David Byrne, “Bicycle Diaries”

David Byrne’s section from his book “Bicycle Diaries” about San Francisco captivated my interests about the city. I grew up here in the Bay Area, Pleasant Hill, which is in the East Bay. Growing up 40 minutes away from San Francisco, I’ve always loved visiting the city by the bay. Going to college here is super exciting too.
Byrne mentions how San Francisco has experienced the dot-com boom a few decades ago where “investors were lining up to throw money at every geek with a vague idea, a pitch, and some programming skill.” He then refers to how San Francisco is becoming gentrified, as a result of the tech-boom rooting from Silicon Valley – the tech boom we are currently facing. This relates to me because I hope to graduate college at USF with a degree in computer science and integrate myself into such tech boom.

Speech #3 Idea(s)

For speech #3 I have a few ideas in mind. The first one is to look at statistics on why people (in general) bike. The audience here, being everyone who rides a bike, is engaged through my analysis on why people choose to ride their bikes. I will look at environmental statistics, health, economic, etc.

Another idea I have is to analyze the different types of bicyclists. I will list the categories of cyclists and explain each one. Each type of cyclist is to be considered the audience here as I talk about them.

My last idea is discussing Cycling Comics – comics but with bikes in them! I will analyze how comics have the power to captivate the attention of an audience.

Importance of Audience

Audience, to me as a speaker, is important so that I have an understanding of what to talk about. If the audience is people that I know already, then maybe I would get a little personal in my talk in order to create that speaker-audience connection. However if the audience is hostile people who I do not know, then that would influence my speech’s content and flow.

I like talking to audiences that have similar traits and ideas as me. This will not advance my speaking ability, however, because I will always be comfortable talking to them, but this is the type of audience that I would prefer to talk to. Also, I would like to have an open-minded audience. As an audience member myself, if I have a predetermined expectations of such speech but those expectations are not met, then I will become disappointed.

Speech #2 Self Assessment/Reflection

I feel like I didn’t perform that well for this speech, compared to my first speech and in general. I did not take as much time to prepare for this speech as I would have liked/needed. My general flow was uncomfortable, the atmosphere I feel was not very friendly, and the overall tone was not as I would have liked. I did fulfill the four-minute requirement however.
In order to improve my public speaking abilities, I will learn from this speech. I will take more time to prepare, and also learn how to become more comfortable and find a good rhythm in order to create a more comfortable flow. I will take all of these things into consideration in order to prepare for my next presentation.

Speech #2 Write-out

Several new studies show that biking improves the way your brain works by making several important structures bigger so you can think faster, remember more, and feel happier

Biking releases growth hormones that increase the supply of blood and oxygen to the brain, stimulating the release of powerful mood-enhancing endorphins. These chemical messengers can create euphoria and pain relief. This is also the reason why biking can reduce mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. A 2010 study from the American College of Sports Medicine showed that just one 30-minute bike ride daily can boost your mood and tackle depression, completely free from prescribed medication.

The brain is made up of two kinds of tissue: grey matter and white matter. Grey matter has all the synapses and is the command center of your body. The white matter is the communication hub which uses axons to connect the different parts of grey matter. The more white matter you have, the faster you can make important connections. So, producing the more white matter the better.
A recent study from the Netherlands found that biking does exactly that, improving both the integrity and density of white matter, therefore speeding up connections in the brain.

There are certain chemicals in the brain which, due to exercise such as biking, can make you physically and mentally feel better. Here are three of these chemicals: serotonin, dopamine, and phenylethylamine.
Serotonin is the mood neurotransmitter which keeps us emotionally and socially stable. Levels of serotonin rise during biking, boosting self-confidence and positive feelings.
Dopamine is a major feel-good neurotransmitter, essential to helping us feel energised and motivated
Phenylethylamine is a naturally occurring neurotransmitting chemical found in the brain. It aids the production of dopamine and raises blood pressure which makes us feel more alert and also helps with mood.

You’ll not only feel mentally better after a ride, but you’ll actually be smarter. Biking, along with other types of aerobic exercise, has been shown to increase the hippocampus, one of several brain structures related to memory and learning.
Professor Art Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois found that biking can increase children’s performance in school.
He also found that biking can help the elderly combat memory loss.
He did an experiment where elderly subjects rode their bikes regularly for six months. The results showed that the hippocampus increased in size by two percent, reversing brain ageing by one to two years. So basically their brains grew two years younger. Their memory and problem solving skills also increased by 15 to 20 percent. Additionally, the cyclists reported a greater ability to focus and an improved attention span.

Biking for just 30 minutes a day will help you achieve stronger neural connections, a better mood, a sharper memory, and the list goes on. Thank you.

Speech #2 Outline

  • intro
    • implement fact to start off
  • Facts (how cycling affects the brain)
    • growth hormones
    • creates euphoria and relief
    • helps anxiety and depression
    • 30-minutes everyday can help
  • What the brain is made of
    • Grey matter
    • White matter
    • the more white matter the better
    • biking increases production of white matter
  • Good feeling chemicals in the brain
    • Serotonin
    • Dopamine
    • Phenylethylamine
  • Biking can make you smarter!
    • hippocampus
    • helps elderly combat memory loss
    • helps children’s performance in school
  • close
    • interesting/motivating fact

Works Cited

http://www.shape.com/fitness/cardio/brain-science-biking

http://www.bikeradar.com/us/gear/article/why-cycling-makes-you-happy-25607/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9090981/Regular-exercise-can-improve-memory-and-learning.html

My Bike

After my dad’s bike got stolen from our backyard a few years ago, he got this new one. It was a great deal for $100 off of craigslist, hardly used and in great condition. This is a mountain/trail hybrid and is great for any type of bike ride. Although it was my dad’s bike, he gave it to me because I used it more often than he did.

During my cross country season sophomore year of high school, I had gotten injured. My way of coping with this injury was to bike instead of run. This is where I found myself biking daily, and discovering a passion for biking. I would ride this bike for miles on trails around the Bay Area.

Using Evidence

Using evidence is a solid way to ensure credibility. Evidence can be concrete, hard-cold facts which an audience finds reliable. An audience doesn’t always believe one’s personal beliefs, traditions, or practice because they don’t exactly know what they entail. Using evidence, however, could be more convincing.

Evidence can be used in the argument about using bike helmets. There is much controversy when it comes to the necessity of using a helmet when bike riding. In order to make a valuable claim, one could use evidence as support. Evidence regarding this topic might include statistics on head injuries, not personal stories or anecdotes. Using such evidence would make for a more reliable argument.

Speech #1 Reflection

Reflecting on my presentation, I think I did better than I expected to. I practiced many times prior to my actual presentation, so I had an adequate understanding about what I was going to say if I got stuck at some point. Also, my slides really helped. One thing I think I did well this presentation was provide a lot of information. My write-out for this speech was lengthy and informative. One thing I would’ve liked to do better is the presentation, I said “uhm” multiple times and was sometimes repetitive. I would like to expand my speaking vocabulary and improve flow. However, I am satisfied with my ability to present information to the audience and made the impact I was looking for. I was hoping to get across personal perception and emotions. Working on this presentation somewhat helped me learn about credibility by watching others’ presentations. I did not really learn much about my own credibility working on this presentation though. I did learn about ethics of public speaking by finally getting more experience. I personally don’t have much experience public speaking, so this was definitely a learning experience. In the future, I will prepare even further, by practicing in front of a bigger audience, and even go to the Speaking Center.