Reflective Essay On Public Speaking

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

Working in small groups is either welcomed with excitement by individuals or dreaded with apprehension. However, group work is a fact of life. Whether in a classroom setting or workforce collaborating within small groups are experiences many will interact at some point or regularly participate in. According to the 2010 third edition of the book A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking by Dan O’Hair, Hannah Rubenstein, and Rob Stewart, small groups can be defined as “a collection of between three and twenty people” (321). Small groups, though, are interesting in that while a small collection of people communication role is imperative to the success of the group, but also demonstrates individual’s behaviors when interacting. During small groups, they way in which the member communicates with each other illustrates how individuals perform by taking on specific roles as well as exposing their leadership style. During participation in group work, there is a set of expectations individuals hold for themselves as well as members of the group. Individuals will subconsciously take on a specific role as to how they will help the group achieve their goal, whether that be cohesively or disconnected. Subsequently, the recognition of these acquired roles provides an insight into the individual’s corresponding leadership style. Depending on roles and leaderships style group work can be a consistency of either individual challenging or complimenting one another.

Being a socialize person, I have always believed that public speaking is not a problem for me at all. However, I realize I was completely wrong as I had to deliver a lot of speeches in front of class, which was a quite a struggle for me. Even though my English accent has gotten a lot better throughout the year, yet it would always get terrible during my speech as I was mispronouncing words constantly. Fortunately, I have came to realize that my accent would not be so bad if I memorize the speech instead of reading it out loud like how I usually would.

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.

Presenting a speech can have it difficulties, whether it is you not having a loud speaking voice or nervousness, you still have to have the ability to deliver a great speech to your audience. On January 20, 1961 over 49 years ago our late President John F. Kennedy presented the Inaugural Address, in Washington D.C. The weather was very cold, and it was one of the largest crowds at the Inauguration.

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

Public speaking is the spark that leads to the realization of the need for change. When the world becomes so conditioned to not talk about the uncomfortable issues, it becomes easy to forget how harmful they truly are. However, public speaking is that opportunity to hold up that mirror to society, and command a change to be made. All of the great social shifts were fueled by the speeches of those who cared. The famous of all being the famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which still is quoted today. In order for change to take place, an individual must speak up in some sort of public forum to identify the problem.

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

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.

I am reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and I am on page 100. This book is about a girl named Melinda and her struggles with high school. It talks about events that high schoolers can relate to. Melinda is struggling with grades and finding a group to join as a freshman. Her middle school friend group split up and left her alone. She is trying to find her place and learn who she is. In this journal, I will be connecting Melinda’s struggle to fit in at with my high school experience so far.

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.

Your chest is tight and you feel like you’re on fire. Your chest is tight ant you’re burning up. The flash cards in your hands are crumpled from you squeezing them obsessively. You look up and see dozens of eyes staring at you, waiting expectantly. Taking a deep breath, you stumble through the speech. When it’s finally over, you practically run back to your seat, cheeks flaming bright red. You slump down, already dreading the next time you’ll have to deal with your upmost fear: public speaking.

I am one of those who suffer from butterflies, that uncomfortable feeling in my chest and stomach, before speaking in public. This is not only a problem for myself, but it is also a common fear and a concern for many people. My purpose is to denounce a few dynamics I feel have helped me to become a more effective speaker and to manage my butterflies. I will prove to you that strong body language makes ideas and feelings more clear, vigorous and engaging. First, I will show how eye contact unconsciously engages the audience. Second, I will prove that vocal emphasis is the key to a vigorous speech. Third, I will confirm that gestures reinforce the ideas of the speech, making the speech