Listen to Helen Denning's Assembly Speech (Check out her current blog, The Buson's Boots), and Slyvie Bertrand and Cortand Begor's Hays Speeches, then write a 6-10 sentence response describing your reaction to either Cortland's, Sylvie's, and or Denning's speeches. Pay attention to what works. What makes the speech you choose to write about a really good speech?
Sylvie Bertrand (now a sophomore ski racer at Brown University):
Cortland Begor (now a freshman at Dartmouth College & founder of TimberStix):
I think that Helens style of speaking is very english or course having an english accent can do that. She did have some stuttering but it was good. The speech itself was very well written. I feel like she may have spoken in too much of a harsh voice. It is important to have the right tone when speaking otherwise you might sound like you scolding the audience for not being goo enough. Overall the speech was good and it was well thought out.
ReplyDeleteHelen's speech was interesting, it intrigued me almost right away. I like how she started with how she was and what she used to do, and then slowly matriculated into how Proctor has changed her. I think in many ways she has an extremely overused speech, one that I'm sure teachers have heard hundreds of times up until she really gets into what she means by the word Proctor. Helen explains in detail her version of Proctor and all of the great parts about. Towards the end I like how her description of Proctor as a New England boarding school is vivid, you could know what and how she felt about it with her without ever being there and how simple of a place it is, and I really liked how that's how she closed, "it's simple, it's proctor".
ReplyDeleteHelen speech was very unique. I love how she talks about how Proctor has changed her because it means even more to someone who travels to a new country and makes the journey and finds success. Proctor changes so many people and she really shows her affection for the school with her tone of voice and passion in her words. She starts to talk about how Proctor is very New England and I love that. I believe this school is a spitting image of New England. The people that go to our school are very hard working and it shows in our staff and students. Everyone her enjoys it for everything its nature and people. Its easy going socially and challenging academically. I heard some stutters her and there but the speech was very good all around.
ReplyDeleteHelen speech was great, it's well organized and reasonable. The order of her words is clear and distinct. She also has so many different intonations in her speech, this action could make the audience focus and sober. She puts some jokes in the speech and it was really funny, it could adjust the atmosphere. So, the key of a successful speech are: well organized, different intonations and some interesting jokes or stories.
ReplyDeleteHelen Denning's speech was very organized and was different from the speeches from the previous night. She spoke a lot about her personal life as well as her life at Proctor and how it improved her. She also referred to a speech she had heard before where the speaker had instead of talking about what not to do, talked about what to do. Her speech was about taking advantage of opportunities and taking action. It was a success speech and I think she did a good job.
ReplyDeleteI think that Helens speech was well organized and was not to hard to follow as she got to the point. The only thing was she did have some stuttering but it was still good. The speech itself was very well written.I agree with Rowen that it is important to have the right tone when speaking so the audience can hear you more clearly but maintaining eye contact is important as well. Overall the speech was decent.
ReplyDeleteHelen's speech was well thought out and presented. Towards the beginning she added some humor which I thought was good, it grabbed the attention of the audience early on. Her voice seemed pretty steady with expression added when needed. Her topic was serious which allowed the audience to take her seriously. It helped how we can relate to the topic of Proctor changing ones self. Overall her speech was great.
ReplyDeleteDennings speech was extremely good. It's was extremely organized and had a lot of supporting details. She had a really good main point. One with a lot to talk about. To me that is the most important part of the speech, having a very strong main point makes for more to say and mor interesting things to say. She did really good at keeping the audience entertained. And finally it was very factual.
ReplyDeleteDenning' speech was very well put together. She set up her story inside the speech by telling about her past experiences. She was very descriptive while telling her main part of the story. I liked the way she always said something that had you wondering at first. After she used all the descriptive language she finally revealed what she was talking about. Overall her speech kept you interested the whole time, which is a characteristic that all speeches need have for an attentive audience.
ReplyDeleteWithin the first minute, Helens introduced that she would seek out “fulfilling experiences” to inspire her. She continues to note how she loves “the extreme excitement of sports, competition and risk” and I felt a connection with the speaker –as I have a very similar interest and the love of the same sport. I could connect with her and her experiences in class- reading the same essays from the same authors. What caught my attention was how in-depth she thought about these writings and analyzed the author’s opinions- something I was too impatient to consider. Her experiences on Ocean Classroom inspired to view the world in a different light- to put her “in different situations… real life adventures.” She was pulled into the presence in ski racing but experienced the same presence in living simply and “unplugging from technology and good honest hard work.” I’ve been guilty of obsessing with grades and not experiencing Proctor as it should be experienced- an adventure. I’ve locked myself away from reality and focus too much on the future. For this reason Helens speech speaks to me and shows how Proctor does things no other school offers. There is a variety of extra classes, people, and activities I take for granted. She speaks with confidence and shines a light on everything Proctor offers
ReplyDeleteDenning' speech is all around good. Although all of them were good, I think his was the best. He has both put it together well and delivered it well. All of the authors of these speeches have chosen something that they believe in which is crucial to a good speech. Another thing is confidence, none of these speeches were perfect but all of them were recited with confidence which boosted the recital.
ReplyDeleteHelen had a very well practiced and worded speech, she also sounds like she knew proper speaking techniques. She got her point across in a good way, however I think that the speech she used is exhausted, and it wasn't very interesting to me because it felt vanilla. She did however create a good atmosphere and make her speech well put together.
ReplyDeleteSylvie Bertrand’s speech was very traditional. She started out with a story that she then came back to at the very end of her speech. This is an effective technique, and she executed it well. Sylvie spoke about a topic that affects a lot of people, but isn’t talked about a lot. Speeches that address topics like that are good because they can give people perspectives that they might not have thought about before. She also spoke about an event that she went though that further illustrated her point, which is another good technique. She spoke clearly and didn’t stutter too much. Overall her speech pretty good.
ReplyDeleteAs knowing Cortland Begor, his writing style and personality as an author suits his personality very well. I have know Cortland since I was 7 years old and the writing I heard him present and his personality are very close relation. The writing is creative and strong worded. You can hear the passion in his voice, he is a caring kid with the perseverance to do and create anything he desires. Look at Timberstix. But anyway, The thoughts are well organized and presented in a way that suits the topic. As a person, a writer and an athlete it does not surprise me that he is on track to graduate from Dartmouth College.
ReplyDeleteElem Denning's speech was by well put together. The speech had a clear beginning, middle, and an end. The topic of her speech was also something that many people could relate to. Her voice, over all, was something that caught my attention, not just because of her accent but because of the confidence in it. The speech was easy to listen to and it was interesting to me to hear about her personal life and how Proctor has changed her. Though not a Hay's speech, many students giving these types of speeches always intermingle it with Proctor. Though Denning did this, she put a new twist to it and showed a side of Proctor that many people don't talk about. Overall, I really liked her speech and how she interacted with things that are easy to relat to.
ReplyDeleteI loved Denning’s speech, I knew her and her speech was difficulty her style. I loved how she spoke of what she used to do and how she acted and then went into how Proctor changed and reshaped her life. It was moving and keep me interested. She was vivid and used her speech well, she didn’t talk to much or joke too much. She got right to the point and explained what she meant. I like Denning’s speech the best, mainly because it was heartfelt and sincere. If you knew Denning like I did you would have known this speech is completely accurate and totally herself, she did a great job and outlining everything.
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