Public
speaking, a class that my parents wanted me to take during my Post Graduate
Year. They said this class would help me
immensely in the long run. My parents
said this class will help me get used to talking in front of big groups and
that it will help me speak clearer when giving a presentation in a classroom or
in front of a company. When getting into
class on the first day of school I wasn’t sure how was going to like the class. Speaking in front of a new group of people
that I haven’t met was something that I really was not looking forward to. Starting with the icebreakers to get to know
each other turned into a lot of awkward laughter. This not being a bad thing, it showed what
the class was like. There were going to
be the awkward times but the awkwardness would not be forever because it would
be shadowed with laughter.
I am
speech. This one the hardest of them all
the reason being because it is the first speech in front of this new group that
we were just getting to know. There was
a lot of practice leading up to the final presentation of the speech and with
each practice it only became easier. The
class on a whole was coming closer together and the awkwardness and nerves were
gone. The final presentation of the
speech came quite easy for all with just little experience. One of the flaws with the presentations was
the lack of memorization, that being said each speech spoke for itself getting
a sense of where each kid came from giving you a background on their life. Having this speech be our first one helped
the class come together. Getting a sense
of who the person was and why they were here at Cheshire Academy. The I am speech put us now on a new personal
level with each other. It taught me not
to fear of speaking in front of a group of people because it only last for a
short amount of time and being relaxed during this time makes it a lot easier.
The next
segment. The debates, these were very
helpful. Debating on topics with very
little research time and not much time made us have to be persuasive as
possible. Being put on the spot talking
about a topic that you researched for maybe five to ten minutes could make one
very nervous. Through the first couple
times we did these mini debates I feel that I was very edgy and had a tough
time speaking the words that were in my mouth.
With more and more practice it became a lot easier, being more
persuasive and getting you to believe why something is better than something
else when it truly wasn’t. This helped
me tremendously because it made me speak of my brain and make it sound fluent
and not choppy.
Finishing
my final speech in public speaking I feel that I have come a long way from
where I started. The nerves of getting
up in front of the class to speak have completely vanished. Yes, it is a small class but it is great
practice to get rid of those verbal and physical ticks that I once had (ums and
swaying). Therefore if I had to speak on
a larger scale in front of a bigger group I feel that it would not be too hard
for me. I have accomplished a lot in this
classroom since the beginning of the year with some things that I still can
work on but I now know what I have to look for.
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