Speech 101

By Angel Matos

On April 14, students in a Mass Media class gave speeches on the most valuable form of media in their lives. The topics varied widely from a handheld smart phone to Facebook to a video game. For whatever the medium of choice, the student was required to write why that particular medium is so valuable, give its history, the reason for its popularity as well as what the unforeseen future is for the medium.

We had St. Thomas Aquinas College instructor Dr. Barbara Klein at the helm, so the students knew they had to give their speeches a bit more pizazz than just the ol' statue-reading-from-a-page kind of speeches. And I was most impressed by what I saw.

There were two presentations in particular that really made me sit at the edge of my seat with excitement. One was about the comic book company DC Comics and the other about one superhero everyone knows and loves, Superman. These two caught my eye, not only because I am a fan of superheroes and what-not, but it was due to the fact that there were hardly any words in the media presentations as the students spoke, instead the presentations provided amazing pictures with vibrant colors, vintage looking comic books to newer versions.

The other aspect that really had me going “wow” and “ahhh” was the information they were dishing out. The pictures were worth a thousand words; I got to learn about the history of Superman and DC Comics, which is the comic book company that thought up Superman in the first place, in one sitting. The best part was how articulate the students were with their speeches.

As Dr. Klein pointed out to each student, “I could tell that with the medium you chose, that you were comfortable with what you were talking about.” And that, folks, is part of what makes a great speech, knowing the information so well that it is almost second nature to talk about. Finally, with applause all around, each student was recognized for his or her great work and courage in public speaking.