Com 102: Public Speaking in the Digital Age
Critique of a Professional Speaker
Purpose: This assignment provides you with an opportunity to observe & identify what professional speakers do well, and any areas they could improve upon. Pay attention to things like how they connect to their audience, adapt to the specific situation and group they are speaking to, the delivery styles they use, how well prepared they seem to be, how they use both verbal and nonverbal communication to deliver speech content, etc.
Skills: Completing this assignment will help you practice the following skills, which are essential to your success in this class, your other classes, and your future career!
Listen well for comprehension & critical assessment
Understand the speaking situation & audience
Understand the goal of a presentation
Write your critique of another speaker
Knowledge: This assignment will also help you critique the following important concepts regarding communication:
Use of clear speech structure – does the speaker use an introduction, body, and conclusion to help the audience follow their topic?
Effective delivery style – is the speaker engaging and interesting to listen to?
Appropriate content for the situation & audience
Task: Watch the video that is attached to the assignment in Canvas. Answer the following questions:
What was the speaking situation & context? (Where did the speech take place and what was the purpose of the event?)
What was the main point of the presentation? (What did the speaker intend for the audience to learn, remember, take away, etc.?)
What did you like best about the presentation? Why?
What type of delivery style did the speaker use? (You don’t have to use an official label here, just explain in your own words what the speaker’s delivery was like – how did they communicate with the audience?)
How effective was the speaker’s organization? i.e. Could you easily follow along with the presentation – why or why not?
Did you connect with the content of the presentation? i.e. Was it interesting and/or relevant to you? Why or why not?
How well did the speaker seem to understand the audience and the situation they were speaking to?
What did you learn about presentations by observing this speaker? (This question refers to what you learned about how to give presentations, rather than the specific content of the speech.)