CPR for Shannon

Shannon began her speech with a confident throat clearing, followed by a quick dive into the content of her speech. From the start of her speech, she was able to incorporate digital media very successfully and allow it to complement her performance. The pictures and her anecdotes help her to successfully explain what a close relationship her and Drake had.

Numb,
Shocked,
Confused,
Fatigued,
Shred for Drake.

Sad,
Scared,
Vulnerable,
Yearning,
Don’t forget, Shred for Drake. 

Guilt,
Lonesome,
Tired,
Anger,
Keep moving, Shred for Drake.

Recovery,
Rebuilding,
Learning,
Taking meaning,
Keep moving, Shred for Drake.

She is also able to use dramatic pauses to help emphasize how important this relationship is to her. The most effective pause Shannon used was undoubtedly directly before revealing to us that Drake had been in a car accident. This pause is so powerful because it allows you to feel the emotion that Shannon has for Drake. One moment of distraction is that Shannon relies very heavily on her script. She does look up from her script to provide eye contact, however, she only does so for a few seconds at a time. I wonder how Shannon would do with just an outline, instead of a script. I think it would help to free her to look up at the audience more instead of worrying about getting the words exactly right. I think that Alexander’s method of speech is very effective because it helps you to think about critique in a much less objective way. I think that he advocates for this because there is much more to a performance than simply the “how” and the “what”. I think that by going through a creative process it is much easier to see this.