Review of Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
Mariah Alexander
Public Speaking 1608
Word Count: 428
Randy Pausch “Last Lecture”
Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who discovered that he had pancreatic cancer and was given 3-6 months to live. He is known for developing and telling a speech he called “The Last Lecture” in which he explains his accomplishments in life which include his childhood dreams. His positive, humorous, and inspirational persona made watching this speech a learning experience, as well as a pleasure to watch. Pausch truly delivered this speech in a great and wholesome way. He recognized that he was speaking to a room filled with hundreds of people. He also realized that he needed to make sure each person in the room understand his message. Therefore, he used proper enunciation throughout each part of his speech. Pausch chose to start off his speech on a personal note in which he revealed that he was suffering from cancer and that he has only six months to live. With this action, I instantly feIt connected with him which caused me to emotionally bond with him. Eye contact and concentration also seemed very common during his speech process, especially when he was speaking about key events. I also enjoyed the fact that Randy was himself and included humor instead of keeping his speech just informative and plain. The quirkiness and funny side of him made me connect with him through the computer screen and I was eager to hear more which I feel is important during a speech or a lecture. Randy also did a great job at speed and pauses. I feel that he gave the audience just enough time to take in information and comprehend before moving on to his next topic. One aspect of this speech that I enjoyed the most were Randy’s visual aid items. Everything had meaning and I enjoyed learning about the story behind each item. My favorite was the vest with arrow heads attached to the back which meant that people are always wishing negativity onto you, it’s your
Public Speaking 1608
Word Count: 428
Randy Pausch “Last Lecture”
Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who discovered that he had pancreatic cancer and was given 3-6 months to live. He is known for developing and telling a speech he called “The Last Lecture” in which he explains his accomplishments in life which include his childhood dreams. His positive, humorous, and inspirational persona made watching this speech a learning experience, as well as a pleasure to watch. Pausch truly delivered this speech in a great and wholesome way. He recognized that he was speaking to a room filled with hundreds of people. He also realized that he needed to make sure each person in the room understand his message. Therefore, he used proper enunciation throughout each part of his speech. Pausch chose to start off his speech on a personal note in which he revealed that he was suffering from cancer and that he has only six months to live. With this action, I instantly feIt connected with him which caused me to emotionally bond with him. Eye contact and concentration also seemed very common during his speech process, especially when he was speaking about key events. I also enjoyed the fact that Randy was himself and included humor instead of keeping his speech just informative and plain. The quirkiness and funny side of him made me connect with him through the computer screen and I was eager to hear more which I feel is important during a speech or a lecture. Randy also did a great job at speed and pauses. I feel that he gave the audience just enough time to take in information and comprehend before moving on to his next topic. One aspect of this speech that I enjoyed the most were Randy’s visual aid items. Everything had meaning and I enjoyed learning about the story behind each item. My favorite was the vest with arrow heads attached to the back which meant that people are always wishing negativity onto you, it’s your