Jane McGonigal, PhDAge 35Occupation; Game Designer, Game Researcher

Gaming can make a better world

Wilfred F. Nazario11/01/20102Public Speaking

1. Who is the speaker that you chose, and what is the thesis of the speech?

Jane McGonigal

What would you say if someone walked up to you and said, “play more video games, it can save the future.” I know I was a little blown away when I read the title. I was going to run to my parents and tell them I told you so. But let's get back into reality; why would she want to use video games to save the world?  There is one answer for this: People nowadays spend more time playing video games than paying attention to real world problems. Reason being, is that people want to escape reality. When people escape reality, problems are just pushed under the rug and forgotten. This is when Jane McGonigal steps in and says she wants us to fix world's issues applying the same techniques we would use to beat a video game.

2a. How did the speaker capture the attention of the audience in his or her introduction?

2b. How did the speaker maintain the engagement of the audience throughout the speech?

A) Jane McGonigal started off with showing the audience facts to back up her reasoning behind her goal. I believe it's great; she gets straight to the point and does not leave you lingering for an answer.

B) Jane McGonigal gave constant eye contact throughout the speech. She looks excited about what she had to say, which in turn made me want to pay close attention. The use of her slide show did not distract you from wanting to pay attention to what she had to say.

3. Evaluate the speaker in terms of dynamism from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). What could the speaker have done to increase his or her dynamism?

Dynamism: 5I don’t see anything she could change. She kept a positive attitude through out her speech. With her being so excited about what she wanted to share with the world, it made me excited to hear about it.

4. What tips were used from Garr Reynolds or Nancy Duarte?

Her slides went along with her presentation, but they were not the main focus of the speech. When it came to her personal life, she gave us a run down about herself and what she currently does to promote her beliefs.

5. What have you learned about delivery based upon watching your presenter?

What I can take away from this speech is her excitement and her eye contact. If you do not feel comfortable speaking about your content, you will not show any excitement to your audience.

6. Compare and contrast your speaker to Sir Ken Robinson from the two videos you watched (“Schools Kill Creativity” and “Changing Education Paradigms”)

I believe Sir Ken is more of a jokester compared to Jane. Sir Ken used stand up comedy to get his ideas through to people. If you can make someone laugh and smile they will not forget anything about your subject. Now Jane used this same tactic in her speech, but not as much as Sir Ken.

7. What tips can you give your classmates on delivery for their upcoming speeches based ONLY on your TED Talk?

The best advice I could give to my fellow classmates is to be excited about what you are discussing. Keep constant eye contact with your audience. I'd also suggest delivering the speech with some enthusiasm. Otherwise, you risk losing your audience.

Thank You

Wilfred F. Nazario11/01/2012Public Speaking