Monday, July 27, 2009
Weekend Assignment, TED Talks: Evaluate the Speaker, Jill Bolte Taylor
How can your stories make an impact on your audience? What can you do in your presentation to gain reaction and initiate an intelligent discussion within your audience? Take a look at this video, note what works for the speaker in gaining authenticity with the audience, her ability to keep the audience involved and how she takes a technical topic and makes it user friendly. How can you apply some of these techniques in your presentations? Be specific in your critique and assertions and use examples and techniques as demonstrated by the speaker. Post your comments here no later than Monday, August 3rd, before class time.
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Jill Bolte Taylor's speech, titled “A Stroke of Insight”, was centered on her elaborate story of the out of body experience she had while experiencing a stroke. Before she began her story, she established credibility with her audience. First, she talked about her brother with schizophrenia, and then her desire to connect her dreams of understanding the complexities of the brain with her profession. The audience was reassured that she had a significant background in psychology because she talked about the work she had done in the “Harvard Department of Psychiatry”. Then she initiated her connection to the topic by giving the audience a preview of the story she was going to tell about her brain hemorrhage. She used elaborate speaking aids, like a human brain, to capture the audience’s attention. While capturing her audience’s attention, she did not forget to become personal, and remembered to hold a sense of comedic value in her speech. She looked for the brain holder and said “it was a joy”, and then later remembered that she thought the experience of having stroke was “cool”. I even thought it was funny when she thought that.
She made the audience feel her good intention or the “need” when she described how the left hemisphere of the brain made people “brothers and sisters here to make the world a better place”. As she teld the story the imagery that she created through the use of detail allowed the audience to actually relive her stroke with her. Her pantomimes and ability to create rising suspense were vital to the retention of her audience’s attention. Her touch with “Nirvana” captivated the audience, and made them awe in the “expanse” of her experience. The genuine emotion that she emulated at the climax of her story had everybody in the audience paying complete attention. By then they wanted to know how exactly she survived, and they were not going to stop listening for anything. The emotional content of her story helped the audience think less about the sciences of the “left and right hemispheres”, and more about the elaborate complexities of the mind she talked about during her story. Her final hypothetical question about which internal self to recognize initiated deep thought in her audience, and then she signed off her speech with a comment that would not only leave the audience thinking about her, but about the question she had previously asked.
Obviously, a good story can captivate an audience, but brief references to personal experiences will be more sufficient in my passion speech. In my passion speech I may find it beneficial to talk about the experiences “that we all have had” to help keep my audience’s attention. I am finding that the best way to capture the attention of the audience is to keep them thinking about themselves with help and in correlation to what I have to say. With my topic, love, I think it will be especially important to express genuine emotion about the topics I cover. I definitely learnt that charisma and emotional connections you make with your audience is detrimental in delivering an impressionable speech. I also learnt that by using my stories I can reference the “technical” topics I am trying teach in a more memorable fashion. The best way to learn, after all, is to make the topic personalized to your own life. In my speech, I added situations that everybody in my target audience either have had or know about, to allow my audience to understand my points easier.
The speech performed by Jill Bolte, “ A Stroke of Insight” was a very interesting video to watch. As a professional in the Psychiatry field, Jill expressed her thoughts very clear and adapted professional terms into words that her audience were able to understand. She started talking with a perfect attention getter: “My brother suffers of a mental disorder, Schizophrenia.” The need of her research of studying the brain because of her brother. This was a perfect way to grab her audience attention and in addition she made her topic personal. Knowing that her brother has a mental disorder her audience were aware that she knew what she was talking about. She also added credibility into her speech when she mentioned that she worked in Harvard, in the Department of Psychiatry. Then she made the topic even more personal and she said that she also had her own brain disorder. She narrowed down her topic in order to reach her central point. After everyone was aware that she had a mental disorder, she used visual examples to support her points. She used a real human brain, and I believe that this was a perfect way to grab once again her audience attention. She gave credibility when she started to talk about the brain and how each side of the brain functions. She also incorporated humor into her speech, which made her audience be more involved in her speech. A way to release tension and stress in your speech is to use humor, and this also helps to see if your audience are paying attention to what you have to say. Jill Bolte had moments where she was funny, however, this speech is about something that actually happened to her. As she used her body language to express her words she also expressed her emotions. Her speech was not only informative, she also was passionate about her topic and what she had accomplished after she had her stroke. Jill Bolte knows how to incorporate examples while she is speaking and this is a good way to maintain a speech interesting. She also engages her audience by referring them as examples, she used examples for people who understands computers. In my passion speech I will use many techniques that Jill made. The most important technique I have to incorporate in my speech, is to increase my level of confident and be passionate about my speech. My stories can make an impact once I believe in them myself first just like Jill did. Watching other people deliver a speech can help me improve in my own speeches.
Jill Bolte Taylor’s Speech titled, “Stroke of Insight” is about Jill realizing that she was experiencing a stroke, which is ironic due to the fact that she is a brain Scientist. In the beginning of her speech she introduces her reason for becoming a brain scientist. Jill became a scientist because her brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and she wanted to have better understanding of her dreams; why she could take her dreams and connect/turn them into reality. She establishes creditability, by stating that she studied at Harvard’s Department of Psychiatry. Jill begins to talk about her stroke. She discuses her encounter with the stroke, “I could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of my life…I essentially became an infant in a woman’s body.” To further show the audience of her understanding she brought out a real brain in order to capitalize on what she was saying. Jill informed the audience about the brain, what the brain looks like, and the functions/duties of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. In doing so she was keeping the audience involved, as well as, speaking in laments terms. Jill added a little comic relief when she introduced the fact that she was experiencing unconscienous, refers to it as “LaLa land”, and for her not having to worry about 37 years of emotional baggage was great for her. Jill gained authenticity with the audience when she describes the pain that she felt. She explains that the pain was like biting into ice cream. These is an example of the kind of words she uses in her speech; Jill incorporates descriptive words, imagery, and sensory in order for her audience to understand and to follow along with her story. Like when she described the shower scene and its connection. Jill gains even more authenticity by showing emotion because at one point she cried. Jill takes a technical topic and makes it user friendly she uses different terms to interpret her unconsciousness; wildfire, sun, euphoria, and nirvana. Ultimately Jill establishes creditable information in her speech, shows the need in her speech, and informs the audience about her life and what she went through. A brain scientist that dealt with her own stroke (amazing).
I can apply some of Jill’s techniques into my presentation by having her confidence. She knew her speech inside and out, she barely looked at her power point. Her power point only backed up the information. Jill lets the audience in on her inner most feelings/thoughts behind her topic; so when I speak I should incorporate deep feeling and emotion. Express my love for my passion. Jill did not tremble either and I need to work on that. She even posed questions in her speech, something that I should not be afraid to do. I will try to use her speech as a guide in order to have a better delivery for my speech.
Jill Bolte Taylor's speech, "A Stroke of Insight" was about the first hand experience she had with a brain hemorrhage that nearly cost her life. The speech began with her establishing her credibility with the audience. She spoke about how her brother is diagnosed with schizophrenia and how she desired to further her knowledge regarding the human brain. She continued by comparing the brain capabilities between her and her brother because of how limited her brother's are. She assured her audience of the background of knowledge she had in the particular field because of her occupation. Once she established her credibility by stating the work she had done in the "Harvard Department of Psychiatry", she gave a preview of what she was going to speak about by handling a live human brain so that the audience could visually see where her hemorrhage had occurred. This human brain locked in the audience for the rest of the speech because it was a first hand experience and she lived to speak about it. She kept the audience tuned into the speech the entire time because of her techniques. She stated that she felt the experience was "cool" and "how many scientists get to study the brain from the inside out. This allowed the audience to laugh along with her rather than feel sorry for her. She used many metaphors throughout the speech and compared every aspect of her experience to peaceful states of mind, animals and nirvana. Every few sentences she would use one of these techniques to build suspense.
Towards the conclusion of her speech she spoke about the experience she had and how it had impacted her. She stated that the experience had enlightened her to the world around her, as well as how she is connected to it. The essential part to any speech is to draw your audience in by incorporating yourself into the speech as much as possible. By doing so you are likely to draw a common ground between yourself and an audience member, making the speech that much more interesting for them. In my passion speech I incorporate not only my favorite sport but speak about the impact sports can have in the life of any athlete. By using instances that people can relate to, I can target audience members easier and make a more impressionable speech, hopefully leaving my listeners with something to dwell upon just as Ms. Taylor had done to me.
Jill Bolte Taylor's speech, titled “A Stroke of Insight” was basically about her story about experiencing a stroke, which I find to be ironic because she is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist. Taylor established her credibility by stating that she got into the study of brains because her brother suffered of schizophrenia. She develops a need by breaking down why the audience needs to know about the brain, and because she is a neuroanatomist they can believe her. Being that Taylor studies brains and how she was able to experience her brain deteriorating the audience was captivated. She kept them in it with her animated thoughts and words kept the audience in laughter and concentrated on the topic because she didn’t make them dull she made it fun for them. “And I felt lighter in my body. And imagine all of the relationships in the external world and the many stressors related to any of those, they were gone. I felt a sense of peacefulness. And imagine what it would feel like to lose 37 years of emotional baggage! I felt euphoria” (Jill Bolte Taylor). Overall her voice was projected when it needed to be, she was not boring, her posture was great she moved her hands when they needed to be moved, she didn’t walk around the stage although the stage was spacious. Also she ended with an amazing conclusion that allowed the audience to realize that her topic meant a lot to her because at the end she cried—“Which do you choose? And when? I believe that the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world and the more peaceful our planet will be. And I thought that was an idea worth spreading” (Jill Bolte Taylor). I feel that the techniques that I can take from Jill Bolte Taylor is being able to use my hand when necessary, having a proper posture and being able to show my audience how I really do feel about my passion as she did about hers.
Jill Bolte Taylor’s speech, “A Stroke of Insight” was based upon the emotions she encountered on December 10, 1996 while experiencing a stroke and how it bought insight into her life. First, Jill Bolte Taylor opened up her speech with her background on the human brain. To help gain credibility and initiate an intelligent discussion with her audience, she spoke about her brother who suffered from schizophrenia, a disease that disables one’s ability to connect one’s dreams to the real world. She then explained how she was working within the Harvard Dept. of Psychiatry in Boston to further her study of such mental disorders by “mapping the microcircuitry of the brain.” At this point, the audience was well-aware that Taylor had sufficient experience in understanding the human brain and began to listen more carefully. Taylor then previewed her speech by introducing the fact the she woke up one morning and discovered she had a mental disorder of her own, a brain hemorrhage that had essentially made her an infant when the blood vessel had erupted. The reason for this being, she explained, was because of the two very different right and left hemispheres of our brain. While discussing the differences within the hemispheres, she did not forget to make her discussion user friendly and personable. She explained that the right hemisphere was responsible for the “right here and right now,” making us a part of the whole universe and dreaming while the left hemisphere was responsible for the “past and future,” connecting of all of our experiences to one another to make us a single individual and bringing us to reality. She also added that it was “cool because how many scientists actually have the chance to study their brain from the inside out?” The audience was engaged by her friendly language and tone, use of aids, such as the PowerPoint and the human brain and development of the need, which was that everyone needs and must find their “Nirvana.”
The speech was very authentic due to her addition of emotion while recollecting the experience, how beautiful it felt to get away from her connection to reality since her left hemisphere had been affected by the hemorrhage and enjoy the fruits of “the right here, right now” presented by the right hemisphere. I can definitely use the presentation of my emotions in my passion speech. Because it is my passion, it is crucial that I explain poetry’s significance and emotional connection to me. I must be reminded to make it as friendly as possible and continue to engage the audience as Jill Bolte Taylor in her presentation. Throughout her speech, she continued to provide great sensory imagery for the audience to make it as if they were the ones actually experiencing the stroke right then and there. For example, she recalled that when she was leaning on the wall of the bathroom that morning, the atoms from her arm and the ones from the wall blended in to make it seem as though she was an actual part of the whole universe, its energy and “expansiveness.” It is important to make the audience feel one with your topic and Taylor successfully did this through her expression and memorable finish of asking, “Who are we...part of the right hemisphere…or the left hemisphere? Which would you choose?” When I present, I must remembered to project a good verbal and nonverbal image as she did and finish my presentation with a lasting effect making it “wowfull.”
In Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s speech “A Stroke of Insight” she turned what could have been a very technical and uninteresting topic into something that her audience could not only relate to but something that they were deeply engaged in. From the very beginning she drew her audience in with a great attention getter. She started by letting them know her reason for being so passionate about the study of the brain stemmed from her brothers mental disorder which was schizophrenia. Immediately after she made this statement she was able to establish that she had a personal connection with her topic. She also built up her level of credibility by letting them know that she was a doctor in the field and had done work in the “Harvard department of Psychiatry.” Once this particular information was shared it made it that much easier for the audience to trust the experience that she was prepared to share with them.
When Dr. Jill Taylor began to share her experience of having a brain hemorrhage she not only kept her audience interested by incorporating a certain level of humor but it was as if she allowed her listeners to take the journey with her. The amount of sensory details and emotions she used to describe her experience gave the illusion that you were feeling what she was feeling. Listening to her speak I can honestly say her story felt like a movie that I was playing in my head. As she described her outer body experience I felt like “my arm was numb, I felt like I was looking at a blurry index card,” and at the moment I felt like I was in her shoes. Her ability to engage her audience shined through when she described her touch with “Nirvana.” It was obvious that she had come to the climax of her story and the emotions of her audience were completely tied in with her words by the time she had come to this point.
After listening to this speech I can tell that it is necessary not only to grab your audience’s attention but to make an emotional connection with them when delivering a passion speech. My topic is working with children that have cerebral palsy and I feel a strong connection with this topic because I have a nephew that suffers from this disease. If I allow my emotions to shine through while delivering my speech I know I can make a strong impact on my listeners.
Tiffany Ervin (10:00 class)
Jill Bolte Taylor’s speech, “A Stroke of Insight” was about her life threatening brain hemorrhage that she had experienced. This is interesting because she is a Harvard graduate in Neurology. Jill Bolte Taylor began her speech by giving her background information about her studies and research. This helped her gain credibility with the audience. He brother suffered from Schizophrenia which is what drove Jill Taylor in her studies. With this in mind, she brought out a human brain to demonstrate where her brothers disorder was, along with her hemorrhage and a brief description of the two lobes of the brain and their functions. This was a great way to catch the audiences attention and get them hooked on the presentation. At one point you can see an audience member looking very intrigued and flabbergasted with the hands on brain demonstration. JIll Taylor went on to talk about how she woke up one morning not able to walk, talk, write or read. She suffered from a brain hemorrhage that made her completely helpless. “It was if I had the brain of an infant trapped in a grown woman’s body”. Jill Taylor was very aware of her audience, using great hand gestures and powerful words to keep their attention at her speech. She used many metaphors and was able to incorporate humor into her speech to keep the audience entertained. JIll made it seem as though she was very easy to talk to, her intimidation was very low which made the audience feel more comfortable. A major deal in her speech was her ability to tie in her emotions and past experiences into her speech and really get the audience involved.
Scientist and expert of severe mental illness, Jill Bolte Taylor deliberated a great speech. In her speech, “A Stroke of Insight, she incorporated her own life experience having a stroke. Jill started her speech by stating that she started studying the brain because her brother had schizophrenia. She wanted to be able to connect her dreams of comprehending the convolution of the brain with her profession. Jill gave credibility by telling her audience her background of education and her work field in working at the Harvard Department of Psychiatry. In the background of her setting you were able to see that she had a simple power point, just pinpointing her connectives of her speech. Then she brought out a real brain to demonstrate the hemispheres and connect it to her story about her own brain hemorrhage. At this point of her speech she brought humor to her speech by telling the audience it was a joy holding a real brain in her hand and how cool it was to be a scientist and have a stroke to say you actually know what you are studying. It made the speech interesting and it definitely was a great attention grabber. While talking about the right hemisphere and left hemisphere of the brain, she gave information on how both hemispheres work. The right hemisphere is all about “Right here, right now”, while the left hemisphere is “All about the past, and all about the Future”. With the examples of both hemispheres, she was able to visualize her stroke to the audience. Jill’s touch with “Nirvana” was what captivated her audience the most. As her story got to its highest point, the audience was able to fell the intense of her emotions and voice changed. The audience was intrigued to her that she had complete attention of every individual in the room. The need to share her story helped the audience understand the brain and it wasn’t taught in a boring way. As she wrapped her speech, she questioned the audience about which internal self to recognize. Her speech came to an end and she said “I believe that the more time we spending choosing to run our deep inner circularity of our right hemisphere the more peace we will project to the world, and the more peaceful our planet will be, and that was an idea worth spreading.” Her speech was great because of all the research she had, her self experience, and examples she shared with her audience. In my passion speech, Harry Potter, I can give examples as to why I love it so much and why it has become my passion. Many of the techniques Scientist Jill Bolte Taylor used can help me excel in my weaker areas. In order to keep my audience’s attention on me, I have to personalize my own real life situations to deliver and amazing speech just like Jill Bolte Taylor did.
After watching Jill Bolte Taylor’s speech, I think that the way to make an impact on your audience is to be really passionate and make your speech personal. Jill initiated a very intelligent discussion with her audience. However she didn’t lose her audience because whenever she talked about terms such as the brain hemispheres she made sure to explain what each one did in simpler terms; The left hemisphere focuses in the past and the future and the right on the present. During our speeches we can also have an intelligent conversation we just have to play off of our audience and make sure to explain things in more detail. Jill made her speech very personal by showing pictures of her own brain and talking about how she watched it deteriorate. She also showed pictures from after her surgery and told her audience that it took her eight years to recover. Jill was also very emotional when she told the story about her spirit lifting out of her body and whole she was in the transitioning process. Jill kept the audience involved throughout her speech by using crops, such as the brain. She also talked about how she was feeling and how she saw herself the morning of the stroke, jokingly, therefore making the audience laugh. Her closing also got people involved and she left us thinking by saying which side would we choose and what side do we choose. Overall, I really liked this speech and I felt like I understood everything that Jill was talking about. I also felt very connected to her while she was talking. I think that we can achieve the same type of reaction from our audience by making our speeches personal and being really passionate about our topics.
Eryk Harrison 10:00 AM Class
In the beginning of Jill Bolte’s speech she brings in the audience by mentioning her brothers schizophrenia and her interest in the science behind it. She discussed her background research with Dr. Francin Benice and compared a normal brain with a schizophrenic one. Jill Bolte had tons of credibility and showed how she herself also had a brain problem. She introduced the human brain which got me interested and then explained how it works in a non-scientific way so everyone could understand. She attempted to use her hands as a visual aid but it wasn't really working with the type of information she was delivering. She then went back and discussed how she lost the “I Am” part of the left side of her brain when she suffered a stroke. Her example of comparing how the pain in her head felt to biting ice cream was a good example for the audience that everyone can relate too. Her talks about what had led up 2 the stroke made her seem funny as if it was not as much a serious situation. Jill Bolte was a good actor who demonstrated well what her case of a stroke was like. She was able to keep the audience relaxed but at the same time focused on what she was discussing. She also was able to grab the audience back when she discussed how she was in the back of the ambulance thinking that she was going to die. She seemed very spiritual with her description of her “transition” into Navarna and sucked me ass well as the audience in even more. Her power point picture of her with her mother in the hospital showed not only how serious her situation was but manifested sorrow in the crowd. She connected with the audience through her stroke and didn't just use the powerpoint as leverage. She knew what she wanted to discuss and I thought that her conclusion was excellent. It brought everything back into perspective of her interests and her opinion on what should be brought to the world. The speech was outstanding and was a great model for what I should include in my passion speech. She didn’t depend on the powerpoint at all, in fact I don’t remember her even looking at it. Her powerpoint was of a firsthand experience so it brought out emotion and facts of what happened and as a result made the audience feel as though they were friends of Jill.
Jill Bolte Taylor’s speech “A Stroke of Insight” was an informative yet entertaining speech about her experience of having a stroke. Jill established credibility with her audience in the beginning of her speech by talking about her brother who suffers from schizophrenia. She also established credibility by informing her audience that she studies the human brain at Harvard. Jill used a lot of technical terms in her speech but she elaborated on them and explained them thoroughly to the audience so that we all could follow what she was telling us. While explaining the morning of her stroke, Jill told the audience every last detail of what was going on during her stroke, what she thought, how she felt and exact details of her day. She kept the audience captivated in what she was saying by doing this. Even though her stroke was a terrible and extremely serious event, Jill made somewhat of a joke out of it and made her audience laugh to ensure her speech was not to serious and tragic. Jill even said she thought having a stroke was “cool” at one point. Jill connected having a stoke and studying brains for a living as a perfect situation to be in. the entire time of her speech, Jill did not lose the attention of her audience and kept her speech on a personal level.
Jill Bolte Taylor is an extremely talented speaker that captivated her audience right from the beginning. She set a strong credibility right from the start. She has personal experience with mental disorders because her brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia. She cements her credibility even further by adding that she worked in the lab of Doctor Francine Benes at the Harvard Department of Psychiatry in Boston and that she is an advocate for NAMI or National Alliance on Mental Illnesses. She used simple language, and even if she sometimes used very complicated terms, she still found ways to describe them so that the audience so that every one could understand. She also used direct terminology, for instance, she compared her stroke as if she was an “infant in a woman’s body.” Another thing that I liked was that she varied in language intensity; She said that the morning of her stroke the pain behind her left eye was “the kind of pain you get when you bite into ice cream and it just gripped me.” She described the morning of the stroke so well that the listeners could easily imagine what she felt and what she was going through. In her speech, she also used a lot of parallelisms which made it a lot more interesting to hear. A humorous parallel was, “I’m having a stroke, I’m having a stroke…Wow this is so cool!” The fact that she brought humor into her speech just made it so mush easier for the listeners to pay attention to her. A part that I thought was really funny was when she called someone from her work and realized she could not understand language, she said “Oh my gosh! He sounds like a golden retriever!”, which of course had the audience cracking up. Another part that was very interesting was her “wow moment”, which was the part that she thought she almost died. The listener could easily tell the importance of this because her pitch changed, she slowed down and she sounded like she was almost in tears. This impacted the audience greatly and her emotion was transferred so well to the crowded that I would not be surprised if she had everyone in the room crying. To make her speech even stronger she used great visuals that accompanied her message the whole time. At first, she brought out a real human brain that really stirred up the crowd and had everyone on the edge of their seats. She also had a great power point that really got the point across. Some of the photos in the power point included a picture of her and her brother, an x-ray of the Hemorrhage, and a post surgery photo with her mother. Overall, Taylor did an amazing job presenting and getting her message across.
The three things that I really need to add into my presentation to make it ass good as Jill Bolte Taylor’s are parallels, a great “wow moment” and humor. These three things are what she used the most and they are what captivated the audience the most. Parallels are very easy to come up with and to use and at the same time they add a huge impact in the speech. Taylor probably used 6 parallels in her speech and all of them invited the crowd to listen in more closely. Another thing that attracted the listener was her “wow moment.” This was truly an amazing moment that sent out a huge emotion rush into the crowd. The fact that the her feelings were so genuine and sincere made an even bigger impact the people. The last thing that she used very well was humor. Most people would not consider neurology a very interesting topic so if it was not for the humor that she added most people would not have listened. The jokes also made the speech very “user friendly” and it made it easy to listen to.
Jill Bolte Taylor's speech, "Stroke of Insight" was very impressive. She explained to her audience the life changing experience that she went through as she experienced a stroke. She began her speech with how she started in her field of studying the brain. Jill brought in examples of her first hand experience of her brother having a brain disorder of Schizophrenia. She talked of how she was so amazed of how his brain configured things,she couldn't help but to want to learn more. Besides establishing credibility using first hand experience with her brother, she then used her personal experience of her stroke to go more in depth of how the brain works. She joked around with the audience when she said how she didn't have time for a stoke, as she is a busy woman. With these two facts the audience now knew about Taylor, they were able to establish she was a credible source to be listening to. She used visual aids in the screen in which was displayed behind her as well as bringing out an actual brain to reiterate what it looks like, how it is constructed, and how it works. When speaking, she used incredible body language, especially when describing her on the exercise machine as she saw her hands become claws. When describing the two sides of the brain, she used computer terms so that people could better understand what she meant. In the end when she began to cry, it really validated to the audience how reliable she was as a speaker to be talking on such a subject.
Jill Taylor was a wonderful speaker from start to finish. She began by telling her audience that her brother had schizophrenia which affected a part of his brain. Then stated that this was why she became a scientist that researches mental illness. This was a great attention getter because it made the audience feel connected to her because she spoke about something that was important to her. When she began to speak about the differences between a person who has a mental illness and person who does not, you can tell that she knew what she was talking about and was not nervous at all. Jill Taylor brought a human brain onto the stage to show her audience which side of the brain she was taking about and the functions of each side. When she gave back the brain to the young gentleman, she made a joke which brought back the audiences attention. She then presents the need of her presentation by saying that we all have a brain, which was a way to show the audience why they should pay attention to her. Jill Taylor made a good use of her power point because she spoke and did not let the power point speak for her. She also used the six by six rule where she did not put anymore then six words in a sentence. The left hemisphere is the side of your brain that thinks in language. When Jill Taylor had a stroke that was the side of her brain that she lost functions of. Then she begins to describe the day of her stroke and how she felt pain in the back of her eye , heard voices coming from her left brain, lost balance, and could not see where her own body began or ended. She gave examples of her left hemisphere on how it was loud but then became silent in an instant. She compared it to remote and how you can control the volume, which was a good way to understand what was going on the day of her stroke. She then describes how she felt as if she was in la la land and disconnected to her brain chatter. While she was talking about this painful and treacherous experience she made jokes which made it more comfortable for the audience to listen to. During this time is when she says that she felt her spirit surrender and was the time when she said goodbye to her life. When this comment was made the audience went from a burst of laughter to silence. The control that Jill Taylor had on the audience was great by her choice of diction. When she was in the hospital she saw a world of loving people, found peace within her and a “stroke” of insight. She noticed that the way others lived there lives motivated her to live on. So Jill Taylor decided to get surgery to remove a blood clot the size of a golf ball that was pushing on her language center in her brain. While she talked about her surgery, on the power point she showed a picture of the scar on her head which enhanced the topic of her procedure. As she kept on going with her presentation she posed a question. Who are we? Taylor believes that we have the power to choose who we are and what we want to be in the world or become a solid and not do anything for the world. Which would you choose and when? These questions made her audience think about their own lives from her speech. Jill Taylor’s presentation contained examples, connections, and other interactions that would be great additions to our presentations. From her humorous statements and connections Taylor’s topic was audience friendly.
Jill Bolte Taylor's speech was very interesting and I enjoyed it. I could relate to the topic of disorders because I am very familiar with them. She said her main points in the very beginning which let me know immediately what her purpose was. She talked on stage as if she wasn't shy in a way that made the vibe feel conversational. If I was in the audience, I would be more prone to ask a question in comparance to average speeches. She had a visual aid that kept my attention as well. What made Jill's speech interesting to me, is that she seemed laid back and she wasn't timid to relate her speech to her everyday life and work schedual. I was fascinated how she herself suffered from a mental disorder. Instead of hearing a speech on others with disorders, this speech was actually spoken by someone who experienced it.
I loved when she brought out the brain. Its cool. Like when do you have the oppertunity to see a real human brain. If anyone was dozing off, I bet more than anything they woke up when the brain came out. She talked the audience through her rough experience in terms the audience could relate to. She kept the scientific terms to a bare minimal.
Her visual aid showed pictures and asked questions that caught my attention. She ended her speech with passion. I could feel the intensity. I heard her voice choke up as if she was crying. Overall I was touched by her speech. She is a great speaker. I enjoyed watching it.
In Jill Bolte Taylor's speech she discusses her experiences of when she realized she was having a stroke. She talked about how she studies the human brain and brought in a story about how her brother was diagnosed with Schizophrenia, and that is the reason she decided to study the brain. This was a good way for her to bring in personal experiences to connect with the audience. When she started talking about her brain disorder it was coincidental because she studies the brain. To get the audiences attention she brought out a real human brain to use as a demonstration. She explained how there were two sides to the brain that worked in different ways. Throughout Jill Bolte Taylor's whole speech she had used good eye contact with the audience. Another good point to bring up from her speech was how she used humor; she would make jokes throughout to keep the audience interested. When she was talking about her incident when she realized she was having a stroke it was very touching. She used a detailed story of the day she realized. She talked about how she woke up with a headache but continued her day, and then when she realized she was having a stroke she knew she needed to go to a hospital. I feel that in her speech she did a really good job, she brought credibility, need, humor, and personal experiences. I think it will help me with my speech for the fact that, she spoke at a slow pace, and connected with her audience. When using the power point she didn’t read off of it she kept her eye contact. Those are all things I need to make sure to use in my speech.
While listening to Jill Bolte Taylor's speech, "Stroke of Insight" and watching how she delivered it, it could easily be said that her speech was effective. From the very start Taylor used techniques that delivered her speech. To prove her credibility, Taylor used personal experiences. First she talked about her brother who has schizophrenia. Then she established that she new the topic of psychology by sharing with the audience the work she had done in the Psychiatry Dept. at Harvard. Another personal story Taylor used was that fact that she had suffered a stroke due to a brain hemorrhage that she had.
Taylor knew how to keep he audience's attention. She used a power point visual aid and she used a real human brain. Using the brain as an aid helped Taylor to become more personal with the audience. She broke down the scientific terms and used simpler terms to make sure the audience understood what she was talking about. The power point allowed the audience to see pictures of the side of Taylor's head after she had surgery to remove the hemorrhage. Another huge way Taylor connected with the audience was by using hand gestures. Her hand gestures is what kept my attention. I knew when she pointed to her head or a certain part of herself that she was talking about that part of her body. Which in turn helped me to tune into what she was saying. She moved around the stage and did not just stay in one spot the entire time. When she spoke, she spoke with emphasis in the parts of her speech that were important. Towards the end of the speech you could also hear the emotion in her voice. She was not just stoic. Hearing the emotion allowed the audience and me to empathize with what she was talking about. It made what she was saying more real to us.
Obviously, I want to become just as effective as a speaker as Jill was. To do that, I would have to share personal stories and really evoke the passion I'm feeling from my audience. I have to be engaging and know what I'm talking about like Jill did. I need to make that connection with the audience by being comfortable up in front of the class.
Jill Bolte's speech entitled, "A Stroke of Insight", was a powerful and descriptive story of a personal experience she had encountered on December 10, 1996. During her speech, one could clearly see her passion and heart in her words. You could see it and feel it from her eyes that she wanted people to listen to her. Jill was able to catch the attention of the audience by using a slide show, prompts, and just the way she spoke made you want to listen. She spoke to the audience as if it were a one on one conversation. However, not only was she able to illustrate these skills, but she also used her own personal experience to be at the same aptitude as her audience. Although the topic matter was quite serious, she had the ability to make little jokes. Jill spoke about her stroke which was caused by a hemorrhage and how she felt the morning of her tragic and terrifying experience. Then she spoke about the difficult tasks she had to face such as surgery and she also showed pictures. Jill was able to interact with the audience at a personal level. She had the ability to take a science related topics that is of no interest to some into a heart touched experience. Nonetheless, from Jill's speech I personally picked up a lot of concepts from her speech. For instance, I'm going to try and talk to the audience on more of a personal level like a conversation. I am also going to try and refer to my slide show rather than just having it sit up at the screen. Also, I am going to make an effort in keeping the attention of my audience alive by keeping their age and interests in mind.
To sum it all up, I felt the speech presented by Jill Bolte, was wonderful, the fact that she underwent all that was terrible of course, but the speaking ability she had was truly great.
Imagine that you are an established neuroanatomist driving yourself to work and then all of a sudden your arm goes numb. The first thing that would pop into your mind is, “Wow this is so cool.” This is the description of a stroke experience Jill Bolte Taylor faced.
In Jill Bolte Taylor’s presentation she began with describing how she came about her profession. She told her audience that because her younger brother was schizophrenic and she felt the need to help other people with mental disorders. This captivated her audience by pulling them in with a true story that anyone could relate to .Jill also gave different interesting facts about mental disorders. I liked how she made a joke every here and there to keep the audience entertained. For example when describing the stroke she mentioned her first reaction, which was, “Wow this is so cool.” That is not the first reaction a regular person would feel. She made it unique and real. I loved how in depth she was in describing her pre-stages in having a stroke. She expressed how looking at her dial pad and only seeing pixels. It seemed very accurate and honest. She brought out a human brain in the beginning of her speech that captivated my attention and held it until the end of her speech.
Overall she had great posture even though her walking around seemed like she was pacing. I enjoyed her speech and learned a lot from her presentation.
As Jill Bolte Taylor’s began speaking I realized that she had a PowerPoint and she always had a slide up that was directly related to what she was talking about in which it didn’t distract the audience. During the part of her speech when she had a real brain, she used computer terms in order to describe what she was talking about, which I consider a negative thing because not everyone in the audience may have known about computer jargon. When Taylor discusses what happened to her during the day of her stroke, I can honestly say that I was intrigued, not just because of the fact that she’s basically telling a story, but because of her hand motion and how she’s reenacting what she’s saying. What I also liked was the fact that she brought in humor by exaggerating certain phrases and using sarcasm. The only thing that I truly didn’t like was the fact that she began talking about her brother who had schizophrenia, and because of that, I thought that Taylor was going to speak about that specific disorder. As the speech went on, I found out that was not the case, therefore it became unclear as to what was her topic and what point she was trying to get across.
Jill Taylor’s, “ A Stroke of Insight”, was speech regarding the hemisphere’s of the brain which indicated the damages strokes do to the brain. She established her creditability by stating her profession of the work she had done at the Harvard department of Psychiatry. This aloud the audience to believe in more of the information she was presenting to them.
In the beginning of the speech she used her own personal experiences to relate to her research. She first told the story of her bother having schizophrenia. Then she went on to tell the story of having a stroke and she analyzed the thought process that was going through her brain at the time when it was occurring. She also had a good attention getter. She had a human brain brought out to her on the stage so she could show the crowd exactly what was taking place and where in the brain it was happening. This visual aid aloud the audience to become more curious to the topic of the brain which led her to the next point, how the brain and her reacted to the stroke. As the speech went on she use a lot of metaphors, and humor to keep her audience tuned and interested. Her personal experience and study of the stroke made it easier for all listeners to comprehend the information she was trying to get across. Personally I liked the speech and how she incorporated her life an many public speaker techniques to keep the topic and audience interested.
By exposing herself and opening up to her audience emotionally, Jill Bolte Taylor is able to connect and deliver a powerful message. She captivates a large crowd who in return rewards her with a standing ovation. By starting her speech with the personal subject of her own brother’s mental illness of schizophrenia she compares and contrasts the differences in the functions of her own brain to her brother’s. By introducing this topic she allows room to move on to her central discussion of “Who We Are” and how we choose that person. She then continues to establish an “authenticity” by sharing the experience of her own illness, a brain hemorrhage that led to a stroke in 1996. Further more her own credentials leave little room for debate being she is an expert in neuroscience.
Just as you think your about to hear a long winded monotone lecture on the contents of the human brain Taylor brings out a real human brain specimen to excite and interest the audience. The audience perceives her dry humor appropriately and she keeps them involved by making a technical topic less complicated. By breaking apart the brain, literally, and her comparison of brain to computer she gives her audience a solid description of a very complex subject.
The concept that our brain is essential two completely different people is a hard though to handle. Taylor is able to separate the two sides in layman’s terms by saying the right side is “right here, right now, and learns by body movement” as if the right side is controlled by impulse. While the left side is “past and future” is takes information, organizes, and associates it with knowledge. The morning of her own stroke she experience both sides of her brain. She takes her audience through her own experiment and is able to vividly recall the feelings and emotions which over came her. At times showing her distress on her face and eyes while explaining the “euphoric” feeling of her “body soaring free like a whale” as she ultimately reached a state of nirvana. Her tone of voice as well as body movement is key in depicting the mental state of which she was consumed by.
While I do not have the resources or knowledge of Jill Bolte Taylor I could also connect with my audience by exposing myself and opening to my audience. The picture of her mother and she after the operation is heartwarming and sends a relatable message. By emphasizing the use of key words and terms through repetition like the question “Who are we” I can remind my audience of me central idea in a simple manner as Taylor did. Also leaving her audience with a question in the closing with an option of choice allows the crowd to personally explore the topic further as well as invoke interest. These and many more techniques are what I have taken away from Jill Bolte Taylor’s presentation and hope to display in my own speeches.
Jill Bolte Taylor’s speech called “A Stroke of Insight” is an example of a great speech. Her speech described a well detailed story of her experience on December 10, 1996. On this morning she experienced a stroke. In the beginning of her speech she established credibility by referring to her brother and her understanding of his medical problem, schizophrenia. This completely establishes her need, the need to research the brain and its aspect. She also shared her professional experiences by informing the listeners of her work at “Harvard Department of Psychiatry.” Her speech definitely had amazing connectors. She went from discussing her brother disorder to her personal medical history. From this point she connects to her topic, her experience with a brain hemorrhage. She also provided visual aid, a real human brain. This automatically gave the audience a “wowfull” moment. She used the brain as a way to explain her knowledge on her stroke and also elaborates on additional information. She even found her stroke experience as a “cool” moment yet she found it “euphoria” when she saw her hands and feet. Her ability to visually describe her experience and how it took her 45 minutes to find a number captured the audience attention. Although, she was a scientist, she adapted to the audience by clarifying each term and made the verbal presentation easy to understand and process. She did use humor throughout her speech which grabbed the attention of her audience. When I present I definitely need to incorporate an impactful closing like Dr. Taylr did, ““Who are we...part of the right hemisphere…or the left hemisphere? Which would you choose?” Her closing absolutely allowed the listeners to become speechless and in a state of thinking. When I deliver my passion speech I need to gain confidence and project my voice just like Jill did.
Jill Bolte Taylor's speech, "Stroke of Insight", was a very strong, touching speech. She brought in a lot of personal experiences and gave strong credibility. The speech was mainly about her life experiences associated with psychological disorders. Her grabber was stating that her brother was a schizophrenic and she later realized that she had a brain hemorrhage as she watched it deteriorate. She also has a background in psychology; we know this because she lets us know that she worked in the lab of Dr. Francine Benes at Harvard Department of Psychiatry. To capture the audience, she used many visuals. She used pictures of herself with her brother, her brain x-ray, and a human brain. Jill Bolte Taylor had also broke all the information down to terms we could understand by giving logical examples like with the brain hemispheres and connects our dreams to reality. When she brings up her experience of having a stroke, she tells us about parallelism. For example, "I am, I am." "We got a problem, we got a problem...". Towards the end of her speech, Taylor explains imagery and ties it into the brain process. She also begins to get emotional but she is still very motivated even though she had explained how she was an infant trapped in an adults body after her stroke. Over all, her speech was phenomenal. She had a need, grabber, credibility, and visual aids. She spoke clearly and made sure that her audience understood what she was talking about. I hope to be as great of a speaker as Jill was.
During this speech Jill Bolte Taylor uses many techniques to captivate her audience and maintain their interests. She starts and continues to reference personal experience throughout her entire speech. Jill uses props that addresses the needs of different types of learners, making a visual to understand and maintain a focus of what Jill is talking about. Taylor also uses light humor that allows the audience to draw themselves into what she is saying. Taylor creatively uses gestures and eye contact to make connections with the audience, as well as, a fluctuation in her voice. Jill also uses similes to help describe and create pictures for the things that she has experienced, which you probably could not. Throughout, she also has a powerpoint playing that transition her points as well as helping her during her actual topics. Also in the end she uses an ending that builds a sense of need and leave the audience with thoughts of their own.
Jill Bolte’s speech, “A stroke of Insight” was about her experience and the things her body went through during her stoke. Bolte established great credibility in the introduction and she also brought her personal experience with her brother’s schizophrenia into it. She established that she knew much about psychology and the brain. She captured the audience’s attention with some comedy trough sarcasm and she used a lot of personalization so that the audience felt that they could really understand what went on during her stroke. I really liked the emotions that she put into her speech she really helped the audience through reliving her stroke. The one thing I didn’t like was that she didn’t establish they main point of her speech right away, she first went into the topic of schizophrenia and her brother. This was misleading because that’s not what her speech was about.
In her speech, "A Stroke of Insight", Jill Bolte Taylor gave n informative and impacting presentation. Taylor was able to to gain authenticity with her audience. In her introduction she stated her credibility by telling the audience her credentials and her previous work in the field. Jill Bolte Taylor was also able to keep her audience involved. She brought out a real human brain that kept the audience's attention. In addition, Taylor spoke of her own rel life experiences. She spoke of her stroke. The audience was able to connect with her and sympathize with her. Taylor kept the audience involved also by telling jokes and making them laugh. Using all these techniques made her speech passionate and it left an impact on the audience. I could add these techniques into my presentation to make it more attractive. In my presentation, I can add real life experiences to grasp the involvement of my audience. For example, I can add when I played or watched a soccer game so my audience can comprehend what I am saying. Jill Bolte Taylor is an amazing public speaker that leaves an impact on her audience.
Jill Botle Taylor in her speech "A Stroke of Insight" gave a very informative and impacting presentation. She used many techniques to catch the audience attention and maintain their attention. As reference she uses personal expierence throughout her entire speech. I was intrigued when she talked about the day she talked about the day she had the stroke because using her body image to reenact her story. She used humor by exaggerating certain phrases and using sarcasm. The way she delievered her speech truly inspired me.
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