Reflections on impromptu speaking and performance

Speech Evaluation

The presentation I saw on the "No Child Left Behind" law was a well-organized speech that communicated its points well.

The speaker appeared to give thought to her appearance. She wore a suit. It was not a severe business suit, such as the kind of fabric a man's suit might be made out of. Instead the suit was a nubby fabric that might have been linen or silk, in a light coral color. The blouse was simple. Her appearance was not distracting, and she wore simple jewelry. The only jarring thing at all noted was that her assistant, who shifted placards on an easel, was wearing some kind of charm bracelet that tinkled rather loudly when she switched the placards for the speaker.

The presentation appeared to be planned, because topics did not jump around. The speaker spoke generally about the growing concern among politicians that too many students were graduating for high school without being adequately prepared for either higher education or work. The speaker noted that technical schools and two-year colleges in particular had had to add considerable time to preparing some new students to be able to master post-high school instructional material. Then the speaker explained what the schools are required to do if their students are not progressing adequately and what options have. Finally, the speaker explained some of the myths believed by many. In particular the speaker mentioned the erroneous belief that teachers must now be certified in, say, mathematics, if they teach arithmetic in the elementary school. What the law actually says, the speaker explained, was that the teacher must meet that state's requirements for teaching the subject. An example of how that might apply would be if a school needed a teacher who could teach both math and French. In that case, the teacher would have to have state certification to teach both subjects. However, for elementary school, the teachers had to meet whatever the state requirements were for coursework in elementary school curricula.

The speaker connected rapport with the group by telling a joke about a parent and teacher that showed mistakes on both sides based on misunderstandings. The joke did not sound terribly canned and demonstrated that the speech would not be one casting judgment on any group.

The speaker seemed relaxed behind the podium. She smiled and looked around the audience. While she appeared to be using note cards, she did not read the speech, and her language had a natural flow that was easy to listen to. She used good grammar.

The speaker did not gesticulate with her hands. However, she did have an easel and prepared boards showing her main points. They were large and easy to read. She did not use any kind of pointer to point to the information. This was not necessary, because the information on the easel amounted to an outline of what the speaker was saying. Someone assisted her and removed each sign so the next one could be seen at the appropriate time. The speaker used a slight nod to this helper to indicate when to switch signs. This was not intrusive, and did not interfere with the audience's ability to pay attention to what the speaker was saying.

In spite of the efforts made to connect with the audience and to not be distracting, the speech was somewhat hard to follow. The speaker clearly knew a great deal about the topic, but those in her audience may not have. This listener was somewhat familiar with the law she was talking about but found the distinctions she made between having certification in a subject and being certified to teach it in some other way fairly confusing. I knew what she meant but I suspect most parents did not. In my opinion she should have spent a little more time talking about the difference between a major in elementary education and a major in mathematics, social studies or science. Parents might also need to know that requirements are different at different grade levels: a high school teacher teaching nothing but science all day is required to have a great deal more coursework in science than an elementary grade school teacher who is teaching science as one of the many subjects he or she teaches in a day. I do not feel the speaker adequately considered the audience she was speaking to in this regard.