1. Which speech did you find the most persuasive?
I think that Tala's speech was one of the most memorable and persuasive ones. I think that's mainly because her issue was very touching and related to many people in the class. Also, throughout her speech she was very serious (her emotions suited the topic) and she changed her tone whenever she tried to stress certain points. Another thing that I think she did really well is that while presenting her speech she rarely looked back at her papers. This showed that she was very confident and prepared, it also made it easier for the audience to connect with her since she was always looking at them. Her body language was also very suitable she did not have any unnecessary or distracting gestures and when she wanted to stress a point she used her hands.
Throughout her speech Tala also used many metaphors as well as rhetorical techniques. She kept asking the audience questions, which made them think even more deeply about her issue.
2. What did you do well in yours?
Judging from people's reactions to my speech I think that it's strongest point was incorporating the story at the beginning and end. Since my topic was not as emotional as everybody else's I had to animate it in order to make it more interesting so I made sure to use different tones and gestures to suit what I was saying. Furthermore, I managed to talk at a consistent speed with a loud and clear voice while having eye contact with the audience; I tried to direct my attention to everyone in the class without making it seemed forced or unnatural.
3. What could you have improved?
I think that if I was to improve anything it would be to manage to be more fluent and to be less nervous. This is obviously hard to control but perhaps with more practice I could get used to it. Also, another thing would be to included more literary features. Since my speech was mostly directed to students it would have been nice to incorporate some rhyme or repetition.