Presentations by Christopher Matthews

 Here is the straight-up rundown

Group 1: History, Confidence, Ethics (Adelyn Rivera’s group)

Who spoke: Adelyn Rivera, Angelina Thomas, Brayleen Ruiz, Angeline Melendi, Courtney Baile, Albert Ortega, Stephanie Duenas

Angelina Thomas covered the history of rhetoric: Aristotle, the five canons, and how these principles evolved into modern platforms like podcasts. She tied ancient concepts to how people actually persuade today. Understanding ethos, logos, and pathos in historical and modern contexts made the session feel practical rather than academic. That foundation helped the rest of the presentation because it gave a clear framework for everything that followed.

 

Brayleen Ruiz addressed anxiety with practical steps: reframe nervousness as excitement, breathe with purpose, and prepare early. The anxiety chart normalized fear and showed that nerves are manageable when you treat them like a technical problem. Her approach combined psychology and tactics: acknowledging the emotion, then taking steps to control it.

Angeline Melendi focused on ethics, emphasizing the importance of citing sources, avoiding misleading evidence, and recognizing that legal does not always equate too ethical. Courtney and Albert added audience-adaptation tips: scanning the room, adjusting tone, and invite quick interactions. Those small, real-time adjustments actually change engagement more than flashy slides do. Some slides were text-heavy, but the core ideas were solid and useful. Next time, swap dense slides for a single strong visual and a short cue line; it forces you to speak instead of reading.

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Group 2: Topic, Research, Supporting Materials 

Who spoke: Stephanie Buenas, Emily Suarez, Destiny Casas, Caroline Duenas, Christopher Matthews, Dafne Veliz, Adelyn Rivera

Emily Suarez broke down topic choice into actionable steps: brainstorm, check audience relevance, define a specific purpose, and write a concise one-sentence thesis. That specific-purpose step prevents wandering and forces discipline before you start building slides.

Destiny and Caroline covered research: pick strong keywords, use multiple search tools, and evaluate sources with practical criteria: currency, relevance, authority, and purpose. Caroline’s interview checklist: opening, body, closing, is a repeatable structure that keeps interviews focused and avoids aimless questions.

Dafne Veliz explained outlines and transitions: hook the audience, balance your main points, and use explicit transitions so listeners stay on track. These small structural rules are the difference between a messy talk and one that the audience can follow. Practice transitions aloud, not just in your head, so the bridges sound natural.

My section focused on supporting materials: storytelling, examples, statistics, definitions, and testimony. Each tool serves a different job. Stories humanize a point and make it memorable. Statistics provide credibility and a baseline for claims. Definitions stop confusion before they start. Testimony, whether a quote or an anecdote, gives real-world validation. I fumbled a bit during delivery, but I delivered my points, nonetheless. Even when delivery is imperfect, clear supporting material still lands if you make the connections explicit. For example, I used a short anecdote to introduce a statistic and then tied that statistic to audience behavior; that chain made the point stick more than the delivery slip-ups did. Going forward, I will pick one story and one statistic per main point and practice the bridge between them, so the audience follows. Each piece added something tangible that listeners could actually use.

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Group 3: Start/End, Language, Media, Delivery

Who spoke: Adelyn Rivera, Licenjjie Menos, Melody Rodriguez, Noralis Collado, Gabriela Garcia, Sabja Orozco, Stephanie Duenas

Licenjjie Menos emphasized openings and closings: people remember the start and the end more than the middle. A sharp opener — a brief story, a rhetorical question, or an unexpected fact — sets the engine running. A decisive closure gives the audience a takeaway to carry out of the room. That framing made the rest of the group’s tips land with purpose.

Melody and Noralis drilled language choices: denotation versus connotation, pronoun selection, metaphors, similes, and repetition. Those are not decorative; they change how your audience connects to ideas. For example, shifting from “I” to “we” builds collective buy-in. Intentional repetition turns a phrase into a mental hook. Choosing the right metaphor can shorten explanation time and help people picture the problem.

Gabriela Garcia covered media and visuals: minimal slides, high-quality images, and redundant backups. She stressed testing the tech and having multiple file formats ready. A simple visual strategy prevents the slide deck from swallowing your voice. Sabja Orozco closed with delivery mechanics: voice control, posture, pacing, and reducing filler words. Delivery mistakes are often correctable with practice and targeted feedback. When performance and content line up, a presentation reads as competent and credible. This group tied those elements together practically: plan the start, curate language, manage media, and rehearse delivery so everything supports the message. Try short rehearsal drills: run the opener, run the close, run one full transition. A practiced 20- to 30-second opener and a one-sentence close drilled into muscle memory go further than cramming extra content. Practicing a few different openers and testing how they land in the first thirty seconds is a lightweight exercise that pays off during delivery.

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Group 4: Informative, Persuasion, Argument, Media, Special Occasions

Who spoke: Stephanie Duenas, Yuliana Haber, Sheyla Sobrino Diaz, Shayla Oquendo, Stephanie Vigoa, Ana Urdaneta, Adelyn Rivera

Yuliana Haber showed how to make informative talks useful: limit scope, choose relevant examples, and present in clear language. She gave concrete examples of objects, processes, people, events, and ideas, which made the formats easy to replicate. That approach turns boring facts into usable knowledge.

Sheyla Sobrino Diaz explained persuasion using Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, action, and she kept ethics front and center. Persuasion without ethical guardrails is sloppy and dangerous; her emphasis on honest appeals protected credibility while making action more likely.

Shayla Oquedo focused on argument structure and fallacies: claim, evidence, and reasoning. She flagged pitfalls like ad hominem and slippery slope and stressed anticipating counterarguments. Addressing objections in advance strengthens trust and prevents predictable rebuttals.

Stephanie Vigoa gave practical media tips for remote and studio appearances: camera framing, lighting, sound checks, and adapting presence to the medium. Small technical choices affect perceived professionalism as much as content quality. Ana Urdaneta closed with a special-occasion strategy: keep it short, match tone to context, and respect timing. She recommended rehearsing a 60-second and a 30-second version of any prepared remark so you can adapt on the flight. On persuasion, the concrete Monroe steps showed how to move an audience from problem to solution in a way that prompts real action. Also, run a quick media checklist: mic levels, lighting angle, and a tidy background before you go live.

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Project Manager Highlights: Adelyn Rivera and Stephanie Duenas

Adelyn and Stephanie set the tone for each group. Their intros captured attention, framed the goals clearly, and prepared the audience for what was coming. Their outros wrapped up content smoothly, emphasized key takeaways, and reinforced overall flow. Watching them coordinate transitions and keeping timing under control showed how strong leadership can make a presentation cohesive while allowing individual presenters to shine. Their structure helped everything feel intentional and professional, even when individual parts had minor fumbles.