All You Need is Loveee

Public speaking is always easier than it seems. The hardest part is before the actual presentation. Dreading getting up in front of the class is always the most horrible part. As usual, once I actually do the presentation I feel a hundred times better. I still get really nervous when speaking though. I can't help but get red and forget what to say. I must say that post presentation is when I experience the best feeling in the world, relief. It feels so good to finally get something done. I think my favorite presentation was Meagan's. I absolutley agreed with everything she said. I am also a huge Beatles fan. The Beatles are one of the most timeless bands. N'Sync did have their time but they just couldn't stand the test of time. N'Sync brings back some childhood memories. I also like that she played music during her presentation. It kept me more focused on what she was saying.

Public Speaking

I have many apprehensions about my oral presentation. Public speaking is my worst fear. My stomach gets all sick and I get shaky and my face turns red. It is an absolutely horrible experience. I hate it. I signed up for Friday because there was no way I was going first and I like to see what other people come up with it. Sometimes presenting is easier when a student sees someone else go first. It breaks the ice and it makes the presentation seem not so bad. Rehearsing a presentation can also be helpful. I know I don't do this but other people say it works. Knowing the material being presented inside and out can make the presenter feel more confident about it. The one thing I try to do when a presentation is assigned is to try to get it done as soon as possible. I won't go first but I also won't go last. The worst part about public speaking is waiting your turn. It is terrifying sitting and waiting for your chance in the limelight. Getting it done as soon as possible leaves my stomach more time to not be sick.

Decisions, Decisions

The picture on page 375 shows a man standing in front of shelves of books, deciding what to pick. The books are humorously organized by attention span, the options being short, medium, and long. I feel like books are classified in a convenient sections already. In bookstores, books are put together with the same subjects. This seems to be the easiest way for me to find a book. You could classify books by how interesting they are, how much they will make you cry, how mad you will be at the end, or how well they will put you to sleep. There would be rather-pluck-out-my-eyes to omg-cant-put-this-book-down for the interesting section. There would be not-a-tear-in-sight to i-need-a-bucket for the level of sadness books. There would be the feeling of saw-that-coming to I'm-gonna-rip-this-book-to-shreds for themadness section. There would be not-even-remotely-tired to zzzzzzzzz for the sleepiness section. These would all be a matter of opinon so the way bookstores are set up now is probably the best, unbias way.

The Tipping Point

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell tried to explain how little things can make a huge difference in our society. I found this book to be very interesting. I liked how Gladwell said that it takes only a few people with special "gifts" to start an epidemic. These are the Mavens, the Connectors, and the Salesman. That part made complete sense to me. Epidemics don't start out with a lot of people, that's just how they end up. These people with their "gifts" spread information like wildfire. The explanation of the stickiness factor was also another part that I believed in. Without the stickiness factor, Sesame Street wouldn't have become so popular. One strength of the book was that Gladwell included relatable examples such as Sesame Street and Hush Puppies. These examples helped me understand some of his points better. I was impressed by the amount of information that the book provided. Gladwell put a lot of research into The Tipping Point and it backed up his points. The book explained every step in the starting and spreading of an epidemic. The weaknesses of the book would be that it is somewhat repetitive and at some points it lost my attention. It was a lot of information to take in.

Second Multi-Draft

I was actually surprised when I got back my first multi-draft paper. I did a lot better than I had anticipated. There are some things I need to work on though. One of my goals for the second multi-draft paper is to improve my proof-reading skills. I made some dumb mistakes in my first paper that could have been avoided if I looked harder. The peer revising was very helpful but it also makes my nervous. I don't like having someone else read my work. I need to be more open to others reading over my papers. My second goal is to focus more on my thesis. I tend to drift away from the main point of my paper as I write. I also need to work on supporting the points I make in a paper. Towards the end of a paper, I tend to write less and less. I hope the second multi-draft goes as well as the first one. Hopefully I'll surprise myself again.