Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Impromptu Speech

Please reflect on your impromptu speech by writing one well-written and thought-out paragraph. Use complete sentences and correct grammar. Upper classmen should be writing paragraphs with compound and complex sentences that are a minimum of six sentences long. Things to consider (you do not need to include all of them)

  1. Eye Contact
  2. Nervousness
  3. Audience Feedback
  4. Preparation (What did you do during your 2 minutes--would you do the same thing? Do you have advice for future impromptu speakers?)
  5. Speaking Rate (too fast? too slow? too many pauses?)
  6. Gestures (Did you do any?)
  7. Poise and Presence 
  8. Confidence Level
  9. Introduction and Conclusion
  10. Organization
  11. Facial Expressions

What went well? What do you need to work on for the next speech? Would you want to try it again or are you glad it is done? Be as specific as possible! 

In addition, leave feedback for at least two students. Feedback should be specific and original

66 comments:

  1. This was by far my least favorite speech. My topic was "Would you pick a small package or a big package?" This was difficult for me to speak about for longer then a minute. I learned that I am a better speaker when I have lots of time to plan for a speech rather then one minute of planning. The strongest part of my speech was my intro and it went downhill from there. I hope to improve my impromptu skills and grow as a speaker by the end of the semester!

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    1. Frances, I thought that you did a good job preparing and giving your speech, despite having a difficult topic. You seemed confident and calm during your speech. Overall, I thought that it was pretty good.

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    2. It wasn't as bad as you think. The intro was the strongest part of your speech but it didn't go downhill from there. You were very confident despite the tough topic and lack of time to prepare. It definitely showed us your growing speaking skills.

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    3. Franny, I think you did an excellent job on a speech that you only have few minutes to prepare for. You definitely caught everyone's attention during the speech, also you were very confident despite the fact that your topic was a tough one. You seemed really calm. Overall, I think it went well, and I am looking forward to hear your next speech.

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    4. Frances! I really enjoy your speech and you did a great job. The topic which is picking a big package and small package was difficult. Anyway, you did a great job. I like how you made eye-contact with everyone and kept us all involved with it. And I am excited for you next speech.

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    5. Franny, I think you did a good job. Your topic was one of my choices. I didn't choose it because I thought it is relly hard. But you handled it really good. Your facial expression was really relaxed and confident, which is better than me.

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    6. Franny, I thought your speech went very well. Don't get down on yourself because you didn't have time to prepare and you had a very difficult topic to talk about. I thought that your story that went along with it was very interesting. Overall your speech was pretty good considering all the obstacles.

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  2. I don’t really like my speech this time. My conclusion was really bad and I had just a little eye contact. My topic was “my favorite trip with my family”, but some how I started to talk about the environment again. I knew why this would happen. During the summer I took a TOEFL class back in China. In that class we learned about how to deal with impromptu speech and impromptu writing. My teacher told me that it is always safe to talk about the environment, education or government stuff in the test. So I got this kind of fixed thought, and caused my speech to deviate from the topic. After the speech I realized that I should chose the “nickname” topic to talk about, but it was too late. But after all, that was a lesson for me. Don’t get stuck in the safe zone, think out side the box.

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    1. Steven, I think you did fine on your speech. It did not turn out really bad for a speech that you could only prepare for 2 to 3 minutes. You seemed pretty calm throughout the speech, and did an excellent job to keep everyone's attention during your speech. Overall, I think your speech went well. Good job, and keep up the good work.

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  3. I really didn´t like my speech at all. My question was "If you could be responsible for a famous invention, which one would be", I think I started strongly talking about WW2 and who Alan Turing was but then I started going off track and I didn´t exactly say why I picked Alan Turing. I said about my passion for computers and stuff like that, giving the example of me building my own computer but still, I just felt that this was by far my worst speech.

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    1. I really liked your speech. I thought it was cool how you tied in the movie and the invention. It made the speech more interesting to listen to. I did not think that you went off track too much, and that your tangents were justified. Overall I really enjoyed your speech, and I am excited for your next speech.

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    2. Pablo! Your speech really impressed me! I thought it was really cool how you were able to pull all that information out, and from there you were able to relate it to your own love of computers. I thought that was really well done. You also really owned everyone's attention, but not like you were giving a boring lecture. I honestly thought you had one of the best impromptu speeches.

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    3. Pablo! I really liked your speech. I love how you started your speech with a very cool opening statement. You have never failed to get everyone's attention during your speech. I thought it was really well done. I think a lot of people struggled on this speech, however your speech was just impressive.Good Job and keep up the good work.

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    4. Pablo, I really enjoyed your speech! I liked how you tied in the movie and gave historical detail. You also did a nice job relating it to your love of computers. Overall, I think your speech was very well done and one of the better impromptu speeches!

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    5. I thought your speech was very random yet creative. I learned a lot about WW2 and spying and I thought the reasons for your choice would've been different and more generic. Overall you did a good job.

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  4. I thought that this speech went just ok. I got a pretty easy topic "talk about something you are good at making or doing", so I got lucky with that. I thought I did a decent job trying to make it interesting, but I had a problem trying to come up with exactly what I wanted to say. I much prefer using a thought out outline or a manuscript when I present. I felt confident for the most part despite not being entirely prepared and I can't wait for the speeches that we get to prepare for.

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    1. Henry, I really enjoyed listening to your speech. You seemed very confident. Even though you felt like you didn't know what to say it didn't really show to us, or me at least. It seemed as though you were just taking pauses. I think that for you not preparing you still did a good job. I also think that you have a very good tone and speed. Overall, I really enjoyed your speech. I can't wait to hear more!

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    2. Henry! You did a great job and I enjoyed listening to your speech. You were very comfortable and confident with what you were saying. I wish you the best of luck in track too. I like how you made eye contact with everyone and kept us all involved with it. Even though is was something that you probably didn't know what to say you did a great job. You were confident which kept me engaged with it all. Great Job overall!

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    3. I really like your speech and enjoyed listening to it. I thought that you seemed comfortable, and not nervous at all. I thought you did a great job with not having anytime to prepare. I thought that you kept the audience attention the whole time. Overall I thought you did a great job and can not wait to hear your next speech.

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    4. Henry your speech was very good you did a very good with your topic. You were very confident in yourself which is a very good thing. Your content was very good. If there is one thing I give you advice on is your eye contact needs to be better. What helps me is I move across the room to make sure I have seen at least every person once in my speech but overall I thought you speech was very good.

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    5. Henry, your speech went really well and really smoothly, you just seemed impressively calm and confident about what you were saying. It was just a pleasure to listen to your speech. You are just a natural public speaker and you always seem to get the audience attention through the entire time. Good Job, Henry, looking foward your next speech.

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    6. Henry, You did an excellent job on your speech. You were so confident throughout the whole speech. Your eye contact was perfect. You kept the audience attention the whole time which the main key to your success. Overall good job your speech, and I am looking forward to hear your next speech.

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    7. Henry! I thought your speech went well. You seemed confident talking to us about your hobbie of hurdling. You had a consistent rate and used track terms we could all understand. I can't wait to hear your next speech! Hope you make it to state!

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    8. Henry you did awesome considering you didn't prepare. You did get a pretty easy topic to talk about because you are good at a lot of things. I thought that this easy of a topic really let you be yourself and made this speech easy for you.

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  5. Overall I thought that this was my worst speech. I started my speech wrong, and because of it I got flustered. I think that my eye contact was ok, but it could have been better. I was not that nervous because I am decent at thinking on my feet. I think that my rate was an ok pace and that I did not talk to fast. I feel that when I went up there I was not confident. Also, I felt like I was just babbling and repeating myself over and over again. I thought that my intro and conclusion were not clear, and that it could have had more depth to it. I wish that I would have talked about basketball for my favorite thing to do in the winter and not sledding. I really want to try it again, but this time without a grade so that there is less pressure to succeed. I hope that my next speech will go a lot better, and I can continue my speaking skills for the next speech.

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    1. Don't be so hard on yourself, Grace! I actually thought it was really good! I could tell you were nervous because you fidgeted a little, but it seemed like you got more calm after you got into it a little more. It was easy to figure out what your topic was, and you didn't just flat-out say what it was. The story that you told really connected with your prompt. Also, I think you had a strong intro and conclusion because you started and ended by talking about your brother. Great job Grace!

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    2. Grace Isabel Louise Amling you should be confident in your impromptu speech because it was really good! Your speech started with a good intro that captured everyone's attention. I loved hearing about your childhood memory of sledding down the hill in Germantown. Your topic was clear and you had great eye contact. You also displayed great gestures and used many transition words that helped your speech flow. I can't wait to hear your next speech (: keep up the good work

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    3. Grace, I thought you did a good job. I know this was difficult for you. You did really well, though you said you are not confident. Being confident and you will go a lot better next time! Good job!

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    4. Grace, I thought you did an excellent job on your speech. This speech is definitely the hardest one out of all the speeches throughout the semester. However, You were very calm and confident throughtout the speech. Therefore , it turned out pretty well.Despite the fact that there are few flaws, your intro definitely caught everyone's attention. Overall, you did a fantastic job. Well Done.

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    5. Grace, I thought your speech was pretty good. You had a good intro that captured my attention and kept me engaged in your speech. I could tell that you were a little nervous because you were a little more figety than usual. You did a nice job answering the question without flat out saying what it was. Keep up the good work!

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  6. When I have to do anything impromptu, I always ramble on and on, and I feel like that is what I did here. I felt that I was doing well in my speeches and gave myself a double dose of pride before this speech. That backfired when my introduction fell through, only two people knew what I was talking about, and then I went on for about a minute and a half longer than I was suppose to. I could blame my topic, but in reality it should not have been that hard of a topic. I just went into it too overconfident and it ended up biting me in the butt. I hope I can improve on the next speech.

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  7. Overall, I think that this speech went so much better than my other speeches. I felt very relaxed and confident which is something I did not feel with my other speeches. I think that my eye contact was very good and that my pace was good as well. As far as gestures, I don't really remember how well I did with those. I feel like I talk with my hands most of the time however, so I believe that those were used as well. I also think that my introduction was really good and attention getting. Overall, this is one of my favorite speeches that we have done so far.

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    1. Amy, this was one of my favorite speeches to hear and I honestly can't tell you why other than that you kept me involved the whole time with your confidence and humor around the whole thing. For a speech where you only had a few minutes to think of stuff to talk about, it seemed like you had a whole day to prepare for it. I really enjoyed listening and I cant wait to hear what you have in store next with your upcoming speeches!

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  8. Impromptu can be a tricky nerve racking thing. It can put you in real life situations as well. Overall I believe that my speech went pretty well for the most part. I think that I could have done a little better job at tying together my main points but in the end I think that it made sense. I probably could have thought of more things to tie in as well but for the most part I think it went pretty well. I also could have looked around the room a little more. I think the speed of my speech was okay but I can do a better job. Still stuff to work on for the next speech and I can't wait for it!

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    1. Eriq, I really enjoyed your speech. I thought it was really funny, and it was well thought out. The confidence you had when you walked up there made the speech even more interesting to listen to. I thought you did a great job and I am looking forward to your next speech.

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    2. Eriq, I really liked your speech. It was funny and well organized. You have confident in every speech that you have presented. I think you did a great job to get everyone's attention during the speech. Great job overall, and keep up the good work.

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    3. Eriq, I thought that this speech went very well for you. It can be hard to think of things to say on the spot, but you did a good job with it. You are fun and easy to listen to and I think that everyone enjoys your speeches. Keep up the good work.

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    4. Eriq, watching your last couple of speeches I've noticed that your confidence calms you down and you end up having very well done speeches. Even if you only have 2 minutes to make up one. Overall nice job

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  9. I'm not sure how I felt about this speech. Personally, it felt more like just talking to a group of friends. Of course, there was always the shadow of the time limit in the back of your mind, so I felt like I was just pulling stuff out of my brain so I would hit 2:00. It felt really random and wasn't really thought out, which is probably why I can't remember most of my speech. However, because it was more of a lighter topic, I thought that actually helped. Instead of having to talk about yourself, or present information, picking between three prompts gave me the choice to go anywhere with the speech so it did make it easier to ramble in order to hit the time mark. I felt my gestures were a little weird this time because when I talk with my friends, I do tend to make wild had movements. Eye contact was easier, and so was making sure that I spoke loud and clear. I'm not sure the content of my speech was great, but then again it is an impromptu speech.

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    1. Jamie, I really enjoyed your speech. Honestly I thought it was one of the best impromptu speeches in the class. It did not seem random, and I like how you connected this speech with a past speech. I think that you had a good use of humor when you were talking about your side of the room versus Mallory's side. Overall you did a great job!

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    2. I think your speech was really good. Definitely one of the best speeches. Your eye contact was good and you looked pretty confident. I think your speech was also really funny. You did a great job.

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    3. I really enjoyed your speech. You had pretty good eye contact and your rate was pretty good too. I thought it was neat how you related your speech to a past speech. It was good how you added some humor to your speech. I think you probably had one of the best speeches in the class. Keep up the great work!

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  10. This speech helped me realize that I am not very good when I have a short amount of time to prepare. I got frazzled after I read my question and tried to come up with a speech super fast. This was definitely not my best speech. I was under the time limit by a lot and it was hard for me to keep my speech focused. I felt a little scatter-brained and that I was just spitting out words. I do not think that I have a good introduction or conclusion either, so that didn't help my speech at all. I will definitely continue to work on my rate and my eye contact.

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    1. Cassie I thought your speech was very good. Your eye contact was very good. I could tell that you were very nervous. But when come to this type of speech's can give you nerves but you just have to take deep breadths and pray about and God is all was there for you. But overall I thought your speech was very good

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    2. Cassie I thought you did a great job on your speech with few small flaws. Your topic was very interesting, and I can see that you mentioned about your passion with reading over and over again. You did a great job to keep everyone's attention. However, there were few parts of the speech that you were just repeating the stuff you said before. And it would be great if you could work on your conclusion a little bit more. Overall, Well Done and keep up the work.

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    3. Your choice of your dream career I found was very funny. i think your speech was very good. Your eye contact was also very good. I think it might help if you take a couple deep breathes before you give your speech. I think it will help you collect your thoughts. Overall, nice speech and very interesting dream career.

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    4. I agree with you. I feel myself did not prepare well and I did not do my best speech. I felt nervous.However, I think you did a good job. I noticed that you have good eye-contact and speaks fluently. I believe you can do perfect next time.

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  11. This speech was very inserting because it really showed how awful a speech can go. The reason why I thought my speech was not very good is that I little time to prepare and for a speech I need lots of time to prepare. So I really enjoyed the question I got but lots people have never heard of my show. I also was very nervous about giving this speech because of how much time I has to prepare. But over all I though my eye contact was very good and tone was also very good. But I also need to relax more when I am giving this types of speech's. But overall I thought this speech was very good but I have some things that I could improve one

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  12. I thought this was my best speech so far. I feel that the less time I have to prepare, the less time I have to think twice and change my speech. My topic was also a fairly easy one being that I think about this topic often. I did not go over time on this one and I feel like my eye contact is getting better. I do still need to work on not holding the podium and using more gestures as well as not looking at the floor as much.

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    1. Nathan, I liked the creativity of your speech... As a sinner I never would've thought of seeing creation but you made me change my mind on that. I thought that you did well with your eye contact and I can't wait to see your next speech

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    2. Nathan, I liked a lot your speech. They way you simply put everything together made it really amazing. I liked your intro a lot as well, it kept my attention through the whole thing, it was a great attention getter. Great job, Nathan.

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  13. I felt I was really lucky for getting a easy speech topic even though I did not perform well. I found some difficulties organizing and composing my speech because of nervousness. I had failed to finish my speech within the required time. However, a good thing I found myself is that I had good eye-contact with my audiences. For better speech next time, I need to prepare confidently and speak loudly.

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    1. Vicky, I think you did a great job on your speech. It does not matter if it was a hard topic or not. I have seen your effort that you put into this speech. It turned out very good. There are few small things that you need to work on more. For example, using the right adjectives etc... Keep up the good work, and I am looking forward to hear your next speech.

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    2. Vickey, I think you did a really good job. Your speech skill has improved a lot since the beginning of the year. You are much more confidence now. The way you talked about your topic was really logical and appropriate, and your voice was really loud and clear.

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  14. This speech was the hardest one of all. I'm not very good at improv at all. It was also very difficult to not have any kind of research with this one. I had really hard topics to choose from and they were kind of out of my field of experience so I barely had anything to talk about. Overall, not a big fan of this but for some people, it works out much better.

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    1. I enjoyed your speech. It was pretty funny and random and left me guessing what your topic was. You were able to work a bad topic into a good speech and I think that is an important skill to have.

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  15. I felt like my speech was not up to par. I looked at the ground a lot and had a very long pause at the end. I tried to make it as creative as I could but in the end it was worse than I imagined. I felt very nervous as I was volunteered to be the second speech. I cant wait for the next speech as I will practice more

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    1. Jacob i thin your speech was pretty good. I know how it feels to have a pause in your presentation. It feels a lot worse then it looks. I think your eye contact was pretty good and you looked pretty confidence. Your speech was pretty good, it will get better.

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    2. You're speech was not bad at all. You had a lot more eye contact than you thought. You did look at the floor some and the pause was a little long, but that was really the only "bad" part of the speech. The pause was not as long as you seem to think it was. I fell that you will definitely do much better in the coming speeches!

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    3. Jacob, your speech turned out pretty well despite the conclusion was a bit inconclusive. You showed your confident with a tough situation that you only had 3 minuted to prepare for this speech. I love your idea. You should put a little bit more effort to work on your conclusion part. Overall, Your speech was really good. Well Done, and keep up the good work.

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  16. I felt like I did ok on this speech. I was nervous before I present my speech in front of the class. I am not really happy with the result that my speech only lasted for 55 seconds which is not long at all. Therefore I think I need to practice on my speaking skills. So I could speak a little bit slower, and also work on my conclusion. Overall, I think this speech is a big challenge for most of the people in the class, hopefully I will do great on the next speech

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  17. I felt like my speech was okay. I think my introduction could have been a little stronger. I think my eye contact was pretty good. I am getting better at it every speech. I still could use little more confidence and a little more eye contact. I also think i should get a little more humor in my speech. I feel it would give me more confidence and make my speech flow better. Overall i think my speeches are getting better the more I do.

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    1. Josh, you did good on this speech. You didn't have anytime to prepare and I feel like that just dragged your confidence down. If you were confident in your speech and your topic you would have done amazing. Just have confidence in yourself and you will do great.

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  18. I thought that my speech was okay. My topic was something to do with board games and which one was my favorite. I liked this speech because it showed me how important practice was. I tried to have a little fun with this speech because I didn't practice.

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  19. I was disappointed by my performance in this speech. I had a good topic and good ideas but when I tried to put it all together I failed miserably. I have issues with speaking sometimes and thinking of the correct wording for sentences and giving an impromptu speech really forced me to step past that. I am glad I never completely stopped even though I blanked during parts.

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