Saturday, August 2, 2008
TED Talks - Jill Bolte Taylor
What techniques do you incorporate in your speech to create a genuine connection with your audience? How do you grab your audience’s interest and stimulate their minds to your presentation? Can you promote an intelligent conversation while keeping the audience focused on your message? Please view this video. What techniques are utilized by this speaker to keep the audience involved with the material? How does the speaker help the audience to be able to connect and apply her information to their lives? Post a critique of this talk. Make application to our class criteria used this semester. You need to include specific examples and explanations that illustrate the techniques used by this speaker. Be sure to be specific in identifying and applying these techniques to speech presentations. This blog post is due no later that Tuesday, August 5th before class.
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in my speech i usually incorporate maintaining eye contact with my audience. She was professionally dressed which is always a good things. it adds to her credibility in a way. She used props as well as a power point presentation which helped her audience pay attention more and get more involved. Her voice is calm, cool, and collected. she speaks with great articulation. never stumbling over her words. She seemed like she knew her information and was very knowledgeable. therefore she had good credibility. from the very beginning one could tell that her passion was brain disease.
She did have some downfalls and things she should work on. She used many big words, words that may be confusing to some members of her audience.
To grab the attention of my audience, I get them involved in my speech. I usually ask a question about my subject. I get the audience to relate to the matter. I also work to keep constant eye contact with the audience to let them know that my presentation is for them.
In this speech, she uses a lot of humor to captivate the audience. It's not rough cruel humor, but small jokes that can appeal to everyone. She seems very confident and shows emotion in her words.
Her speech included examples of her life experiences to keep her credibility. She even used props such as the human brain and a power point slide show as well.
She used proper English when communicating her message to the audience. Overall it was a great speech.
This speaker did a reallly good job throughout the entire presentation. I really enjoyed her attention graber. It was sincre and relatable. She told me what influenced her to get involve in the studying of the brain. Her information was delivered so clearly and direct.She spoke very well, with confidence. Her articulation and diction was superb. I do think she could of slowed down a little.She used a powerpoint to help get her point across. I thought the fact that she included information that was related to her personally was great. I felt closer in away than mose audiences do. Throughtout the performance she kept good eye contact. And she used her hand to express herself. It didn't get to the point where it became a distraction. But I have to say, her voive was very nassal. It was kind of was annoying. But I really believed everthing she said when she brought out the brain! That besides her personal experiences displayed precise credibility. All in all I feel like she succeeded in informing her audience and I will always remember her.
To get my audiences attention I usually start off with a question or an interesting fact. I try to use humor to keep them interested and try to relate to them. I also try to keep good eye contact by looking directly at my audience so they know I’m talking to them.
I feel that Jill Bolte Taylor's speech was incredible. She started off with an attention grabber by talking about her brother and his schizophrenia and why she became a brain researcher. She uses humor to keep her audience interested also. She keeps eye contact; she doesn't look in only one direction. She uses hand gestures to make her point clear and for emphasis. She gets emotional which helps her audience relate to her. She talks about her personal experiences and she makes it interesting. For example, her stroke and she explains in great detail how it felt; which I found to be remarkably interesting. She also used props like the brain and power point to make her points clear and leave a lasting impression on her audience. Her use of words was outstanding she didn't use slang, she used proper language. She also used pauses which helped her collect her thoughts and give the audience time to think. When she became emotional and started to cry she kept going which added to the impact of her speech.
In my speech I try to make it seem more like a conversation with the audience. I try to make eye contact, showing that I am also involved in this speech. I grab the attention of my audience mainly from the beginning, with just a simple question. At times my audience may actually find this question funny and it actually draws them in to the topic.
In this speech, Jill uses her lives personal experiences as credibility, along with her example of the human brain. She successfully describes her topic very well, using great eye contact and hand gesture movement. Using humor as well in her speech, and her voice was heard extremely well. Overall, I was very interested in her speech from the very beginning.
I was surprised to find Jill Bolte Taylor’s performance to be extremely captivating. As soon as I opened the link and saw what she looked like, I expected the video to be boring. Rather, I was entertained throughout the entire 18 minutes. My favorite part was definitely her description of her stroke, in which she used humor to capture and hold her audience’s attention. She incorporated a real life experience which made it credible and believable. I actually noticed my mouth hanging open when she described the stroke due to her use of graphic detail. Her use of descriptive words helped to create the picture of the stroke. “Light burned my brain like wildfire and sound was so loud and chaotic that I could not pick a voice out from the background noise and I just wanted to escape.” Her use of hand movements was sometimes subtle and sometimes more wild, but I don’t think that she ever overdid it. She seemed to want her audience’s feelings to fluctuate because she would say something humorous and then say something very serious immediately after, but it kept me interested and by the audience’s reactions I could tell they felt the exact same way. I don’t believe that her speech was memorized, but there is no way to be sure. Despite that fact, she has a very conversational way about her. There is virtually no use of filler words and no signs of nervousness. Her voice is one that I would usually find to be very annoying, but for some reason I found it relaxing. Her diction was clear and concise and her vocabulary was broad. Overall, Jill Bolte Taylor’s speech was compelling and interesting, and surely touched the lives of the audience that had the pleasure of experiencing it live.
I must start off by saying that, that was an amazing presentation. My eyes were glued to the screen from start to finish and I did not find myself drifting away due to boredom at all, which is saying a lot considering I usually have no interest in anything science related. She keeps her audience involved through her hand movements, props and her story. She uses her hands very nicely when she talks so that even though you might be focusing on her hands you are still paying attention to what she is saying. The real human brain that she used really got the audience interested because its not very often that someone is able to see a human brain. Explaining how the brain works using an actual brain was a brilliant idea and was utilized well. Lastly her story, as long as it might have been, was very interesting and was how she connected to what she was talking about on a personal level. The ideas she brought up and the things she saw while having her stroke were out of this world and made me imagine what she might have been seeing. She connects the audience to what she is talking about in the very end when she asks them what side of the brain do they use and which side do they want to use. The best part about her speech is how she changed her emotions to fit the seriousness of her topic. In the beginning she started out kind of serious and stuck right to the topic. Then while telling her story she started to make jokes with the audience to connect them to her story and keep them interested. And then out of nowhere she suddenly began to choke up with tears in her eyes to move her audience and keep them hanging on her words. I would love to present like she did but I can tell that she is a professional speaker and has no problem talking about personal matters in front of large crowds. She is definitely someone that our speakers tomorrow should try to mimic and use her as a role model.
When i start a speech off, i tend to use a quote or a question that will intrigue the audience. I state fun facts that will catch their attention but also state my main point, the reason i am giving the speech. To keep the audience's attention i like to use interesting pictures throughout my slide that relates to the main points. I believe that i can promote and intelligent converstation while keeping the audiences attention by fluctuating my voice and giving details so the audience understands the information. When someone doesn't understand the words you are using or the terms, they tend to drift off. therefore when defining the term will keep them interested because they are learning something new. some of the techniques the speaker uses is her voice inflections and she describes thing very well in her speech.She repeats words that we get the point across. Her tone is immensely conversational, she's telling a story to us.When she moves her body a certain way like she is walking through her story with us. She relates the main points to her life and supports her statements with details. Her movement and eye contact engages you and makes you listen to her. She relates to everyones life by using examples everyone would understand. For instance when she states that she is in euphoria; that she is a huge whale swimming in an abyss of emptiness. This speech has inspired me immensely, i believe she is a fabulous speaker and knows how to relate to her audience immensely well.
Brain disease is not an easy topic for many people, especially if it is personal. She had great information which she cited for credibility from beginning to end. Not only did she know the information but she could relate it to someone close to her, like a family member. She had a great introduction, she caught my attention immediately and that is very hard because I do get bored easily and very distracted. She seemed professionally dressed which is a plus because sloppiness is not appealing. I like how she did not use index cards but had a prop which was a model of a brain. She kept good eye contact, connecting with the audience. The only thing that I did not like about the speaker is her use of big words. Yes we know she has degrees, and experience with the topic but maybe the audience does not. You never want the audience to feel dumb or feel lost because they get off track. Overall, I liked her speech and learned adequate information.
I can apply to my future presentations her conversational tone and great eye contact because I do not want to bore my audience or make it seem like I am nervous. I think depending on my next presentation I would like to also use a prop because it helps you to not fidget with your hands.
Overall, I enjoyed the speech.
In my speech I will grab one's attention by first asking questions, keeping good eye contact, and getting my message across clearly and effectively. I will show how my audience and I can relate in my questoning and give concrete examples as to how I can relate.
I think that Jill Bolte Taylor's speech was impeccable in terms of projecting and maintaining a loud and clear voice amongst her audience. She went through the phases of her life to indicte why her passion was her passion. From the story of her brother from the story of her own hemerage she expleined deeply and eloquently about what her passion is. Her articulation was a major factor in her speech. It could have served as her weakness or her strength depending on her audiences understanding of the subjects she spoke on. However, she stayed right on topic. she never rambled and every informative story that wasn't about the brain was about why she loved the dynamics of neurology so much and what lead her to be a scientist. As for her eloquence and use of many complex terms in the ear of the commonner, she only used the correct biological terms so her audience should have been at least educated a little on those subjects since they came to hear the oration by Jill. to talk for so long and keep the same pace and energy for 18 minutes the speech was well organized.
In my speeches I usually like to start out with a humorous attention grabber. This method works for me because as my audience begins to laugh and anxiously wait to hear what I say next, is how I calm myself down and think clearer. With this being done, now I can incorporate my full attention in getting my message across to my audience much easier as I see the audience has "all eyes on me". From there, my speech becomes something as simple as speaking to a friend of mine about a matter that I would like them to acknowledge as I did. However, Jill Bolte has a different approach which works for her because she uses her own experiences to introduce her speech. Thus, making it much easier for her to begin because she of course in knowledgeable of her own experiences. Furthermore, she is able to connect her ideas with her audience because she explains the characteristics the sides of the brain and of course everyone has a brain. She also uses body language to describe her experience which acts as an attention grabber; as well as the fact that she emphasises her tone of voice as she speaks about certain feelings the she experienced during her stroke. She spoke very slowly and clearly, taking her time to share her message. In my opinion, her speech was perfect with no apparent deficiencies. To me, she had all the right tools to keep the attention of the audience, inform them and get her message across. It is definitely an A+ speech in my book.
Techniques i usually use to capture my audiences attention is talk in a loud and professional voice. I also try to speak in a conversational voice to also keep the audiences attention.
To Grab attention of my audience i usually ask a question or a memorable statement that will capture the audiences attention throughout my whole presentation.
Jill Bolte Taylor has a great conversational voice that you just want to keep on listening to. She also uses her hands to speak her emotions. She also works the stage really well.
Jill Bolte Taylor uses her own personal experiences to address her message. She is relate able because she shows that she is a real person. When she is emotional while speaking about her near death experience it makes you feel for her and it also makes you relate more to the topic.
I will surely apply her techniques into my future presentations. I need to work on my conversational voice which Jill Bolte Taylor has an excellent one and i will use her has as an example.
After watching Jill Bolte Taylor, she inspires me to want to do better in my speech. She is an excellent example of what a flawless speech looks like. As I watched her I like the way she kept the attention of the audience. Like throughout the presentation she kept giving examples how her topic was person. I y opinion speeches like this grabs the attention of the audience a lot more. She asked questions throughout her speech, which is also a technique I use in order to grab the attention of the audience. I feel that her props in addition to her powerpoint presentation helped the audience pay attention, especially the human brain! Also even when she did use props, she never lost eye contact with the audience because she was focused to much on her props. Not only did she use props but also the use of humor helped her with keeping the attention of the audience. This is a technique that I am still working on. Her voice had a great tone and was very calm. Jill had great body language and spoke clearly throughout the presentation. Overall I feel she did very well and was very confident about what she had to say.
LaVenus Washington
I was surprised to find Jill Bolte Taylor’s presentation interesting. When I opened the link, I already assumed that the video would be boring. When I first heard her she seemed boring and dull. As the presentation continued, I realized that even with her annoying voice she is able to connect with the audience. When she moved her body she moved it in a way that helped her with her presentation. When she moved her hands out into the air, I knew she was talking about her spirit. She was able to make the audience feel what she felt. When she was talking about her hemorrhage and began crying I felt the pain she felt. She doesn’t show that she is nervous she doesn’t even use filler words. Every time I felt that she was going to say a filler word I say that she would pause. She had great eye contact with the audience. There were times when she had her eyes close, but you could still feel the connection she had with her audience.
In my speeches i try to keep my audience entertained while i'm delivering the information that i need to inform them with. I try to entertain and inform my audience by telling them stories or examples that attract my audience. I also try to keep eye contact with my audience and speak to them in a calm voice that everyone in my audience can hear.
The speaker in the video was a very good public speaker. She spoke loudly and i felt that she knew what she was talking about. She also used props and stories that involved what she was talking about.
The speaker also did have some bad things about her speech. She spoke very monotone and didn't really grasp my attention. She didn't pull me in and make me want to listen to her. She also used a few big words that i really didn't understand so i know that other audience members didn't know either. But, over all she did speak well about a topic that isn't the most entertaining subject.
Jill Bolte Taylor delivered a very heart-felt speech that not only moved me, it motivated me to appreciate my life more. her use of hand motions helped emphasize all of her key points. When she began to get emotional she pushed through and completed her speech without breaking down. She seem knowledgable about her topic and her life expierience hepled prove this point. She had great eye-contact which also kept the audiance interested.
The speaker had really good eye contace. She leaned towards the audience and you can tell that she is looking at individual people getting their attention. She scans the room and doesnt stay in one spot. Her visuals which was the powerpoint and the brain was definitely an attention getter and she used the visuals to help explain her topic by pointing out the different parts of the brain and their relivence to the topic.
She had a lot of knowledge of the topic. She used the proper language and terminology. She used the scientific terminology to describe the brain and how it worked. She also used common language so that the audience could get a better understanding of what she was talking about. She used simple but affective gestured that gave the audience an idea of what was going on when she was describing certain events, such as her stroke.
Her conclusion was perfect beause she summarized her presentation shortly and to the point. She had some good rhetorical questions and left a lasting impression about her topic and herself as a speaker.
I always try to create a genuine connection with my audience. By having good eye contact with my audience and telling personal stories that relate to my topic, is another way I try to use in order to make a connection with my audience. By maintaining good eye contact and dressing professionally lets my audience know that I am serious about my message. By using good attention getters and by turning my topic into something my audience can relate to helps keep my audience interested because they understand where I'm coming from and can relate.
By speaking slowly and clearly and by also annunciating helps portray a intelligent, yet easy to follow conversation. By staying on tract instead of rambling and telling a story that flows also shows that I know what I'm talking about.
The speaker Jill Bolte Taylor, is very good at keeping her audience involved. Even while I was watching her clip, every time I would bend my head down in order to take notes, I would find myself eager to look back up and see how she her gestures as well as hear her speak. Dr. Taylor also used physical things such as a “real brain” to help prove her point. This was a good idea because all people have their own brains that they can not see, so to actually put a real image to brain I would think help hold her audience's attention. She also told a personal story and by her facial expressions and body language it was evident how passionate she herself as the speaker is about her topic and consequently you can't help but feel empathy. Her perfect combination of comedy also helps to even things out so that the situation doesn't become too emotional.
By saying words such as “we” the speaker automatically opens a door for the audience to connect with her. While telling her story, she asks the audience to imagine themselves in a similar situation if not exact in the same situation helps the Audience to incoperate her life into their own. Dr. Taylor, she states that if a stroke is something that she can overcome then, its something others should be able to overcome as well. Lastly, she asks the audience questions to get them to think about what she said and how it may relate to them.
From the very beginning of the speech, the attention getter was good telling about her brother and his life of having schizophrenia . Her voice was captive yet conversational. I noticed throughout her introduction she did some gestures but not to much, just enough to get her point across from point to point. Jill Bolte Taylor seems like she is very comfortable on stage.
Her PowerPoint included citations as well as pictures. I love how in her intention to inform us about mental disorders she also makes it personal. The articulation in her voice is very nice. Jill tells her experience (dated December 10, 1996) she had a brain disorder. She had a hemp rage. She could not walk, talk, or recall any image of her life. From the very beginning her tone brought her point across to the audience. As I was sitting here watching it I felt as though I was there .Her eye contact was great.
Jill included prompts and plenty of information. I can’t believe she used a REAL HUMAN BRAIN, which alone caught me totally off guard. That was a great introduction.
As she gets to the body of her speech she maintains her tone and gives plenty of examples. One that caught my attention was how we are all whole, perfect at this very moment because of the right side of our brain but on the left side of our brain it’s a different word. The left side of out brain is more lineal.
Jill’s body movement shows her audience that she knew her stuff .It is amazing that Jill made it through such an increasing stroke that many did not.
Her speech was great. With a little more verbal citation and less movement it would be a perfect ten. Overall, Jill Bolte Taylor is an amazing speaker.She touched my heart in a mighty way.She motivates me to believe that "We are the light force power of the Universe" With her true life expierence and her sense of humor, it was well worth me watching it twice.
To grab the attention of my audience, I usually begin by asking a question to get my audience involved. I also try to make as much eye contact as possible with my audience to insure my sincerity. What I do to stimulate my audience’s attention to my presentation is inserting a eye catching picture on my first slide. That usually gives me their undivided attention, but only for limited time. I believe that I can hold an intelligent conversation during my presentation while still occupying the audiences interest.
Techniques that the speaker utilized to keep the audience interested in what she was saying was her humor she incorporated in her speech. Of course appropriate humor nothing that was out of line. Humor here and there allowed the audience to connect and apply to her information much easier. The speaker also dresses professionally to ensure her audience that she is serious about what she is talking about, as you told the class to do also and how it was an key factor involved with a speech. She also articulated her words very well which once again made things easier for the audience. Overall, she did a great job on her speech and had all the right mechanics for a good speech
Jill Bolte Taylor opened up her speech with her own personal experience. It automatically made you sympathize with her but it also grabbed your attention. It also made you beleive her because she had experienced. She bought visual aides and talked in full detail about them so she established her credibliity early on. She worked the stage and mainteained eye contact so that she was able to pull in the entire cry. Also when she spoke she was humorus and that helped in keeping our attention. She was full of detail and was very meticulous. No detail was left out and that made for an interesting speech. Also her tone of voice was calming, and her speed was perfect and it flowed throughtout her speech. Her speech had virtually no "uhs" and "ums" which is something that I have a probmlem with. I think she was very comfortable with her material and thats why she didn't have so many "ums" but at the same time her speech didn't sound reherarsed. It was still conversational. The only problem I had was that she didn't cite any of her information, and if she did I missed it. For the most part however I really enjoyed her speech.
Usually when I present my speech I ask a question or perform an action unexpected to the audience it all depends on what type of speech is at task. Her speech was very conversational and she had good sense of humor even though what some of the topics was heartfelt. We understood the creditability because of all the personal experience she incorporated into the speech. My attention was never left because I felt I could relate to her and she made me feel like she wanted talk to me and for me identify with her. This goes back to her conversational skills which really just impressed me. The props were something new that I never experience so I defiantly will love to try to incorporate it in one of my speeches, the challenge of it seems thrilling.
Usually when I present my speech I ask a question or perform an action unexpected to the audience it all depends on what type of speech is at task. Her speech was very conversational and she had good sense of humor even though what some of the topics was heartfelt. We understood the creditability because of all the personal experience she incorporated into the speech. My attention was never left because I felt I could relate to her and she made me feel like she wanted talk to me and for me identify with her. This goes back to her conversational skills which really just impressed me. The props were something new that I never experience so I defiantly will love to try to incorporate it in one of my speeches, the challenge of it seems thrilling.
Jill Bolte Taylor utilizes a few different methods to captivate her audience. For one, she looks and acts the part of a professional, which already, before she even starts speaking, gets the audience interested in her speech and willing to listen and learn. Another method is that she uses a powerpoint with different images and visual information to further interest the audience and hold their attention. She speaks with a very conversational style that lets her come across as more friendly and personable. Jill also uses great eye contact and hand and body gestures to emphasize her points, as well as incorporating props into her speech to add emphasis and pique interest.
I felt the speaker was very knowledgeable, even though in the beginning of her presentation I did not focus; she grabbed my attention once she mentioned her brother had a mental illness and after that it became more powerful once she stated that she received a mental disorder. I think because her topic was personal it grabbed my attention. Besides pulling me emotionally she used a real brain. The prop got my focus because its not an everyday think you see a real brain up close.
She emphasized all the things that we take in granted whether the ability to speak, listen and smell. She mentioned how she was an infant in a woman body which was a form of pulling. Besides using attention getters she spoke articulately and slow which is important because with a hard topic that many people might not have knowledge about she made it easy and comfortable to listen to and understand. She also spoke with her hand once she started to talk about the energy around her when she lost her consciousness.
She got the audience to laugh at one point once her brain told her that she needs help. Another joke she stated was about the releasing 30 years worth of emotions and the joke about the scientist get to study the brain inside out .
Later on to the speech she became more emotional about her being surprised she did not lose her life. Her picture was powerful and I saw myself reacting the same way she was. Her conclusion was inspirational and made the audience feel they can do anything and accomplish anything. When she started to question people it made me react and actually think and answer in my head.
Dr. Taylor clearer states in the intro of her informative speech why she began to study matters of the brain. Now we establish credibility, she is a Nero scientist, and therefore we believe her. She is very articulated and throughout the entirety of the speech she is very knowledgeable, and yet still manages to contain herself and on go on a tangent.
The use of the brain prop was an excellent way to get the audience engaged. I especially believe this technique of a visual was essential to the speech. Everyone has a brain, but everyday ordinary people rarely get the fascinating chance to see an actual human brain; and so many people tuned in to see what she was going to show with this prop.
She also used the technique “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them.” This was specifically important since most intellectual people have problems breaking down things to regular every day people. This also ties into the clarity that she presented her ideas as well as purpose. Her purpose was to raise awareness for brain recovery. She also used the K.I.S.S technique as well. She could have very easily got distracted with trivial details, however she delivered her speech in sequential order, and throughout she tied it back to her brain and why she is there today. She also highlights the fact, many times, that this could happen to any of us. To you, me, and everyone we know. And therefore, she is not alone in her experience and not excluding anyone, as with many topics it is very easy to lose an audience by talking too much about you and not mentioning how this is beneficial to the audience, which was definitely not an issue with Dr. Taylor.
I have used many of these techniques in my speeches, especially the one where you tie in how the audience is going to benefit from listening to you, as well as the “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them” technique.
During Jill Bolte’s presentation I did not get the speaker's attention getter, she just started her preview by acknowledge the fact of why she studied the brain. However, by using her personal experience with her brother's mental illness and explaining her topic. She connects with the audience. Her introduction in summary was strong, although I missed the attention grabber.
What I really like about her presentation is her use of a real brain to explain her main topic thoroughly. Instead of showing pictures, she used it to grab the audience attention. She used gestures that were not awkward to illustrate her sub points clearly. She explained how she was an infant in a woman body which was a form of pulling. Her topic was deliberate topic, where even I could understand her scientific research and explanation. Her voice gradually became calmer. I loved the rate used to speak to explain this difficult subject. She used humor to keep her audience focus throughout her speech. By using that a difficult subject becomes simple in the ears of the audience, which makes the audience crave for more information.
Towards the end of her speech she became emotional expressing her shock of surviving such an attack; however she did not stop talking. This is very hard for a speaker and I admire her for keeping on talking to the audience. By doing so she has the audience undivided attention. She encourages everyone not to give up their battle of brain disorder or any disorder.
Her conclusion was powerful; she ended with a question and answer related to the website motto,” Idea worth spreading”. By doing so she has the audience thinking about what she just talked about.
Jill Bolte taylor had great eye contsct through out her whole entire speech. She moved around and looked in different parts of the audience which made it seem as though she was talking to everyone. She also had good posture which showed everyone that she was serious about what she was talking about. Jill spoke with great clarity which made it easier for everyone to follow along with her. She had good connective sentences which also made her speech flow good as well. She also used some example throughout her speech.
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