High School Talk: Post-Mortem

09/04/14

So, it started off a little awkward. I was having trouble finding the right words to say. My little rough draft was clearly not enough for me to get a feel of what to say and let me improv it from there. I eventually asked for a question, and explained that I do better with discussions than general speeches. The principal obliged and it helped me greatly to move on from there.

I guess for a future talking endeavour, I'll practice having a conversation with myself about the topic. I'll start with the rough draft as I did with this talk, because I ended up saying most of the content on that draft in a different order with different words. I definitely think that thinking was very valuable. I might also keep a short outline of what I want to go through on hand during the talk, or maybe practice some sort of system that makes remembering where I want the conversation I'm having to go. Otherwise, it's quite likely I'll go on tangents (as I like to do).

I ended up bringing up a lot more specific resources than I originally planned, but I think that's good. Pointing out resources directly connected to what I'm talking about seems like it could be really useful for anyone interested.

I mentioned Duolingo and Xerocraft, specifically. And a bunch of books I found useful and interesting. A good number of people asked questions, and not all of them were teachers.

This talk was a success for what it was, but I'll need to get much better at this whole public speaking thing.