My First Public Speech
It was exciting for me to take this class because
public speaking is a weakness for me, but I wanted to transform it into one of
my strengths. I was ready to learn the processes, the tricks and tips that this
class will teach me. As our first assignment the professor split the chapters
of our book (I speak 3rd edition) and made 3 groups of students.
Then we were supposed to teach our classmates about each chapter with the
knowledge we had gained. I was intrigued; how can we do that as a students? But
the challenge really engaged me. Our group was number 2, and we covered the
chapters 5 to 9. Its always a challenge to work with more people, but we
connect with each other and became a great team. I was chosen to work in
chapter number 6. The experience was amazing, and all of our presentations went
perfect!!!
I was the person that started the presentation of
chapter 6 and this clearly showed me they have confidence in me. But I was also
very nervous. The first step I made was to read all the chapter and get
familiarized with it. After I carefully read my part, I selected the most
important ideas and made a little sketch of what I was going to talk about, concepts,
parts of organizations, outlining principles and outlines forms. I made an
introduction, body and conclusion of my project. I studied my part during the
weekend and investigated about the topic and its characteristics. This was very
important to me because I wanted to have everything covered. I wasn’t going to
leave everything for the last moment. We worked together in google slides and
every person in the group collaborated together to make it in sync and perfect
for each speech. Our group met on Sunday where we discussed all the chapters
together and spoke about our thoughts. Also, we shared feedback about the work that
we had done, and we took recommendations from our classmates. We explained our
part of the speech and organized the sequence of the presentation.
The big day arrived and
before class we met again to double check our ideas and the whole project. This
was an amazing group to work with. The first speech for group 1 was very interesting.
We learned how to prepare a public speaking presentation, the purpose of the
speeches, and the personal benefits of public speaking. This was very helpful
to learn because in this class we are going to increase our knowledge and ability
to relay of information, improve our critical thinking and train our brain to
think more clearly and in a structured way. They also show tips for internet
search and how to become a better listener. They incorporated videos to keep
the audience focused and engage with the topic. I really enjoined it and learned
a lot from it.
Then it was our turn to
present! I was a little nervous, even though I had the knowledge of the subject,
I was going to present in front of my classmates and professor Sinkoff, and she
would be expecting the best from me and my team. As all the members of the
group started to present, little by little felt more relaxed and comfortable.
In chapter number 5 presented by Emily and Daniela we learned how to research
and prepared a presentation, evaluate your sources and analyzed the difference
between MLA and APA parenthetical citations. This was very useful and necessary
to learn because we are going to use it in almost all classes in college. When
my turn arrived, I developed my speech in a good way, I still want and plan to improv
my verbal communication in front of my peers. I tried to be energetic and avoid
filler words that will drag my speech on and draw less interest from my
audience. I kept eye contact with the camera, with the professor and all the
classmates. I think that everything went perfect. After I was done, I felt relaxed
and confident about my speech. Then my other partners started to talk about
their topic and I continued to pay attention even though I wanted to go relieve
the stress from my nerves. It was amazing how they explained what holds a
presentation together and how to introduce and conclude your speech. Chapter
number 7, 8 and 9 did a fascinating presentation where they talked about
delivering speeches, how to choose your words and the visual resources to use
in your assignments. All my partners did a great job, and I was so happy.
The turn for group 3
arrived and they started explaining the guiding principles for an informative
presentation its purpose. I think this is very important because you want your
audience to learn from your presentations and apply that information. I also
learned that defining the meaning of any complex word that you use will help
the audience to comprehend that information and will be very helpful to them
and to you. The group also described the ethical principles of informative
speaking as this can help you to promote growth. I think that group number 3
did a concise speech and they focused very good in the topic.
In conclusion my first presentation was an incredible experience that teached me how to work in groups, learn from each other and be helpful. Analyzing the success of my first public speaking experience and working in groups I realized that it was very captivating and motived me to understand deeply the subject of the presentation. I also learned how to control my nerves in a manner that I can succeed even when I’m nervous. Even though I was afraid at the beginning I managed to develop a good speech and then keep myself focused on my partner’s and classmate’s presentations and not letting my nerves distract me from the process of learning. Working together has been the best experience I have ever had. I am ready to keep working with this amazing team in the future and I hope they feel the same way.
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