My speech will be on Apopo

[soc_puppet]

Okay! Time to buckle down and write my informative speech outline!

(I am 100% going to talk to my Speech teacher about the possibility of getting an early start on our final speech, because this whole "Write a speech to present in one week" thing is just. No. No? No, thank you, I do not care for that.)

After that, I can get back to the important work of figuring out how to get characters in the correct position for a Sot 69 fic.

Comments

[pangolin20]

Good to hear you can actually do Apopo, and best of luck with writing your speech!

[soc_puppet]

Thanks! I managed to bang it out and am fairly pleased with the results. The actual speech-giving went not quite as well as I would have liked, but mostly because I didn't let myself stop and breathe 😅 I also mostly used screencaps from Apopo's How We Do It sections (the linked page here specifically for training to detect landmines), which seems to have helped with anyone squeamish about rats. This was enforced when they asked to see actual photos of the rats after and were less chill with the results 😂

[pangolin20]

Well, good to hear that it did go mostly well! (I presume the trouble you did encounter was due to nervousness? If so, I can certainly sympathise!) Looking at the linked page, I can see how that would be easier for your classmates, and it seems like it was a nice way to do it!

[soc_puppet]

It might have been nerves? I went slightly earlier in the order than I'd initially been planning to, to give a classmate extra room to breathe. Speaking in front of a crowd doesn't usually get to me, but the change in circumstances might've had an effect.

My general feedback was that I started going too fast towards the middle and didn't really drop speed anywhere (breathing would've helped that) and that I didn't look at the audience enough (I also think that taking time to breathe would've helped me here). My classmates seemed pretty interested in the topic and appreciated the images I used and my explanations. Overall, I'm counting it a win with some important lessons learned.

[pangolin20]

I do recognise that problem in myself; I think it's in part because of nerves (since I don't really present often) and in part because I'm not really good at paying attention to the feedback from the audience? I don't know. And yeah, I'd certainly say it's a win, too!