My Narrative Report

Welcome To The Timeline of Events Leading to the Day of our Public Speaking Informational Speeches Delivery!

Warning: The following events were spent (rather unwisely) by a self-professed crammer. This is NOT in any way an instructional guideline on how Informative Speeches should really be prepared. This is merely a simple Narrative Report of How I Made My Informative Speech.

Week 1: February 17-21

INTRODUCTION: Everything starts with an introduction! So, like the beginning of an essay or a story or a lesson, we were first introduced to Informative Speeches. What are Informative Speeches? What are its characteristics? What are the 3 Different Types? What makes a Good Informative Speech? How do we make one? THESE questions were all answered during the week and the other weeks that followed, as we had brief lessons and activities to help us learn more about Informative Speaking.

Now, armed with the knowledge of what Informative Speaking is all about, we were then tasked to make one of our own. But first off, we needed to choose a TOPIC! We had various brainstorming sessions, in which we evaluated our proposed topics, suggested new ones, and thought of things we might be interested to talk about.

So it was the month of February, and usually that entails --- Valentines! So my first suggested topic was CHOCOLATES. It was an "ok" topic. It has the tendency to be either cliche or be something new and interesting. However, when we had an activity, I saw another classmate who chose it as one of her topics too. Therefore, I decided to change my topic.

I actually didn't know what to propose next. But then my next topic became "The Truth About the Zombie Apocalypse". Even I am wondering why I came up with this topic. I guess at the time I thought it would be fun where the idea of the zombie theme originated and why it became popular today (like Walking Dead, Left 4 Dead, Warm Bodies, etc.) But then I realized when I searched the net it was too hard finding a decent and reliable source (that is not just for fun) and it had very few informational value, so I scratched that topic again.

Finally, I decided on the Miscommunication of Men and Women or how the way the two genders differ with the way they speak and how this affects the way they understand one another. I think this topic has a high informative value and also has the potential to be very interesting.

Week 2: February 24-28

RESEARCH WEEK! 
Now we all have our topics, all we have to do was find information and evidences to support our various theses. Ms. Mae gave us free reign on how we spend our time in classes. Others went to the library and researched, while some stayed in classrooms and made use of the wifi. When I researched more about my topic and I mostly got online science/psychology journals and pdf files of research papers and publications about my topic. What I did mostly was download the files, scan if its related to my topic, and then save for later reading at home. I think I should've taken notes while researching and not just let them pile up in one folder and read in bulk (which made it quite more difficult and probably more boring especially with the type of readings I got). 

Week 3: March 3-7

This week was when we were given worksheets and outlines and other grading criteria for our speeches. It was also the DEADLINE week. But I, being the insufferable crammer that I am, procrastinated. Sure, I had researches, but they weren't organized. It was just stored up there and sitting innocently in the desktop of my laptop. Too late for regrets as always. Good thing, Ms. Mae was so merciful and kind extending our deadline, which involved a dare on our field trip (that I wasn't able to accomplish and even cried about. Sorry I'm not the fearless and daring kind. ;P) thanks to our very determined classmates and Public Speaking peeps!!! :D

Week 4: March 10-14

CRAMMING. CRAMMING. CRAMMING.

One Day Before: Making Speech + Half the Visual Aid
The Night Before: Finishing the Powerpoint + Reading/Memorizing (Trying to) the Speech + SOME Crammed Practice
Morning of the Speech: Practice. Practice. Practice.

SPEECH DAY FRIDAY
And you all know how it turned out . . .

MY TOP 5 TED TALKS

After scouring and searching the depths of both TED.com and YouTube, I've finally come up with my five most liked and admired speeches. So, without further ado, here are my top 5 TED Talks!

#5: John McWhorter - Txtng is killing language. JK!!!

Along the digital age came the internet, computers, and cellphones. And with texting came a 'lingo' or a language of its own but is it really defacing 'real language'? Or is it an evolution of language, a "miraculous" innovation? Mcwhorter poses a thought-provoking subject and skillfully defends his stance of texting as a positive thing to the younger generation (as opposed to the general stance that texting's butchering the language) and even dubs it as the "fingered speech".

#4: Apollo Robbins - The Art of Misdirection

A very funny and entertaining video that demonstrated the power of capturing and manipulating someone's attention, Apollo Robbins provides his audience a unique way of explanation -- through pickpocketing! With his endless stream of speaking, witty remarks, and an amazing show of sleight of hand, he will surely catch you 'unawares' and before you know it, his message's already driven onto your head. 

Robbins is an excellent public speaker and entertainer because of his high level of interaction with his audience and his success in keeping his audience intrigued and keep them 'on their toes' till the end. 

(Which by the way, was his point! How cool is that?)

#3: Pamela Meyer - How to Spot a Liar

Want to learn how to tell who's lying to us or not? Well, Pamela Meyer tells us how! Informative and interesting, Meyer shows us the tell-tale signs of lying and how do we identify it. She provides video clips and demonstrates the observed mannerisms and characteristics of people hiding in deception. You never know, by the end of this video, you may develop your initial instincts of being a liespotter!

(I realized I've just given Ms. Mae ammunition on how to spot a student lying about undone homework, so be careful guys! Hahaha! ;P)

#2: Steve Jobs - How To Live Before You Die

"Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

Apple creator Steve Jobs share stories from his life and encourages everyone to pursue their dreams and never give up. Relatable and admirable, he tells his audience 3 important events in his life that strengthened him and served as his road to success. With a casual and conversational tone, he also gives his audience bits of humor along with life advices to carry on despite the struggles of life. With his inspirational story of college drop-out turned billionaire and valuable aphorisms and life lessons, his talk is surely one speech worth listening to.

"Don't settle. Keep Looking."

#1: Cameron Russell - Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model

"Image is powerful. But image is also superficial."

Cameron Russell, an underwear model for ten years, 'comes out of the closet' to deliver an honest message and the truth behind the pretty makeups, glamorous dresses, and stunning photos of models just like her. Along with her personal anecdotes backed up by statistical studies, she exposes the reality of her industry and how 'the most beautiful people are the most insecure people'. She stresses the impact of image to individuals and fiercely states that "these pictures are just constructions ... and they [make-up artists, photographers, etc.] build me. But that's not me..."  

I ranked this as the highest because it was the one video that really struck me. Although she may not be the best public speaker, her blunt honesty made up for her flaws. She may have had a lot of filler words like 'Ummms...' and awkward beginnings BUT as she talked more, it's almost as if it grew in intensity and the more I wanted to listen to her because she's not performing but simply talking with her audience. She was funny and witty and she also had an audience connection. She also supported her claims with statistical data and her visuals were accompanied by personal anecdotes. Finally, her message about our perception with image and how it affects us is important not only to teenagers like me, but to people of all ages.

Field Trip at Batis Aramin, Lucban Quezon :D

One of the school events that most students look forward to is the field trip! And for our field trip, we went to Batis Aramin in Lucban, Quezon. It was a looong trip, and mostly we just spent most of our travel time sleeping in the bus (since we all woke up so early). And then we reached our destination!

Going there….

We were assembled and given our instructions and orientation. And then they started the activity. They said it was like an amazing race (daw---haha) and we were grouped by our grade level. At first, it was like nothing…. but then everyone started running, so we also ran too! (Where to? We didn’t know… hahaha!) But it was fun, cheering for our classmates, racing to nowhere, and laughing loudly. J We had to get a flag and do a corny cheer.  We didn’t win, but it was really funny. Here’s some pics…

Then we started going to different stations. First, our class had to do the wall climbing--- (which I and the other girls didn’t do…) which was really, really, really funny. The guys were forced, ahem, required to do it. They all kept on worrying and complaining because of the equipments they had to wear. John, Rony, and David went first. David was really good; he reached the top so fast! Rony, with a little more effort was also able to do it while John got stuck halfway through, and we were like shouting stuff like “Go John! You can do it.”  And Tim was just hilarious--- he just kept on worrying about his butt! Hahahahaha! Watching all of them try and seeing their reactions and comments was just so funny!

Fitting of the equipments… lol :P

“Go John! You’re nearly there!”     Hahahahaha! Look at Rony and Jake--- :D

Then we did the others, which is ziplining and rappelling. It was also a good experience, and I tried rappeling for the first time! I was REALLY nervous and scared! But I survived it hooray! :P

Waaaaah! I wanna get down already!...

Then we went to our last one which is some kind of volleyball thing except with a really really HUGE ball. (And no one got the rules hahaha…)

 Then after those exhausting but fun activities, we went to eat lunch! Yum! And also to prepare for the next activity in the afternoon--- swimming!!!! Yay! XD

The place was cool, with so many different pools and Tomi, Bona, Hanna, and I chose the one far from the guys because we heard they were throwing people on the pool and we all don't know how to swim! Hahaha! :P But we had fun walking around, playing, and splashing around! 

Waaaaahhh! I really loved swimming! (Even though I don't know how to! Hahahahaha! XD)

Here are other pictures we took that day too:

Then, we all had to go home. But all in all, it was a really fun activity and one of the most memorable field trips I had. :) 

Eating and eating and eating in the bus! :D

Blurred! haha because of the moving bus eh! :P

Bye-bye! (What's with this pic? We look so emo! Hahaha! XP)

That's all for my Travelogue! One of the most fun and unforgettable experience of my life! I hope more of this will come! Bye for now~

:)