My First Briefing Essay

There is no question that after giving about four speeches, I have become a much better overall public speaker. In the beginning of the semester, I would tend to get nervous during some of my speeches and consequently the delivery of my speech would be greatly affected. If I had made a mistake, my level of nervousness would drastically increase and I wouldn’t know how to correct it. Although today I have improved on these aspects. Normally in order to control my nerves I try to think as positively as possible. This is critical because when I start to think even a little bit negatively then I severely hurt my chances of giving a good speech. Instead today, my main priority is to stay very confident and tell myself that I’m going to perform fine.

Public speaking used to be a daunting task that I would try to avoid as often as possible, often I would be the last to present a project and would refrain myself from having to read outloud. When I would speak my head would fill with thoughts of how other were perceiving me and how easy it would be to mess up. With this nervous mentality my speaking was stuttered and confusing.

One of my more vivid experiences of public speaking was when I was taking a class at a community college. While taking this class I would often have to give speeches and demonstrations in front of the class. As I was waiting for my turn to give my very first speech, I was very certain that I would have no problems at all, it would a piece of cake, or so I thought. All of a sudden, I hear my name being called as it was my turn to deliver a knockout performance, but as I stood in front of that small class of people I just blanked out. An overwhelming amount of anxiety came over of me. I could feel my heart beginning to race and my hands starting to sweat. I could not for the life of me remember what I was going supposed say. In addition, the

Public speaking has always been very hard for me, I've never been the type to stand in front of an audience and speak or do a presentation. No matter how many times I've done presentations I've always get nervous or shy and always forget what I rehearsed. In the military I was training Nco, everytime we had a new marine check in to our unit or are shop. I would be the one to give them and the A presentation on what is expected of them and also give them information about the unit and our shop. In my opinion the Marine Corp prepared me for public speaking, especially if you where lower rank and your senior enlisted would throw you to the wolves and send you up there to give the

As I walked out of my dorm that morning for my 9am class, I checked my schedule to see where I needed to go. My first class was public speaking in room 232. My stomach instantly dropped. The calmness I once felt left my body in a rush. Public speaking was my worst fear. I stuttered and mumbled and shook each time I entered a crowded room. Speaking in front of a whole classroom has never been on my bucket list. I fretfully continued my journey to room 232. I attempted to give myself a pep talk along the way to help calm my nerves, but nothing was helping. I told myself that this was not

Actually, not too long ago I was reasonably confident and had no problems with talking to people. This all changed the day we were given the assignment of a presentation. The word presentation already sends shivers down my spine thinking about it. Everyone hates them, right? Not me. Not when I was in first year anyway. Truth be told I was ecstatic to do this presentation, I loved speaking infront of others, forcing them to laugh at my "witty" jokes and boring them to death with things I considered interesting. When the word "presentation" or "solo talk" was mentioned, I used to jump for joy. Now, I shrink into my seat and stare at my desk, hoping it will go away. I would spend hours on talks, preparing them and memorising them. A few years down the line I would find myself struggling to write notes as I begin to think about standing in front of an audience, causing my heart to beat rapidly and my hands to shake. It's not fair, really. Even now I still panic when trying to think of what to say, as it has to be

Public speaking is something that I enjoy. Being able to talk to many people at once and having them get to know a part of me is something I find interesting. With me enjoying speaking to people I found myself running for the Associated Student Body (ASB) president my senior year in high school, I was the secretary previous year. Knowing that with the position of being the president of the school I knew it came with having to be very social not only with my fellow ASB team but with the entire school! However, that was the least of my problems. I knew that in order for me to run for the position having a speech to present to the former ASB president and administration of the school was mandatory. Writing speeches have never been my cup of tea. I have always winged it, mixing my personality into the core of the message I was trying to deliver seemed to always work for me. I worked on the main points I was going to present, had a few lines that I knew I was going to follow but the rest I knew would come to me when the day came. It was the day for everyone running for office to have their presentation ready. Because I was running for the highest office that was available everyone who applied for a lower/ different position went first. Starting from the lowest office of being the freshman representation moving all the way up to the president. Because I was one of the last to present I had an advantage of

I always stress myself out before, and during these experiences. I'd love to say that having my first oral-only presentation got me over my fear of public speaking. But it didn't. Today, though, I can say that I remember the days leading up to the presentation much better than I can remember actually presenting. While this experience didn't change my fears, it did change the way I will go into future presentations or public speaking requirements. Maybe the nerves going into something like this will die down slightly if I think about how short the thing I'm dreading will actually be. I think that this presentation experience sort of sums up my first semester of high school. I came into this school terrified. Even though there have been struggles in the time I have been here, they haven't been nearly as bad as I initially

Claudia Stepanovich gave me a message through power point that I completely agree with and that is that public speaking is not a skill you are born with; it is something that you have to learn and get better at. This message spoke to me, because I am extremely nervous about public speaking and I always avoid it when I can; when I can’t avoid it I always get nervous and start to stutter and forget information.

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

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

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.