Final Speech: Final Reflection On Public Speaking

In the eleven chapter of A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking, the authors talk about

Taking deep breathes before your speech is one good way to build your confidence. Doing so can help you calm down if you are really nervous. No matter how much you prepare for your speech you will be nervous before you get up and present and taking a few deep breaths in and out is a good way to calm your nerves. Another way to boost your confidence and also calm your nerves a bit is to drink water. It may seem a bit odd but it is very important to be hydrated before a big speech because your nervousness causes your mouth to dry up. Anderson (2016) suggests you drink about a third of a bottle of water before you give your speech to stop your mouth from getting dry. Those are a few simple things you can do to become more confident while giving a

During my introduction speech, I was nervous, but it wasn’t terrible. The nerves I had affected my volume and caused a dependency on my notes, but I didn’t allow the nerves to get the best of me. As for gaining confidence, writing about myself really allowed me to be confident in my speech because even if I forgot what I wanted to say, the content was about me

For more minor cases of public speaking anxiety, preparation and practice are common methods of overcoming the problem. Just like many tasks, the more able a person feels about completing the task, the less anxiety they experience. This sense of being ready and able to complete a task is achieved by being prepared. Practice is also important, since this makes the individual

My preparation for my speech was simple. First, I used the method of cognitive restructuring, which “transforms negative self-talk into positive self-talk (Schwartzman, 2014, pg. 37). I used positive self-talk and a positive self-concept of myself to help boost my confidence for giving my speech. I also used systematic desensitization to reduce communication apprehension, which describes the feeling of anxiety about oral communication with others, according to Schwartzman (2014), to harness my nervousness and anxiety about presenting the speech in front of an audience (pg. 35). In addition to this, I rehearsed my introductory speech several times to make sure I was ready to present in front of my class and used the concept of visualization

Audience, more specifically with identifying the audience and how to do so. In addition, chapter

One of the problems I faced was after many hours of practicing, I still found my self still having a memorization issue. Due to that reason, my speech was a little here and there. However, I believe after my speech the audience had a fundamental knowledge of my topic.

That has to change now, I am an engineer and I will have to give numerous speeches in my lifetime about projects I am working on. I have taken a public speaking college class in high school. That class taught me everything about how to have excellent posture, poise, and how to stay calm. I have incorporated that class into all my speeches, as well as just talking in general to people. It has helped me stand in front of employers at the career fair and classes last year. Standing in front of an employer for a big job is very intimidating and it really does test your self- confidence. If I put myself into those positions it will get me better prepared for the future and improve my self- confidence. Speech classes are by far the most important and I am glad to have taken one.

An Essential Guide to Public Speaking by Quentin Schultze gives great ways to motivate readers to improve public speaking. One passage that stood out to me addressed how to deal with speech apprehension. Having struggled greatly with apprehension myself, I am eager to learn how to improve it. In some ways, speech apprehension can be used beneficially. For example, it provides adrenaline, which can enhance an energetic delivery (36). My personal experience with adrenaline has not always been pleasant. Often when my nerves get too high, my body shakes and I have difficulty directing my nervous energy in a way that is advantageous. In recent years, I have attempted to focus the adrenaline into gestures, simultaneously allowing my hands to have something

This really helped me to find my confidence and taught me how to get rid of the nerves that comes with public speaking. There is always room to improve and through the speech classes I took throughout high school I feel like I improved in my speaking skills. One of my strengths is being good at preparation. Preparation is a very important factor in making a good speech. Knowing your audience, your topic, and knowing how to organize a speech properly is something I find to be a strength. Another strength of mine that I previously stated is knowing how to get through any nerves that I have. My weaknesses of public speaking include my newly developed stutter, talking too fast, and not speaking super clearly. With speeches I am much better at putting the speech together rather than actually giving

Throughout life we express ourselves through words. The way we present ourselves through speech says a lot about our character. The way one speaks to others can jeopardize the amount of respect and trust others have for them. From the way one pronounces a word to their posture can affect the way an audience interprets what is being said. Personally, I am not confident with my speaking skills at this point. I would like my audience to fully comprehend the concepts or facts that I would present to them. In order to do so I must improve my speaking skills I believe that a problem most people, including myself, have when giving speeches is facing an audience. Just looking out to an audience of a mere ten

This public speaking course has taught me alot by helping me to become a better person and by growing me into something I never thought I could be.Speaking out loud always made me nervous, even when I was just reading a sentence from a book to some of my closest friends. Even though we are not even halfway through the school year, I have learned and improved so much. One of the first things this class had taught me was all about body language and how to present yourself to make an impression. Little things that we do can make us seem small, such as slouching, crossing our arms and legs, and looking at the ground, while others make us appear big, for instance, stretching, sitting up straight, and taking up alot space. Properly presenting yourself is important and can make a big difference in your life, whether it is for a job interview, meeting new people, or speaking in front of your peers. I have also learned to control and overcome my nervous habits, for example, playing with my hair, rocking back and forth, and moving my hands. Habits like these show the audience that you are nervous and it may turn their attention away from your speech and onto your actions. The audience-speaker relationship was also a great thing to learn. This relationship shows cause and effect, for example, when you lose the attention of your audience you may begin to second guess yourself leaving you to becoming nervous and self conscious. You then may start to panic and your speech may become a

Only a select few people take pleasure in giving presentations or public speaking. I am not one of those people. Public speaking has always been a problem for me. G.A.D. or general anxiety disorder, has been a substantial factor in my life and being graded or judged on how well you speak in front of people, doesn’t exactly help. Whether it is five people or over a thousand, when pressure is put on you-you have to react. For example, when your grade for the quarter depends on how well you give a presentation, or when you have a competition or a big game. Consequently, you could become exceedingly anxious, and begin to doubt yourself, and that can lead to horrible situations.

For as long as I can remember, public speaking has always been one of my greatest weaknesses. Whether it’s a simple in-class presentation or a speech in front of an auditorium filled with people, I can barely get my words out from the anxiety and

Another interesting experience that helped me gain confidence was my speech communications class with my professor, Mrs. Larson. I knew I didn't have any trouble with talking to a group of people. I love to tell jokes and stories to many people at one time, but I was nervous and somewhat embarrassed about preparing some boring speech and making everyone else suffer by listening to it. Mrs. Larson explained that we all have problems with this and that it can be overcome. I remember something simple she said that stuck in my mind: "The only way to get over the fear of something is to just do it." She was right. As I had to go up to give the speech, her words constantly kept running through my mind. After the speech, I realized that we were all in the same boat suffering from the same seasickness- nervousness, We all had to give speeches. No one was out to criticize anyone else and we all ended up supporting each other! I learned that I could make a "boring" speech interesting if I have fun with it and feel comfortable as the speaker of the moment.