Blog #1

 Oliver Pompee 

February 5, 2026

Reflections on The Group Presentations: What I Learned from Watching My Classmates talked about Through the Public Speaking Presentations

To start off, this essay ima be reflecting my personal thoughts on how the presentations were given by each of the groups. Each group covered different aspects of public speaking, that I liked hearing and I’ll be discussing which parts grabbed my attention and why.

As I was hearing what each of the groups were talking about Thankfully through Panopto, because I for sure wouldn’t even be able complete this off the dome of my head trying to remember what each group was saying either way Professor Sinkoff was nice enough give us Panopto being able to go back and review the Videos. Of what each groups from one to four were talking about.

A few clips from the videos grabbed my attention . While some other groups had presentations that stuck with me which is good because that just falls back to what I had to talk about in one of the chapters about how the “Recency Effect” matters in a presentation because how you end a speech can determine whether it'll stick with the audience/listeners.

As I was listening to the groups about how public speaking actually plays out outside in the real world. It was showing me another thing that became more clear is The primary effect, which was one of things I talked about in my presentation which matters a lot in a speech. How you begin a presentation or a speech can also help linger to your audience more delivery matters a lot more than people think.

From Group 1, it began with a tip on how to stand out during speeches. Their session intrigued me on the core ideas they presented like, how to speak clearly in front of others, growing your own self confidence before going on stage, paying attention well, along with adjusting what works for different people in the room.

Francisco  did a nice job talking about public speaking. I like how Francisco was saying it’s not just talking to the audience it’s really about connecting to the audience which I agree with. Meanwhile, Alejandro slides focused on building more confidence, being more focused and relaxed when ur presenting so that was nice to hear.

Then I believe Brihanna filled in for her classmate Adriana, Brihanna stepped in for Adriana Smoothly and I like how Manuel, one of the project directors(if im typing it write) helps presents the slides, with the bonus clips at the end for Group 1 he showed ineffective listening vs effective listening.

You’re really able to see the main differences between those videos. In the ineffective one, the “boss” isn’t even trying to listen to the problem her coworker was explaining and instead just gives orders in an ineffective way. Compared to the other video, the effective one was done right. The male coworker’s day didn’t go well because of something he was hoping for, and the female coworker listened more rather than talking over him. Giving him a nice reflection of her own ideas on how he could go about the situation in a respectful manner, which was nice, showing the differences between those two ineffective listening and effective listening.

Another group I want to talk about is Group 2. I like how Kashyra starts off the presentation and handles it with her part "Getting Ready for a Successful Presentation". In the beginning of the speech, Kashyra points out that there are three main focus areas when it comes to a speech, which I agree with inform, persuade, and entertain.

And later in the presentation, Kashyra passes the rest of the chapter 6 slides to her classmate Lauren, who addresses how a public speaker should know who their audience is. This is a key factor because you don’t want to be presenting something that doesn’t go well with what the audience is actually there for. She also talks about how you should properly address your audience while clearly addressing the topic so they are fully aware and engaged. And I agreed with both Lauren’s and Kashyra’s points on this subject.

The next person I’d like to talk about from Group 2 is Joel. I liked how his chapter focused on narratives. One key point he made that I strongly agree with is that narratives have a beginning, middle, and end. According to him, narratives are most effective when they are believable and focused, which makes sense because when you’re telling a story or presenting something, you want to make sure your audience stays engaged with the details of how you’re presenting it to them.

Joel also did a good job pointing out the four different types of narratives personal, others, institutional, and cultural. Overall, that was a nice and very informative slide from him.

Next group I want to move onto the one and only group I was a part of. And that’s Group 3!!!I’m not going to go too much into what I said because I already said most of what I presented at the beginning of this essay. Saida and Ruslam really did their thing not just them tho, but everyone else who was a part of this group as well.

Props to Saida for her leadership, especially for being able to cover Jeremiah’s slide. I liked how she started off by saying that visuals, whether charts or diagrams, can be one of the key factors in engaging an audience. I agree with that take because most of the time, showing a picture related to what you’re talking about helps the audience better understand what the public speaker is trying to inform them about.

Ruslam, another classmate of mine, also did a good job explaining how you should be cautious with the type of language and words you use when speaking to an audience rather than talking to a friend. That’s very true you can’t use the same slang you use with your friends when addressing an audience. You have to be professional. The way you speak to an audience is very different compared to how you speak to your friends.

To end this, that’s basically all I have to say. I liked everyone else’s group presentations, everyone did their thing, and it was nice hearing the different topics from each group. Hope you have a good day to whoever is reading this. Sayonara.