Speech Critique Assignment

Speech Critique Assignment

The speech is on the history of YouTube from its foundation to its current state. The speaker chooses an exciting topic and relevant to society today. This is because YouTube has grown to be one of the biggest online platforms today that enables people to share their videos online. Moreover, many people earn from the views that they get from the videos that they post online. The speaker has a clear purpose, which is to share both the history and evolution of YouTube with bright highlights on the progress that it has made (The History of YouTube Needs Improvement Version). The topic is well-researched since the speaker has some detailed information not only on YouTube but even on its founders. However, the speaker shows some challenges in her delivery of the speech, especially in maintaining eye contact. Therefore, the address shows a well-research topic, although the speaker fails in delivering her presentation.

The introduction of the speech is not captivating to attract the audience’s attention. This is because the speaker begins with the statement, “Many of you have heard about YouTube, but no one knows where it came from…” (The History of YouTube Needs Improvement Version). After this statement, the speaker moves to reiterate that Google purchased YouTube before she returns to the state on its foundation. This shows that although the speech is well-researched, the events are not chronologically organized to enable the address to capture the attention of the audience. The speaker should have begun with a statement like, “Hello ladies and gentlemen, today I am going to talk about YouTube. It was founded by…” This would enable a chronological flow of activities in the speech and hence keep the audience on track. Through the haphazard arrangement of events in the statement means that the audience cannot clearly understand the message passed across through the address.

The speaker does not deliver the speech persuasively. Firstly, she does not apply body movement to accompany her delivery of the address. This would involve the use of hands to attend the statement that she is delivering. Instead, she keeps her hand on her hair, which is an aspect of a poor speaker. This may portray to the audience that the speaker is shy and thus using the concept of touching their hair to release tension. Moreover, the speaker does not maintain eye contact with the audience (The History of YouTube Needs Improvement Version). For a speech to be robust and practical, the speaker has to keep eye contact with the audience. This will mean that the speaker creates a rapport with the audience where they feel that they are essential. Moreover, through maintaining eye contact with the audience, the speaker would be able to get immediate feedback from the audience. This is because the speaker will be to understand when the audience is bored or have their attention is drifted. In the speech, the speaker reads the address rather than making a presentation to the audience.

The main point of the speech is not adequately supported. The main speaker point is on the success that has been achieved by YouTube throughout its lifetime to its current position. However, the speaker jangles between its history and only gives little supporting evidence of its current status. Also, the speaker spends a lot of time on the background of the founders of YouTube. In the speech, the speaker also says that there is little information available about the third founder of YouTube, Chad Hurley (The History of YouTube Needs Improvement Version). This shows poor research as the audience expect a speaker to be well-versed with the topic that they are presenting. This means that the speaker ought to have spent more time researching not only information about the founders but also the achievements that the company has made. Nevertheless, in the speech, the speaker highlights on some of the awards and nominations that YouTube has gained.

In the speech, the speaker uses an effective volume, which means that she is audible to the audience. The speech rate is moderate, and this is appropriate for the audience to understand the message being passed across. Moreover, there are no gestures or facial expressions that are employed in the speech. Application of both gestures and facial expression enable the audience to understand the speech better and connect with the speaker (The History of YouTube Needs Improvement Version). However, a speaker should always ensure that the audience can understand the gestures and the facial expressions applied. Otherwise, use of facial expressions and gestures that are not recognized by the audience would inhibit the delivery of the message. Moreover, although the speaker seems to have done proper research on the topic, she is not conversant with the research, and thus, this makes her be entirely reliant on her notes.

In a nutshell, the speaker has done good research on her topic about YouTube but fails in delivering the message to the audience. This has been portrayed through her reliance on her notes, where she seems to be reading letters to the audience rather than making a presentation to the audience. Nevertheless, the speaker does not maintain eye contact with an audience, which is mandatory when making a presentation. In the introduction, the speaker fails to great her audience, and even throughout the speech, she does not engage her audience. Moreover, the address does not concentrate on the success that has been achieved by YouTube, but rather the speaker spends a lot of time on the background information about the founders, which is adrift from the main point. All in all, the speaker has done some substantial research on her topic but fails in delivering her presentation.