It was my group communication class this year in college, that spurred me to create this blog. In class my group and I presented different presentations about women’s rights, and police brutality. The planning of said projects were often very hectic, but at same time lead to interesting conversations. As individuals we would all have our own opinions and ideas, but as a group we would all have to come to an agreement on what we wanted to say.
I already knew before coming in that I am a great impromptu speaker. This class helped affirm this. My group would have me give the conclusion every time. This was done so I could alleviate for lost time, or prolong our presentation to reach the time requirement.
One thing I tried to always do was get the opinions of those in my group. I initially did this, solely to not be the only one contributing ideas to the group. Though as time went on and I got to know my group members better, I became generally interested in what they had to say. My group members would probably say I generally took on the leadership role, I would agree. Though I would only agree when it comes the presentations themselves. Rarely would I have the leadership role during our planning periods. Again that was due to me wanting the others to contribute. And they stepped up to the plate every time.
I would definitely say I am most proud of our film persuasive speech. We used the movie “A League of the own” as the basis for our argument. Our argument being that women and men in society are still not 100% equal. For a twenty minute speech we worked together longer and more proactively more than any other project. We met multiple times besides once or twice. It was the only topic my group became really invested in. It wasn’t a presentation we put together only for a grade, but because we wanted to.
Many who know me would assume I do not have stage fright. I am often the first one to boisterously jump on to stage right away and greet the crowd. While I may play it off well, I am, in fact quite terrified. I often find the courage at last minute to jump up on stage and greet the audience. The entire time I am terrified to embarrass myself, but running off stage is the sure fire way to be embarrassed. This dread of embarrassment used to be much worse, but now it is almost non-existent. This class helped to instill that. After constant positive feel back, my knew found sense of confidence has dulled my dread of embarrassment.
One problem I had throughout this course through the end was not knowing what to say. I became so dependent on my impromptu speaking skills, that I would not know what I was going to say. Well I wouldn’t know what to say, until I said it. I would come in with some rough ideas of what I was going to say, and I would go on from there. When my group practiced our speeches I always sounded the weakest. I would take our repetitions as a chance to try out different ways to say what I wanted to say. Thankfully no matter how bad I sounded while we practiced, my group members still supported me. This support helped give me the confidence I needed for the actual presentation. I picked up on some techniques in high school such as talking in a slower steady tone, dramatic pauses, and repetition of certain words. I used all of these techniques to allow myself time to think what I was going to say next in my presentation. Though the best and most powerful technique I learned while in this course, was to fully believe in what you are saying.
This class helped show me that others can tell when you care what you are talking about. Not only will it get more people to listen to you, but will also help convince people to see and join your side. When you are put into a mindset of belief, it is also much easier to come up with something to say. In my group’s aforementioned persuasive speech on women’s rights, I was the last to go with over eight minutes to fill. This was double the time of what I intended on. I decided to not freak-out, and to just relieve my own personal beliefs on the subject. Those eight minutes breezed by before my eyes. Towards the end of my presentation, tears actually began to form in my eyes. I still don’t really know how it happened, or how I exactly ended my part of the presentation. All I remember is the surprised looks of my group members, and the applause that came right after.
This is the moment above all others I’ll be taking with me from this course. The techniques in speech that I utilized in this course, will follow me in any other future presentations I may have. I am thankful for this class being the final tool to break me out of my shell.
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