Life Experience With Public Speaking

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My earliest memories of public speaking would have to be from my junior or senior year in high school. I remember entering the classroom and as soon as the teacher informed us that presentations were that day, my heart would start racing and my palms would start sweating profusely. Once it was my turn to present, my thought process became overwhelmed and I would draw a blank causing me to read directly from my paper. I began to feel embarrassed, while my face and ears turned a bright red and now the rest of my body started to sweat as I read with a slightly shaken voice. Public speaking has always been a struggle for me because it is outside of my comfort zone.

Over the years I have come to realize the many obstacles I faced when it came to public speaking. Classes I have attended such as Principles of Instruction and a Leader Lead course, through the military, have assisted me in gaining a bit more confidence in my public speaking abilities. I began to realize why my experience from high school was the way it was. In high school, I dreaded speaking in front of the class because I didn’t prepare myself by going over my material and/or practice presenting. Through my military classes I learned how to prepare a presentation, consider the type of audience I was presenting to, and the different forms: informative, persuasive, and demonstrative. These classes forced me to embrace the uncomfortable feeling until it became somewhat comfortable and constructive criticism was given at the end of each presentation.

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Reflecting, I enjoy a public speaker who is enthusiastic, whose voice demands attention with conviction, and exudes emotion in their words. You can already assume that motivational speakers are probably my favorite. In comparison, my public speaking voice is usually semi-monotone, and I am a bit soft-spoken. I have trouble with not knowing where to place my hands, whether it is in my pockets or entangling them together while I fiddle with my thumbs. I feel awkward being the center of attention while trying to glance at everyone as I am talking, which sometimes causes me to stand still and not make use of the floor space. My hands still get sweaty at times, but I think that’s just a normal occurrence for me. I tend to take longer pauses than needed when I am trying to find my words. I have been informed of my ability to do well on subjects that I am passionate about through critiques. I also think that the size of the group that is being spoken to plays a huge role in my anxiety activating.

Public speaking has been a rollercoaster of a ride. Although I have had many different experiences with public speaking, every experience starts off the same but ends with me feeling a bit more confident about my ability to perform. I still get the feeling of anxiousness, but I try to subside the effects by doing some breathing techniques and visualizing myself succeeding in my speech. Preparing and practicing have greatly helped make presentations a little less worrisome. I have come to realize that I am not alone with the struggle of speaking in public and that if I continue to practice and gain more experiences I will only get better as time progresses.

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