student blogger

10 More Days

2006-04-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Only 10 more days to get this credit done. I have one more blog remaining and a several changes I want to make on my outline. I don't have a video camera right now, but I have been practicing so when I get it back I will be ready to tape it and send it off. I was really hopeing to get all 3 credits done, but as you can see that did not happen. I will be taking the 3rd one this summer. I really enjoyed reading everyone's blogs and getting idea's and inspiration from them.

Computer has mind of it's own

2006-04-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

I am trying to do my outline. This darn computer seems to automatically put in the I. II. III. and a.b.c. and 1.2.3. etc.- - but it is not where I want them spaced. And it won't let me put them where I want. I am getting terribly frustrated. I think a typewritter would work better, so I could just put the main points, subpoints, and sub-subpoints where I want them.

Preparing informative speech #2

2006-04-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I have not gotten my Informative speech #1 back yet.(actually, I am a little afraid of those results, I know I did not do as well on this one). I have been working on #2 and I feel no more confident. I chose issues on the "Right to die." This subject interests me as I work in the hospital and The Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 requires health care facilities receiving federal funds to ask every patient upon admission if they have or want to sign an Advance Medical Directive. In my opinion, even if they have signed one, they are still unclear, they are too generic. I have also experienced many end of life issues that are complicated by family disagreements and legal, moral, religious and medical rights and responsibilities. Anyway, the speech is way to long. Everything seems too important to leave out, but I can't seem to remember everything and I am still leave something important out. I think this speech is harder for me because it is more serious, and I really do want to inform my audience that "letting nature take it's course" is an idea that may no longer work in the world of modern medical technology.

Attending a monthly EMT meeting

2006-03-31T17:29:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night I attended the monthly EMT/Fireman Meeting. This meeting had a little different agenda than most their meetings. First the two separate organizations met together. Rather than conducting business in the usual manner, the two special events they hosted together were discussed, the fireman and EMT consignment auction and the EMT/Fireman awards banquet. Very early on I realized the elected officers of the two organizations, were overtaken by an emergent leader, unfortunately the one with the biggest mouth. The meeting broke out in bickering and unorganization. Then arose a second emergent leader, one that put the group back on track. I found it interesting that neither elected offical was an effective leader that night.

Potential speaking event $25.00 a couple

2006-03-31T16:40:00.000-08:00

Man, I was all set to attend a speaking event today, then read the fine print --cost $25.00 per couple. I didn't want to hear it that bad.

John Hanson, Republican candidate for US Congress in the Third District spoke his Action Plan for Strengthening Rural Nebraska at Dick's Place in Lawrence (this one was free to the public but I was unable to attend at this time) and then at the American Legion in Sutton, in which Hors d'oeuvres were served at the American Legion and the cost was $25.00 per couple to attend.

Hanson states: "Many politicians talk vaguely about what they want to do. I have written a detailed plan entitled 'Strengthening Rural Nebraka,' in which I offer a specific roadmap of exactly what I will do if you decide to send me to Congress. "

Participation in a small-group

2006-03-31T14:54:00.000-08:00

March 15th, I attended the hospitals ward clerk meeting. We meet every other month to discuss changes, address concerns, and share idea's for improvement within our department and communication within the other departments. The director of nursing led the group and maintained the procedual needs by scheduleding the meeting, preparing the adgenda,distributing handouts, taking notes, and then summarizing our progress. The task needs were met by analyzing our issues, distributing the workload between us and other departments, brainstorming views with each other, as well as playing devils advocate for the unpopular ideas. She kept us from going off on a few tangents. Although the DON led us to believe we had reached a consensus, the actual outcome was debatable a few days later. This caused interpersonal conflicts, which required maintenance needs, one of our leaders most challenging areas of leadership. Our leader did a very good job of working out differences, reducing interpersonal tension, and encouraging participation from everyone. Our meeting also consisted of a symposium, as several speakers presentated their views of the importance on the same topic. The leader did a good job of conducting an efficient, effective meeting. Time will tell if every member of our group commits and fulfills their personal obligations.

Small group meeting and Chapter 18

2006-03-31T11:04:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I attended a small group meeting at the hospital where I work. The meeting was scheduled from 8 am to 4 pm, but was broken into 1 hour segments with a specific diabetic problem discussed each hour. Each of these small groups formed to solve a particular problem. Some groups consisted of 4-8 brainstormers, other groups consisted of only a dyad, which consisted of the implied leader (our hospital diabetes educator) and the designated leader (the state dietician). However, emergent leaders arose off and on throughout some sessions: a doctor because of knowledge and preference, and a charge nurse by force of personality. Although I only attended 2 sessions I could identify their decision-making technique, reflective-thinking.
1) Defining the problem: Not all diabetic diets are alike, nor should they be. What diets should our hospital and doctors adopt to meet individuals needs? 2) Analyze the Problem: particular patient needs were discussed, an overview of the many different diets available and what is good and bad about each was discussed,different doctors have different preferences, foods and services available to meet demands, past, present, future policies. 3) Criteria was established by determining specific goals based on need, limitations, options. 4) Generate Potential Solutions: I overheard a lot of "Oh, we need to write that down, that's a good idea." 5) Select the best solution: the groups I attended did reach consensus, at least among themselves, however they still needed to present these recommendations to our QI department to have policies changed.
Overall I think the meetings went very well. One thing I believe needed to be improved on was the power point slides. They were almost unreadable. The colors scheme was not appropriate, there was too much information on one slide, they were not left on the screen long enough.

Preparing and delivering Informative Speech 1

2006-03-31T10:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I took a few days off.... and it turned into a few weeks, and then a month. But, I have now finished my first informative speech.

I began by looking over my list of possible speech topics that I had listed from the exercise in unit 1. I decided on family, books and articles I had just read, and an adjustment that I am going through in my life right now, empty nesting --and began writting. What a mess; too many main points for the audience (or myself) to keep track of. I had read chapter 14 but it had been over a month ago. I really should have read it again, but you know how it is when you get behind -- that would take to much time. So, I put together what I could remember from the chapter, and decided to write a speech about a process, adapting to the empty nest. I then applied the 5 guidelines for informative speaking. I organized the speech in spatical order, listing tips I had taken from various articles, websites, and books to provide knowledge and understanding of beginning life as an empty nester. I also tried to compare empty nesting with life in general, in hopes to provide the concept that life is a series of endings, beginnings, firsts, and lasts. I tried to personalize my speech by providing examples of my own behavior and attitude.

3,000 miles and 9 states later . . .

2006-03-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

We are back home. My husband and I just returned from Georgia. Our son is a 3rd year resident surgeon in Macon - - he and his wife just had their first baby- - and our 7th grandchild. We took scenic routes rather than interstates and stopped to sightsee, and take a few tours along the way -- so we could keep up with all the required informative speaking events.

Our first "speaking event" was at the longest natural bridge in the eastern U.S. The speaker was a "real" hillbilly and very knowledgable about the bridge and the area, as long as she was not asked any questions. Then she just smiled one of those hillbilly smiles.

One afternoon, our son took us to the "Hay House" which is a 7 story mansion in Macon.This home is unbelievable. It was built between 1854-1859 at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. It was last sold in 1994 for 61,000 ( a man bought it as a surprise fixer-upper for his wife, and she was not impressed). The rooms in this house are big, some 1,500 sq ft., and the ceilings so high that the speaker's voice echoed, at times it was very hard to understand her. The speaker also had to contend with people touching things and not staying with the group.

On Febr 27th, at 2:55, we toured the Jack Daniels Distillery. Our group picture is on their website www.jackdaniels.com. I am the only one wearing white pants. Our tour guide did provide interesting information, but he was even better at telling stories and jokes. And 'no' we did not get any free samples... Lynchburg is in a dry county.

After spending a few days with our new grandson, we visited Tybee Island and the riverwalk in Savannah, and took a 3 1/2 hour city tour of Nashville.

The most impressive speaking event was that of our son, Chris. Little did we know, that he wrote and delivered a speech from a study he and his colleagues concluded from research they did on diagnosing SV (stroke volume). A 15 minute talk and 17 slides ( he threw in a few pictures of his new son).

I did not understand most of it. I can not remember any of it. And it would bore most people silly. But I listened and I am still in awe.

This is the son that had a severe speech deficit in grade school. He spent years in speech therapy. The therapist told us that he only had trouble with the letter "R", and that it sounded worse than it really was because our vocabulary has a lot of "R's in it. We spent hours every night practicing the letter "R" - race, rebel, write, rode, rubber....Even when he left home and called us via telephone from college he was hard to understand.

Today, his speech was selected as being in the top 6. He earned an expense paid trip to Orlando for his family and $500.00. What an inspiration.

Yea!

2006-02-14T14:32:00.000-08:00

Yea! I believe I have finished the first credit. It really wasn't as bad as I expected --hope my grades reflect that thought. Actually, I enjoyed this assignment and learned more than I ever expected.

I will be gone until March 3rd, so I really wanted to get this 1st credit done. Hopefully, I won't be too far behind when I begin the 2nd credit.
Unless, our motel has internet, I won't be bloging / commenting - so good luck to all, hope my blogs are/ were of some help to you, and I especially hope they don't lead anyone astray.

Critiquing organization, transitions, language, delivery

2006-02-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

I attended a pacemaker seminar at Brodstone Memorial Hospital in Superior. Since several models of pacemakers have been recalled, a cardiologist from Nebraska Heart Institute, Dr. Chaudhuri, sent out a “by invitation-only seminar” to his pacemaker patients and our hospital medical staff.

Organization: When I first heard the reason for the seminar I thought of a problem -- recalled pacemakers. I was expecting him to organize his speech in a problem/solution order, or possibly a causal order. However, he presented in a strategically organized topical manner. His main points were 1: to inform the audience of the different types of devices, 2: the advancement of technology, 3: the reasons some have been recalled, and 4: what that meant for each individual with a pacemaker.

Transitions were used through out the speech, especially when comparing older models with updated ones, for example: When we first recognized this unit could pose a potential problem, recommended changes were made to the new model.

I noticed internal previews being used when the speaker stated: “We focused on 3 major advantages: 1: patient advantages 2: surgical advantages 3: physician advantages;
several internal summaries were used to remind the audience of comparisons of other models, such as: “Just like that model…. . unlike the previous models.

I did not notice signposts being used to tell where he was in his speech, however, several were used to focus the audience’s attention. Ex: It is important to remember that technology is increasing and it may not be unusual to update a pacemaker every seven years.

Language: The speaker spoke extemporaneously through the speech. He knew his subject extremely well and he had three pacemaker rep’s there to display several of the models the speaker was describing. He spoke in concrete terms although abstract ideas were presented.

Delivery of the speech, in my opinion, was the biggest challenge for the speaker. He has an ethnic India dialect, causing quite a few clutters in his speech, as well as the fact the audience was older, many hearing impaired.

Online Research Exploration

2006-02-11T13:39:00.000-08:00

I have just begun to explore all the research opportunities available online. I am new to all of this and I am finding it is very time consuming as well as very interesting. The question is, "will I ever feel like I am done." I look up one thing and that interests me to another thing and then another.

I have encountered a few obstacles in this exploration also. I keep losing track of places that I want to keep track of. Second, I have typed this blog once already, and saved it to a draft, now I can not find any record of it-- so here I am doing it again. If anyone has any idea of what I did wrong, please comment.

One of the interesting sites I visited http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/cnty/assess/property.htm shows the actual homes and property taxes of persons in Lancaster Co. I looked up an old "below-average" classmate who has since become rich, very rich (who'da thought) -- saw his houses and properties, what he paid for them, and lots of cool stuff about his homes.

I also showed my mom some interesting genealogy sites like http://www.heritagequestonline.com/prod/genealogy/index as she is working on that kinda stuff. I found information on my great-grandfather who came here from Switzerland and his wife and children.

Some more interesting sites .... O' yeah, were we suppose to be looking up potential speech subjects. . .

Speaking Event Module 4

2006-02-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Billy Jo Watts ministered at Living Faith Church this morning. His topic: "Bringing Home Your Purpose."

His General Purpose: both to inform and to persuade, depending on each individuals frame of reference, and where each individual is in their own relationship with God.

His Specific Purpose: To inform the audience that God created everything, even you, with a purpose, he then persuades the audience to
"dig out" their purpose and take measures to develop it, and make use of it in your home and in your church.

He adapted his message to meet the needs and relevance of the audience by using examples of a variety of people and situations throughout the lifespan. For example: babies born out of wedlock, teens shopping at The Buckle, stay at home moms, being behind someone with 32 items - in the 20 items or less line, careers /professions, pastors, old age, disablities, poverty. . .

It would be hard to do much better than this speaker. He is a full time Instructor at RHEMA Bible Training Center and holds a BA in Communications. He used practical wisdom and humor in a down to earth way to deliver his message. However, I felt that he talked too fast and maybe too much on the same note -- kinda like an auctioneer voice a lot of the time. I did not have any spare brain time and had a hard time keeping up with him at times.

Self-Inventory Worksheet

2006-01-31T08:13:00.000-08:00

Using the self-inventory worksheet as a tool to select some of my speech topics, I can easily separate my list into two categories:
1: topics I know a lot about: family, EMS, vacations, Right to Life, Right to Die, Scouting, 4-H, Church groups, Court TV, Nebraska football/volleyball, and several jobs I have held.
2: topics I want to know more about: traveling, adoption, local city issues, school consolidation.
I can also brainstorm for topics by making a inventory of interests, hobbies, skills and beliefs -- grandkids, traveling, skiing, EMS, Right to Life / Right to Die. I may need to cluster - places: Aspen, Jamaica, Winter Park, Lovewell lake. Sports: Nebr. Football, Volleyball, grandkids basketball, soccer. Processess: learning ACLS, paying off credit card in 1 year, applying nursing concepts. Free-associations- Carribbean cruise, Miami, air flights, Carnival cruise ship, Jamaica, Dunns River Falls, lizzards. I do not think I will need to reference search or internet search, although those are avenues I could use also.
After choosing my topic, I will determine the general purpose of my speech-- to inform or persuade, then develop a specific purpose - what I hope to accomplish with my speech. At this point I would probably consider my audience, and what they would be interested in. I would form my central idea - sum up what I expect to say (thesis statement), by: 1: expressing it in a full sentence, 2: making sure it is not in the form of a question, 3: avoiding figurative language, and 4: making sure it is not to vague or overly general. My central idea should leave my audience with a residual message -- something they will remember after they have forgotten everything else in my speech.

Preparing for the Speech of Self-Introduction

2006-01-30T12:32:00.000-08:00

I have really enjoyed speech class so far, the blogs, the websites, meeting new people, even writing speeches, etc. But now comes the speaking part, the part I am not so sure I like.

Coming up with topic's and deciding what to say comes fairly easy to me. It is the actual speaking part I am struggling with. So far, I have been unable to talk while looking at the camera and the red light on the recorder. I have to look at people or the corner of the room.

The power points are challenging and much more time consuming than I anticipated. I have spent a lot of time looking through graphics and clip art but they still are not exactly what I want. They just don't have the right look and feel that I want to express.

Developing my speech, I wanted to be creative, humorous, interesting, and most importantly, make it worth my listener's time. I chose the topic "Laughter." To be creative, I plan to walk onto the platform laughing, and encourage the audience to laugh . . . to laugh for absolutely no reason. I hope to gain attention and interest of the listeners, as well as unifying the body and conclusion of my main point - - "Why ... did I encourage you to laugh," .... and "Why ....did I encourage you to laugh for no reason."

I then organized my speech into the body and conclusion. The body, which consists of the importance of laughter, and my personal experience of losing an important element . . . joy; the joy that gives strength --and the joy, that makes a life worthwhile. I had to learn to laugh again... even when I did not feel like it ... even when there was nothing to laugh about.

My main points......we laugh because it feels good, because it identifies friends, because it keeps proper perspectives, and most importantly because we deserve it.

In conclusion, life hands us stuff.....bad stuff, and sometimes we need to laugh. . . even, when we do not feel like it . . . even, if there is no reason to.

Delivering my first speech will lay the foundation for further speeches. I don't expect it to be perfect, but I do expect it to be better than my 60 second test tape. After reading chaper three, I realized a couple things I want to improve on. 1: Speak extemporaneously 2: rehearse the speech outloud 3: have a little fun with it.

How Many Takes does it take

2006-01-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

So, how many "takes" does a speech student take before they deliver a 2-4 minute speach? Would love to hear your comments.

Introductory comments and test tape recording

2006-01-30T10:23:00.000-08:00

Last Monday night, Kevin, Cindy and I (we are the 3 distance learning students in Superior) set up to prepare our introductory comments and test recording in our hospital Board Room. Moments after we set up, we found out there was a board meeting beginning in 30 minutes. We initially thought we could all three get done in 30 minutes, but decided the board members may need some time to set up their meeting.

We relocated to the hospitals' Patient Activity Room. There we rearranged furniture, plants, and a table of jigwaw puzzles. I had rehearsed silently in my head a few times and believed I was ready to record my 60 - 90 minute test tape. I was not. Saying it out loud for the first time or seeing that tiny red light ..... I don't know for sure what it was.... but I couldn't even remember that I had 5 kids... or that I was a nursing clerk and an Emergency Room Tech.

I ended up going into a patient's bathroom and talking to myself in the mirror. Two hours later, I felt ready to record my test tape. I believe I did fairly well....until the end. I don't know what inspired me to immediately dash off, roll my eyes, grab my head, and let out a long sigh of relief after barely completing my last word. I really wished I could have erased that....but I guess that would not be fair to those who present in person.

So, I will be practicing out loud, and I will not be dashing off theatrically.

Attending an Unplanned Speaking Event

2006-01-20T15:48:00.000-08:00

Situation At 7 pm last night, I received a phone call from an EMS instructor who was teaching a class on defibrilators in our city building. She asked if I would come down at 7:30 or 8:00 and demonstrate the use of our squads unit.

Speaker Dixie Siemsen realized that the instructions and demonstration of her defibrilator unit needed to be adapted to the listener's frame of reference, which was learning to operate the unit they would be using, the Nelson Rescue Squad's defibrilator.

Interference Verbal and non-verbal channel interference was impeding the communication of her message. They whispered to one another, "there's no need to learn about her unit" and were disapointed that the one they would be using was not being demonstrated.

Adapting to Interference Dixie promised the group that there would be specific instructions for using Nelson's unit before they would be expected to use it. She also noted to the group that as health care providers they would be exposed to many different units. They are now in swimming pools, shopping malls, airports, as well as homes. The group began to settle down and pay attention to her message.

Now, it was my turn to demonstrate and speak about the use of our unit. Yep, my heart raced, hands shook, and knees knocked, but only for a second. I knew this adrenaline rush would ease off in a few minutes. I was determined to control it and take advantage of my positive nervousness - thinking positive, I visualized my successful presentation.

Feedback After concluding my presentation, the group used critical thinking by questioning and understanding the relationship between citizen use of defibrilators and those trained in the EMS use.

Introduction / Community Speaking Events

2006-01-20T10:57:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog, an assignment for Speech 111 / Public Speaking through Grand Island campus. I am a student through the Distance Learning Center in Superior, Ne. I received my syllabus a little later than expected so I have some catching up to do.

Although I live in a small community, there have been many opportunities to attend public speaking events. South Central Unified District, (also known as SCUD # 5) consisting of Lawrence/Nelson, Superior, Sandy Creek, and Guide Rock have regular school board meetings consisting of the Unified School Board with their primary intent to provide quality equcation as well as to come to an agreement to either merge or consolidate by 2007. They met last Monday, January 16th at Sandy Creek School. Their next meeting will be at Lawrence School on February 20th at 7:30.

The Board of Education School District 015 met on Jan 9th, 2006. The board was to vote to petition the State Committe for Reorganization of School Districts, and to disolve specifically, the existing Lawrence and Nelson district, and make one new district. Several patrons were present to propose other alternatives.

Last night, I attended by chance, an EMT class held at our fire hall. The speaker called me and asked if I would demonstrate the use of our squads defibrillator as it was different from the one she was using to teach the class. I ended up staying for her talk, then demonstrating our unit. I will talk more about that in my next blog, as assigned.