Charity Speeches (Day 1)

At the end of the day, I was extremely impressed by our classes speeches. Everyone did extremely well in covering the points they wanted too. They were all succinct and persuasive. Even those who were quite obviously not as comfortable as others with the idea of giving a speech in front of their classmates were able to put that fear aside and give quite a good speech. Everyone far exceeded my expectations, and I was quite pleased with the outcome. I thought Chris' entire presentation was particularly good. He appeared at ease with his speaking, and his easy going manner helped put his audience at ease as well, making them more apt to listen to what he had to say. His arguments were all well-crafted. Also, kudos to Chris for being the only one to not use the lectern, I doubt very much that I myself will attempt such a feat. Jim's presentation was also very good. He managed to connect with his audience down on a very emotional level. As someone who has volunteered at his charity several times, I felt that he aptly captured the spirit of the place itself in his presentation. JD's presentation was extremely effective, especially when he told the story about the little girl and the decimal worksheet. It was a poignant story, and it was told extremely well. It resonated with me personally because this was something that had actually happened to JD, not just a story he had looked up (something I had to do myself, since I have never actually been to Africa) and something I'm sure quite a few of us had to do, as not all of us have had specific experiences that we can tie into our charity. He did it deftly and adroitly. The presentations today were quite good, and I look forward to the continuation and conclusion of our presentations tomorrow.