Two down, three to go!

Okay, where do I begin? For my informative speech I wanted to do a topic that I already knew about, of course, but also something that would be interesting and that I could find a lot of information and examples on. I chose Hip-Hop because it was literally the first thing that came to my mind about what I wanted to inform my audience on. I don’t know why this was the case, maybe it was because all I do is listen to music in my car, and that’s where I do most of my thinking because when I’m stuck in traffic I get bored! However, I chose Hip-Hop and I was sure I could find some relatively notable sources on the topic, both from the library and from the internet. The type was again extemporaneous and I had prepared an outline to use during the presentation. This time I did a couple of things differently. First, I did not have note cards along with my outline during the presentation. Last time they were helpful, but I found that it was easier for me to get my point across without too much of looking down and flipping through note cards, even though I had about four pages of outline, I guess that didn’t help too much either! Secondly, I used more examples. Last time I touched on how I wish I would have brought in a picture of my family to reiterate my point, and this time I made sure that I got my point across. I also think that my topic was a good one because from the beginning I had the attention of the audience. I think that’s another reason why I chose it. I thought it would be something that could relate to the majority of the audience through the motivation of both esteem and belonging. I don’t know if this motivation was exactly expressed to my audience, or if they could have picked up on the motivation factor, but I chose esteem and belonging because one of my main points in the speech was to point out the importance of hip-hop and the respect and pride one feels when they are able to express themselves, and the acceptance and group membership they feel when they become a part of the culture itself. I believe I did fit the requirements of the speech, all for one part of it. I’m sure, no positive that I went over the time limit. I don’t know how far over I went, but I felt like I was up there explaining the whole history of Hip-Hop even though I only touched on a few aspects of it. I’m actually glad some of the applications didn’t work, because if they had I probably would have been up there even longer trying to explain my examples of Hip-Hop in advertisements. But in general I think I did end up teaching the audience something they might not have already known.

A few aspects that I would improve for the delivery of the speech would definitely be the time limit. Like I said before, I know I went over, and I don’t like doing that. When I was practicing the night before it seemed like it went over a bit too, but I don’t think I was too concerned about it because I felt like I couldn’t take anything out. How long was it exactly? Also like I said, I would have liked to show my other advertisement examples, but seeing as I didn’t and it would have been longer anyway, I’m okay with it. As for improving the speech itself, you brought up a good point. I knew I didn’t have too much information on the actual struggles and challenges that Hip-Hop faced, and I wanted to find more information. Surprisingly enough, out of all of the books that I got from the library, that are listed in my references, they had very few information tidbits on the actual struggles. But since I knew that was an important point I thought I would just list them and then move on. I would rather not say too much about it than to make up something. Another point I would try to find more information on is the definition of a DJ. I wasn’t able to find that. It was like the authors of the books just assumed you would know what a DJ was. I mean, it is sort of a straightforward term, but they would mention the word DJ, or the person DJ so and so, and not offer any explanation about what exactly he would do and how he got that specific title.

Giving the speech was not that bad. I actually was a lot calmer this time around. I had all of my materials ready and I was ready to go. In comparison to my class mates, I think some people memorized their speeches for the most part. That’s another thing I would improve. I would have liked to know a bit more and put in some of my personal experience with Hip-Hop and its effects on me as an individual. I think that might have improved the delivery of my speech because I would have spent less time looking down at my notes. Compared to my expectations I did well. I thought I really got my point across and it was interesting. I would have been very disappointed if I didn’t get any questions at the end, because if not I would have thought I was boring and nobody had the interest in even asking me a question about it. But in the end I did get a lot of questions, and I think that was my favorite part of the whole thing! I loved answering the questions! It made me feel like I knew what I was talking about, even though I did, and that people were interested in what I had to say.

I prepared for the speech in advance because I knew this time I would need to do some research. Like I said I knew what I was talking about, but I didn’t know the history. So in the end it was a learning experience for me too.

In the end I think there were a couple of parts I could improve on, but I also had a lot of favorite parts of the presentation and most of them came from showing the information and examples I had; especially the music in the beginning. I accomplished my goal when Rachael started dancing to the song I was playing! =)

References:

Chang, Jeff. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. New York: St. Martin’s Press,
2005.

Fricke, Jim, and Charlie Ahearn. Yes Yes Y’all: Oral History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade. Da Capo Press:
USA, 2002.

George, Nelson. Hip-Hop America. New York: Penguin Group, 1998.

Mitchell, Tony, ed. Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA. Wesleyan University Press:
Connecticut, 2001.

Ogg, Alex, and David Upshal. The Hip-Hop Years: A History of Rap. Fromm International: New York,
1999.

Watkins, Craig S. Hip-Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement.
Beacon Press: Boston, 2005.