i have to give a speech tomorrow.
i'm taking intro to public speaking this semester. yes, partly due to requirements, but i did have the option to chicken out and take a communications class that doesn't require you to stand in front of a class for 10 minutes trying to mumble out a coherent speech. i decided to take a speech class to help me overcome a fear (not necessarily my worst nightmare, but definitely a discomforting situation) of having all eyes on me as i awkwardly deliver a speech. i've never really been good at it so, being ambitious, i signed up for it.
well, tomorrow is the day of my first speech. for some reason, i selected the topic of the media and how it affects people's self-image. i've spent the past week researching stats and have come to the conclusion that it would be best if i tackled advertising, since the media is such a broad topic and i only have 4-6 minutes to fit everything in. this first speech is a non-biased general overview of the topic, so i will focus on the role advertising plays in the economy and how it affects our lives and culture.
some interesting stats i've found:
- The average person watches 4 hours of tv a day (2 months a year)
- until 1982, commercials were limited to 9.5 minutes every hour. today, there are 14-17 minutes of commercials every hour.
- there are 17-18 minutes of commercials on the radio each hour
- the average american sees 3,600 ads a day
its amazing how much we're exposed to the media and advertisements. ads are everywhere...tv, movies, internet, billboards, inside the bus, logos on drinks, clothes...it goes on. we don't even notice them most of the time. but the images of gorgeous people with perfect bodies that we see in magazines, movies, in clothing stores, etc., affect our self-image and set our standards and expectations of beauty in others. dove's "campaign for real beauty" is pretty much the only company breaking out of traditional media's glorification of the perfect model that doesn't exist. on their site, dove had some interesting facts:
- only 2 percent of thousands of women from 10 countries around the world consider themselves beautiful
- more than two-thirds (68%) of women strongly agree that “the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can't ever achieve."
- well over half of all women (57%) strongly agree that “the attributes of female beauty have become very narrowly defined in today's world.”
now that has to say something about how the media has affected us. i hope it goes well tomorrow.
8 comments:
Interesting stats, J. So you are in the 2%, right?
How'd it go?
well, aside from a shakey voice, talking a little fast, and my mouth getting dry, it wasn't too bad. :)
i'm glad the people in my class are symmpathetic and still gave nice comments.
Bah, the trick to speech making is to know that nobody in speech class cares unless your speech is really good or really poor. The only way to have a memorably poor speech is to get nervous and freeze. You get nervous because you care what people think. Therefore, you will always deliver a decent or good speech as long as you don't care what people think of your speaking.
Karl (who is too lazy to get a login)
Karl makes a good point. The only speeches I remember from my speech classes are the ones that were horrible. I remember this one girl talking about alzheimer's, and the only reason I remember it is because she started crying and gave the room a big helping of AWKWARD.
I'm sure you did fine. Sorry to hear that chugging a bunch of water didn't help.
my brother finally posted a comment on my blog! i remember that advice, karl.
i ended up with a b+...not wonderful, but that'll do.
I know I've commented at least once before. I read on a regular basis (when you post), but I don't usually have much to say.
its good to hear that i have closet fans...maybe my random posts are being read by more people than i thought.
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