What was it like to critique myself?

Critiquing oneself is always awkward. At first I focus on how my voice does not sound the same. I have watched myself on video before, but never with a critical eye. I think that it helps to improve our public speaking abilities when you take a critical look at yourself. It was helpful for myself to see that I may not project my voice as loud as it seems. Here is my official critique:

"Watching yourself in video is always interesting. For some people I know it can be difficult and awkward. It was not too awkward for me because I have done this many times throughout my career before coming back to school for education. After watching myself in the past I would always try to think about what I could have done or said better, but until now I have never really had the time to sit down and reflect on these things in writing.

As usual, I talk a lot with my hands. This has always been something that I do. I don’t feel it is a big distraction, but I was a little annoyed that I kept placing my hand on my belly. I guess as I have a nice shelf due to my status of being seven plus months pregnant, I do this more than not while talking. I was also a little disappointed in my posture. I think I need to improve upon that to have a more confident look in the classroom. It might actually make me look a little taller.

I think I have a pretty nice speaking voice and am pretty comfortable speaking in front of people. I did feel that I could have projected a little more throughout the room, as I tended to talk toward the screen throughout most of this lesson. This may not have allowed my voice to carry to my right, or the audience’s left. Next time I might try moving to the other side of the screen more frequently."