Monday, November 19, 2007

The Risk of Public Speaking

I took Public Speaking this semester, and I was so nervous about my first speech! The thought of speaking in front of people freaks me out. When I talk, my voice sounds like I am about to cry, my hands shake, and my legs feel weak. This may sound cliche, but this actually happens to me. After I received the grade for my first speech, I was very displeased, mostly with myself. I asked my teacher if she had any tips for me, and she said public speaking is like taking a risk. This class is based on extemporaneous speaking which means we are allowed to have a few notecards with key words written on them. That is it! I am used to simply reading a paper I wrote, but notecards? So, for the first speech, I practically typed my whole speech and pasted it to notecards. Obviously, this is not what public speaking is all about.

After I spoke to my professor, I realized what she meant about public speaking being a risk. I have key ideas on a notecard, but I am not exactly sure what I am going to say when I get up in front of my peers. The thought of just "diving in," as my teacher stated, drives me crazy! I realize that is what I have to do; it is imperative that I keep my audience my main focus because if I am not engaging them with eye contact and an interesting topic, my speech has not accomplished anything.

Taking this risk is still hard for me to grasp, but I feel that I have improved over the course of this semester. My professor encouraged me to not be so hard on myself, and also, the rest of the class has no idea what I am going to say. If I say something that was unplanned, it is OK! No one knows! I like taking risks, but public speaking, to me, is almost equivalent to skydiving without being 100% sure I have a parachute strapped to me. This may sound crazy, but the thought of just getting up in front of people, not 100% sure of what I am going to say but diving in anyways, feels like diving out of an airplane. I hope I can one day overcome my fear of public speaking, but for now, I will attempt to enjoy the risk.

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