confident and make me a better speaker. I enjoyed this class a lot and the environment was better than any other class I had. Having known a couple kids in the class before it started was helpful and helped our class gel together quicker. I already knew Tommy Savino and Sam Fekete because we both went to Cheshire Academy last year, I knew Joey Bramanti from summer baseball, and I’ve known Jay Devito since freshman year because we live pretty close to each other and we used to play basketball together. I got along with all the kids in the class very well and enjoyed being around them on a day to day basis despite having to listen to Joey’s loud, obnoxious voice. Waking up and going to class at 8:00am on the one day where we had public speaking first, was not the most exciting thing because the last thing I wanted was to hear Joey’s voice. Overall, the environment of this class was good for learning and also for having a good time. We would always be cracking jokes with each other and even Mrs. Guarino which made the class feel relaxed. I liked how this class was laid back because there wasn’t ever a lot of pressure on us but at the same time we knew we had to get a certain amount of work done. After taking this class, I do feel like my public speaking skills have improved a good amount in just one semester. My posture when speaking is better, I stand up straighter now and at the same time I don’t look too stiff. My biggest problem in the beginning of the year on the first day of public speaking was saying “um” and “like” too much. After simply practicing speaking in front of my classmates and Mrs. Guarino, I believe that this has gotten better. Most of the time when I speak now, that is the number one thing I think about. Aside from speaking to an audience and getting rid of our tendencies, we also learned how to debate. In public speaking, it was interesting learning about pathos and the other tactics in debate. This was helpful to us as a class because now when we were in an argument or debate, we had a great idea on how to have a better chance in winning. Watching debates on the projector during class and debating amongst each other was interesting and funny to see how they played out. From learning the different debate styles and tactics to implement during an argument, it was pretty wild how someone who is completely wrong can still win the argument just based on how they debate the topic. One’s body language, tone of voice, and many other factor could solely win them a debate because appearance is so key. Another thing we did in public speaking was obviously talk about how to be better public speakers and we did this several ways. My favorite part about learning to improve our public speaking was watching ted talks during class. The ted talks gave us some really good examples of what to do and also what not to do. It was interesting to find out that there are a good amount of ted talks in which the person presenting is a terrible public speaker. We analyzed each speaker, talking about everything from the voice and speed of talking to their body language and gestures. The analyzation of these speakers along with perfecting each one of our individual weaknesses, played into our practice in class. Writing speeches and “ted talks” of our own was something that was cool to do because we were able to then analyze each other in class. Paying close attention to each other while we presented or spoke, allowed us to give really good constructive criticism. Writing emails to whoever was speaking in class was a great way for the speaker to realize what they need to improve on but also what they did a good job of. Sometimes, the emails got annoying (especially for Tommy Savino) because they were tedious and no one wanted to do them but all in all I think they were really helpful. From the emails from our classmates and also Mrs. Guarino, we could put it all together, take the most helpful criticism, and apply it or work on it for the next time we spoke in front of the class. I do think that we as a class improved every single time we spoke in front of each other and we all improved immensely over the course of the semester. Mrs. Guarino’s teaching style was helpful and instructive. She always told us what assignments were do when and how she wanted them done. Coming into class everyday to the environment in Mrs. Guarino’s class was great because she was almost always in a good mood and was very laid back. Making a mistake in Mrs. Guarino’s class was something that we all felt okay with because we knew she would never really get on us for anything but instead provide constructive criticism on how to improve. This is quality that is extremely important for a teacher to have ESPECIALLY in a class like public speaking. The reason for this is because if you are afraid of sharing stories or anything, you won’t get practice. Instead, you’ll keep a lot to yourself which will disable you from learning, getting better, and being able to practice your skills. I will miss this class and definitely miss the people in it. It was a great experience. From making marshmallows to debating on Trump vs. Clinton, public speaking was a fun class to be a part of and Mrs. Guarino will never have as great of a class as we were nor will we have another teacher as fun as Mrs. Guarino.

Final Speech Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpoVPLWBi6c

This I Believe Final

Many people talk about how their families have led them to where they are and how they have shaped them into who they are. Others talk about sports and how it has taught them valuable life lessons. Today, I’m here to share with you something a bit more unique and interesting. While a huge chunk of the world is so invested in doing things with “friends” or whoever it may be, it may be causing them to lose their identity. Being so attached to social media, phones, and celebrities is clearly very distracting for almost everybody. I, however, am not one of those people which is why I am going to talk about how it is poisonous. Too many people are worried about what so and so is up to or recent news on this celebrity. They are so caught up and lost in what people around them or what famous people are doing that they get off track in their own lives and what’s really important. Following up on the Kardashians isn’t going to help you get to where you want to go. For the most part, there is simply no reason to be worried about what any celebrity is doing as it will only distract you from your goals. It will lead to too much daydreaming about where you want to be instead of working towards it. Spending more time alone or close family, relaxing outdoors, and dedicating almost every hour of your day to yourself can be beneficial. You can find out a lot about yourself by doing this or at least more time with close family. Putting yourself first is something that I think is very important and is something that will keep you focused on life in general. To achieve your goals and be successful it is crucial to believe in what you are doing and the few close people around you.

This I Believe Rough Draft

Many people talk about how their families have lead them to where they are and how they have shaped them into who they are. Others talk about sports and how it has taught them valuable life lessons. Today, I’m here to share with you something a bit more unique and interesting. While a huge chunk of the world is so invested in doing things with “friends” or whoever it may be, it may be causing them to lose their identity. Being so attached to social media, phones, and celebrities is clearly very distracted for almost everybody. I, however, am not one of those people which is why I am going to talk about how it is poisonous. Spending more time alone or close family, relaxing outdoors, and dedicating almost every hour of your day to yourself can be beneficial. You can find out a lot about yourself by spending more time alone or more time with close family. Putting yourself first is something that I think is very important and is something that will keep you focused on life in general. Too many people are worried about what so and so is up to or what recent news on this celebrity. They are so caught up and lost in what people around them or what famous people are doing that they get off track in their own lives and what’s really important. Following up on the Kardashians isn’t going to help you get to where you want to go. For the most part, there is simply no reason to be worried about what any celebrity is doing as it will only distract you from your goals. It will lead to too much daydreaming about where you want to be instead of working towards it. To achieve your goals and be successful it is crucial to believe in what you are doing and the few close people around you.

"This I Believe" Reflection

The most important aspects of a good "This I Believe" are creativity, good grammar, and organization. The well written speeches were unique which makes it a lot more interesting to read. In a typical speech, the writer will talk about how their family is important or how sports have shaped them into the person they are today. This is extremely boring to read or listen to because it is so basic and they all sound the same. Grammar and organization is also very important because it shows that the writer took their time and care about what they wrote. One of the speeches I read was hard to follow and made the writer seem like he didn't really care or believe in his speech because of his poor grammar, but his organization was good so that made it easier to read. If the speech isn't organized you get lost and it makes it hard to comprehend what you're reading.

"How to" Speech rough draft

Hi everybody, today I’m going to teach you how to surf in CS GO. CS GO is a first person shooter game and there is a side game that’s called surfing. So you’re probably confused and asking what the heck is the point of this? Well the objective is to go from rail to rail or ramp to ramp in order to get to the end of the map. First off, you’re gonna start on a platform and obviously to jump off you have to run forward holding the W key. After you’re on the first ramp, if the ramp is on the left side of your character hold A, and D if the ramp is on the right. NEVER hold W after you jump off the platform. From now on, jumping from ramp to ramp you need to synchronize ever move with a key. For example, if you move your mouse to the left you have to hold A and if you move your mouse to the right you have to hold D in order to move your character correctly. Secondly, the other very important aspect is angling. You have to try to land on the ramps almost parallel almost like you’re floating because that will give you a great amount of speed. If you slam against the ramps or our not being smooth it will kill your speed and you will never be able to get to the end of the map.

Teach A Skill

For my presentation, I will teach the class how to surf in a game called CSGO (Counter Strike Global Offensive)

Shortened Speech

Hi my name is Mark Thompson. Growing up on a horse and cattle ranch in east Texas, I have an idea of what hard work and discipline looks like. I can relate to the hard working blue collar citizens of this country. At the same time, I have a good combination of experience, business, and understanding of the citizens which makes me the best candidate for president. Trump has no experience in government and Clinton is a walking fallacy. I have plenty of experience working in the government and running a business. I ran my own business doing Real Estate in Florida. My company has over $5 billion in annual sales. Also, I have worked with Obama and Joe Biden in passing the health care reform. To me, the most important problems that need to be taken care of are securing the borders going after targets more aggressively, and bringing back manufacturing jobs.Having secure borders in our country is vital along with going after targets very aggressively and working on getting the 4 million lost manufacturing jobs back.

Speech & Learning reflection

Since the first couple weeks of class to now, I feel that my speech has gotten a little bit better and my posture/stance has improved immensely. I don’t say um or anything like that anymore which allows me to speak more fluid and clear. At the same time, I think I still need to work on talking a bit louder and slower. My stance has gotten a lot better as well. Before I would lean and sway but now I’m doing a better job of keeping my stance, being straight up and not moving. One thing that is very difficult is the writing part, not the content but the length. I don’t like expanding what I’m saying because it gets me and people I’m talking to off track or too caught up in one certain thing. I get straight to the point when I write and don’t like saying the same thing 100 different ways in order to make it longer. I think it is more important to have quality than quantity which is why i struggle coming close to the minimum words required. Overall I feel that I have improved a good amount and I am on pace to have very good speaking skills by the end of the next quarter.

Candidate for President

Hi my name is Mark Thompson. Growing up on a horse and cattle ranch in east Texas, I have an idea of what hard work and discipline looks like. I can relate to the hard working blue collar citizens of this country. At the same time, I have a good combination of experience, business, and understanding of the citizens which makes me the best candidate for president. Trump has no experience in government and Clinton is a walking fallacy. I have plenty of experience working in the government and running a business. I ran my own business doing Real Estate in Florida. My company has over $5 billion in annual sales. Also, I have worked with Obama and Joe Biden in passing the health care reform. To me, the most important problems that need to be taken care of are securing the borders going after targets more aggressively, and bringing back manufacturing jobs. Having secure borders in our country is vital. Without having secure borders, anyone is welcome to waltz right into America. This needs to stop and needs to be heavily regulated. Illegal immigrants from other countries, specifically Mexico, are smuggling drugs and weapons into the United States. Illegal immigrants are responsible for 13.6% of the crime rate. They are spreading drugs and extreme violence which is a huge reason why our country is slowly being destroyed. Another aspect I will focus on is war. We have all these targets and enemies in other countries but when we send the Marines or Navy or whoever out to complete these missions, we make them wait around and twiddle their thumbs. After many conversations and experiences with people who have served this country, I have a great understanding of their emotions and goals. They don’t go through months and years of training to sit around. They want to get out there, kill enemies, and get to the target as soon as possible. We cannot afford to wait around and do nothing while other countries are formulating ideas or plans. Finally, I will make sure manufacturing jobs come back. Similar to Trump, I strongly believe that these jobs need to be brought back in order to build the economy back up. 4 million manufacturing jobs were lost and I know I will be able to bring almost all of those back. Although it may take a while, it will happen and the economy will rise greatly and we will become the amazing country we are supposed to be. Don’t vote for a liar, someone you can’t rely on, a liability. Don’t vote for inexperience, over exaggeration, and corruption. Vote for discipline, a blue collar work ethic, a connoisseur, and dedication. I will make sure borders become fully secured, I will make sure we go after targets and threats more aggressively, and manufacturing jobs WILL be brought back. LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeSNNaXRrqk

The Final Debate Trump vs. Clinton

In the final debate between Trump and Hillary, a specific part that was interesting was when they were talking about the US borders. Trump explained clearly and very thoroughly how and why the borders need to be heavily secured. I think Trump won that topic or question because he went into detail about how the open borders are killing the country and he gave examples of US citizens and their thoughts. He talked about the brutal killings that are taking place and the enormous amount of drugs that are pouring into the country. Many people are dying because of these people illegally entering the country, spreading drugs, and how violence spreads.

Debate Topic

Coke vs. Pepsi Kobe vs. Lebron Larry Bird vs. Kevin Durant

Debate Analysis

Donald Trump employed a strategic move in the debate when he said if he got elected he would hire someone to investigate Hillary’s 33,000 deleted emails. I think this was a huge part of the debate because it kind of set the tone. A lot of ideas and thoughts bounced off of that. Hillary got side tracked by Trump’s comments in the beginning so that might have been Trump’s strategy. In all of the polls, Trump won the 2nd debate and that is probably because he was the attacker and had a lot of back up or proof for what he was saying. The whole debate was a blunder in a way because both candidates rarely answered questions. They argued against each other and gave reasons why the other candidate is unreliable. This bundle affected the debate because it played more to Trump’s advantage and led to him winning the debate. Hillary should’ve tried to stay away from the arguing and just stuck to answering the questions.

5 Debate Topics

1. Ban gambling 2. Legalize marijuana 3. Ban homework 4. Driving age to 18 5. Ban school uniform

Straw Man

Something extreme or easy to argue against, used to misrepresent your opponents position. https://youtu.be/_AcKlTXHncs

3 Elements of Argument

Logos - logic: facts, statistics, evidence, authority (Hard to argue against it because it's the truth) - less personal connection, boring Pathos - appeal to emotion, personal connection, strong response - lose credibility, less professional, too much turn people off Ethos - authority, credibility, character, people believe you, appear unbiased - lose focus of your argument The 3 elements need to be balanced and tied in equally in an argument.

After watching my speech, I thought I spoke very well but I could have been looking at the audience a little bit more. For next time, I'll try to do a better job memorizing my speech so that I can look up at the audience more. What I learned about the tendencies of giving a speech is that it is common to look down at the wrotinf more than you look at the ahdience and it is also very common for people to talk unclearly because they are nervous.

I Am

Remember in 5th grade when everyone was obsessed with Heeleys? Hanging out with your friends went from playing football, video games, etc. to going up and down your street on Heeleys. Well for those of you who don't know, Heeleys are shoes with one wheel on each shoe. They aren't loud and flashy like you would think. They look like skate shoes but a little bit more clunky. On the bottom of the shoe, there was a slot to put the wheel so when you weren't using them to roll around in, they wouldn't look ridiculous. Mine in particular were all black so they looked like any other normal shoe out there. Using Heeley's were very easy, you would lift your front foot up while controlling with the back foot. I used them all the time. I went down and back this one private street near my house, used them at the park, used them to get to my friends' house, etc. But one day, I went to a big hill and decided to take my Heeley adventures one step further. I starred down the hill and went for it without any hesitation. At first it was a smooth ride, but i started gaining ridiculous speed and lost control. Gravity pushed me off track and I fell, scraping my knee up causing blood to repeatingly gush from my knee. From that day on, my Heeley use decreased and I never went down another hill in them again. What I took from this experience was that I should be more cautious next time I try a big stunt such as going down a big hill on wheels with no helmet. This realization changed my thinking for a while, and when I say a while I mean less than 2 years. I got a bike for my birthday a couple years later and tried the same thing on a different hill, again without a helmet. In the long run, I think these experiences were worth it because it made me understand that it is important to take risks in life. Taking risks are important because if you don't take risks, you will never know your limit. You will never know how far you can go or how much potential you have. If you're not a risk taker, you'll work for someone who is.

Speech Intro

Remember in 5th grade when everyone was obsessed with Heeleys? Hanging out with your friends went from playing football, video games, etc. to going up and down your street on Heeleys. Well for those of you who don't know, Heeleys are shoes with one wheel on each shoe. You lift The front foot up while controlling with the back foot. I used them all the time and one day, I went to a big hill and decided to take my Heeley adventures one step further.

What I have learned so far

In the last three weeks, I have learned a lot about the tendencies of bad public speakers compared to good public speakers. It seems like the most important things are being clear, eye contact with the audience, and getting the audience engaged. A lot of the bad ted talks we watched in class were different for several reason. One of the mistakes some of the speakers would make is laughing at their own jokes which made it awkward and the audience wasn’t engaged. The speaker would be smiling the whole time not making eye contact. He/she would then make a joke and would be the only one to laugh which is extremely cringe worthy. Other mistakes were saying “um” too much, looking at the ground, talking too soft, talking too fast or slow, slouching over, not getting the audience engaged, etc. It’s clearly important to develop good habits for public speaking such as having a good stance, standing up straight, a clear voice, humor, etc. For me, the easiest parts are having a clear loud voice, having a good stance, good posture, and eye contact with the audience. Things I can work on are limiting my “um”s and not getting jammed up after talking for a while. After saying a couple sentences or a paragraph, I get caught up because I start to get more nervous. To help me improve, I’ll try to practice more which will make me less nervous because I will be more accustomed to speaking in front of an audience. To limit my “um”s I’ll work on remembering what I’m going to say and focus on what I’m trying to say more. I definitely think that I will improve on this and sharpen my public speaking skills which will help me in many situations including the senior speech.

Speech Ideas

Family Baseball Personality Family -structure -

Bad TED Talk Classnotes

Henry's - Talks fast - Doesn't look at the audience Tommy's Talk - Her accident is very annoying - Audience is not engaged Jay's Talk - Sassy - Thinks she's the best and knows everything Ryan's Talk - Cocky - Rambles on

Bad TED Talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAFcV7zuUDA I think this is a bad ted talk because the guy is smiling the whole time which makes it uncomfortable as a viewer. He also laughs at his own jokes sometimes which is awkward.

Morning Meeting Announcement

Goodmorning fellow classmates, this Saturday there will be a trip to six flags. We will meet in the Fieldhouse at 11am. There will be food stops on the way there and on the way back so make sure you bring money. If you're interested in the trip please contact Mrs. Guarino.

TED Talk Notes

1. Confident, good hand gestures, walks around, talks clearly, engaged the audience, provides comparisons 2. Funny, loud and clear voice, talked to volunteers not audience, said "um" 3. Humor, funny, gets the audience involved and laughing

TED Talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jPQjjsBbIc

Who am I?

Hi, my name is Giovanni Filippone. I’m 18 years old and I’m from Darien, Connecticut. My parents are divorced but I spend an equal amount of time at each house. While my Dad lives in Darien, my Mom lives in New Canaan. I have a 20 year old brother that attends the College of Charleston but he’s nothing like me. He doesn’t play any sports, is tall, and very skinny. When I was born, my family and lived in Fairfield, CT but the commute to New York was a lot so we moved to Darien.

Something that is very important to me is Baseball. Ever since i was 2, my dad would have me and my brother playing all kinds of sports outside in our backyard but we always seemed to gravitate towards Baseball. I enjoy competing and winning as much as anyone. Although I love playing, I’m not a big watcher like most people. You won’t catch me going out of my way to watch a game on tv or have a big party or celebration, it’s just not that exciting to me especially compared to actually playing.

Food is the most important and enjoyable thing to me. If I’m having a bad day, a nice italian dish can easily fix everything or even some chinese food. When I’m bored I usually just eat. My dad’s side of the family is italian and a lot of them live in Sicily. Whenever they come over for a holiday, they are about 30 people and an insane amount of food which is my favorite part.

Another interesting thing about me is how diverse I am. I like doing many different things and expanding my horizon. For example, up until high school I played 5 sports. Now I only play baseball competitively but I still play Golf at my Country Club or any sport if I’m with friends. I also listen to almost every genre of music. I like everything from classic rock and old style italian music to rap, country, and other modern music. I also eat many different foods, I don’t care what it is for the most part as long as it tastes good.

I’m taking this course to be a more confident speaker and to learn more about communication skills in general.

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