Chapter 4

     A lot of people think listening and hearing are the same thing, and even though you use your ears for both, they are actually very different. When you hear someone, that is all you are doing, but when you are listening, you are actually understanding what they are saying and hopefully connecting with it. There would honestly probably be less issues in the world if we listened to each other instead of just hearing what we want. You are able to academically connect with your work, professors, and classmates. You are able to listen to feedback, criticism, and hints on how to do better on tests or assignments. You can also have personal benefits from listening to each other instead of just hearing each other. You are able to complete the communication loop, where one is the receiver and the other is the giver. Hearing breaks that loop and listening keeps it going around. 

    To show you are listening you need to do three things. You need to show that you are paying attention. I struggle with this personally because even if it seems like I am not paying attention, I really am and it catches people off guard most times. The next thing you need is the right attitude. If you are having a political debate with someone, you cannot just yell at each other, neither of you would be listening to each other. You have to remain calm, but you can still be very passionate about your views while staying calm and not letting your emotions control. The final thing you need to do is adjust. If someone has a different view from you, temporarily change the way you are looking at the world to how they see it and you would be able to understand and listen to them better instead of just hearing them. 

    When you are the listener, you need to make sure that you show you are listening. Whether it is verbal feedback or nonverbal. It could really help the speaker. You can always say whether you agree or disagree and why, and you can always nod your head in agreement or lean forward to show that you are interested in the conversation instead of leaning back in your chair or leaning on your hand, it might discourage the speaker.

Chapter 8 and Chapter 15

         When you have to present a speech, you have to recognize your audience and present your topic in a way that will make sense to them. For example, you would not give a speech about isotopes and atomic mass, and you would not give a lecture to college students about learning shapes and colors. You also have to realize who is in your audience so that you can make sure you are not disrespectful in any way, even if it is unintentional. You also should organize your speech so that it makes sense. If you are telling a story, you should tell it in a chronological order so the audience does not get confused. Even if you are the best public speaker, you still should prepare. Reread your speech a couple times and possibly read it aloud to a family member or friend to get a second opinion and see if they hear any issues. The different points of the speech have to connect with one another so that it makes sense. In the beginning and end of the speech, make sure you repeat your main points without giving so much information that you will lose the audience's attention. 

        As the title suggests, informative speeches are given to inform people. You do not really need to voice your opinion since it is not persuasive, you should mainly include facts, statistics, and quotes. You should also bee ready for questions, you should be knowledgeable about your topic so that people can trust you when you present. You should also make the topic relatable, you do not want to isolate a group of people from your speech by trying to make it relatable to only one type of group. Several ways to engage your audience can be an activity, a story, a question, or even humor. You should use repetition as much as you can, you want to repeat your main point as often as you can so that your audience realizes it is important. You can also use visuals like photographs, graphs, or charts to help your audience understand data better if some are more visual learners. 

Chapter 9

     Introductions and conclusions are a crucial part of speeches. The introduction has to draw the audience in, make them interested, but also not give away too much about your topic. Not only must you have their interest, you must be able to gain their attention as well. Telling jokes or asking rhetorical questions is a fantastic way to engage the audience and I always perk up whenever a guest speaker asks the audience questions. Even if you are nervous, you have to stand tall, look presentable, and speak clearly and loudly, no one wants to listen to a speaker who looks like they rolled out of bed and are mumbling the whole time. You will also need a thesis. A thesis is the sentence in your speech that lets the audience know what you hope to talk about. Ways to get the audience's attention include telling a story, referring to the past or to another speech, unexpected statistics, asking questions, and many more. You also have to know who your audience is and possibly make changed on the spot to make sure it is appropriate. Most importantly, do not forget to stay on topic throughout your speech. 

    Conclusions are used to wrap up your speech. A great to end a speech is to summarize it and to reiterate the most important topics covered. Since you already gave the audience information during your speech, do not include any more information than what was already said. A way to leave an impression on the audience is to ask them a question right before they get up and leave. Whenever a speaker has come to my school and asked a question right before we were dismissed, we would talk to our friends and ask them what they thought the answer was and we would just talk about the entire speech.

    The speaker in the Ted talk I watched used a lot of humor and jokes, possibly because it was kind of a heavy topic. Luma Mufleh is a soccer coach, teacher, Muslim, and an advocate for immigrants and their children. Her love for soccer started in Jordan and she later moved to America and brought her passion with her. She said herself during the Ted talk that she is not very good at public speaking, but she spoke because she had a platform. She talked about coaching these children that had nothing, they could not even afford shoes, but their love of soccer fueled them and they ended up becoming one of the best teams in the area. Luma did not let her fear stop her, she stayed on topic throughout the whole speech, and she used humor to grab the audience's attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wNif5SlN08