I always had to worry about talking public speaking for some time. I didn’t see myself as a public speaker and wasn’t sure that I could carry it off. But the time came when I simply couldn’t put off taking the course any longer. At my first class, I saw about twenty other stoned faced students who looked as uncomfortable as I felt. My teacher later confessed that he felt discouraged when he saw that sullen group. I thought about dropping the class, but soon realized that I was not an the best option I could do, so I decided to make it a try and try stick it out.

My first assignment was to present a speech of self-introduction. As I worked on this, it dawned on her why she found marine biology so fascinating. As I spoke, I forgot much of my nervousness in my excitement over the subject. While my speech was certainly not perfect, I did some things quite well. I did try to help others to get to know them and I did built respect for later informative and persuasive speeches on the fate of the oceans. I was pleased when my classmates discussed the positive things I had done.

As I listen to my classmates. I had found that I was beginning to enjoy the class. Some of the speeches were very interesting, and I joined in the discussion of how my classmates worked well and how they might be improved. The “great stone faces” began to chip away and reveal the real human beings they had masked.

As I gave more speeches, I had found that my classmates took my speeches seriously. I began to care about my classmates and take joy in the successes. As researched my speeches, I learned to keep my audience constantly in mind. I sought out facts, opinion, examples, and stories I listened before that would be useful and interesting. Toward the end of the term it dawned me, I am a public speaker! I also could now recognize the strategies, techniques and even manipulations in the world of communication surrounding me. I knew I would be ready to accept the challenges of public speaking and careful listening whenever the need for these should arise in my life.