Concept from Chp 2

Almost everyone is probably familiar with that feeling of butterflies in your stomach before you get up in front of your class and attempt to make a speech that interests the entire group of people while also managing to be informative.  Anxiety over a speech is extremely hard to overcome, but if you have a few relaxation techniques you can perform, a speech is much more likely to come across as well-organized and the speaker will feel their confidence come across to the classroom. In our textbook, the author gave quite a few techniques that help with making you feel relaxed before and during a speech. There are three types of breathing listed that can slow down your heart rate, help you breathe better, and loosen your muscles. Diaphragmatic breathing is where you sit down with your feet flat and hands on your rib cage and take a deep yawn. I think this technique probably helps a lot before the big speech because it reminds you to slow down. Meditation breathing is where you clear your mind and focus on each part of the breathing process. I will have to remember to use this one in the last few moments before the speech. The last exercise is tension-release breathing. You must breathe slowly while focusing on where you feel most tense. My nerves tend to make me tense all over, which can make public speaking extremely uncomfortable, so this exercise could be extremely helpful. 

What I Learned From Chp 2 Videos

After watching video 2.1, I learned that there really are a lot of ways that you can cope with your nervousness during a speech before AND during the speech itself. Visualization could be extremely helpful because sometimes nervousness starts when you walk into the classroom and realize that this is nothing like how you practiced at home. I learned that diaphragmatic breathing could be key, especially in circumstances where you need to slow yourself down because you started rambling or are talking too fast. Relabeling sounds like a great idea because you can change negative feelings about speaking into positive things that can improve your attitude towards the task. In 2.2, I learned that you should visualize the speech going well. This was something that I had never thought of. I usually am only concerned with getting through it one notecard at a time, but this bit of advice makes perfect sense. Everyone has heard about the effects of positive thinking! In the “Intro: Jessica” the most important thing that I learned was the value of hand gestures. Throughout the video I was interested in watching her because she moved her hands and demonstrated what she was talking about. That’s extremely important in a speech to get the viewers to pay attention and to add value to what you’re saying. 

Public Speaking Apprehension

What makes me apprehensive about public speaking is being able to sound conversational and comfortable during a speech. When I get nervous I tend to begin to sound like a robot, which probably is boring for my audience. According to our textbook, “habituation” can really help a speaker to feel more comfortable. The repetition helps to ease anxiety. I will have to remember this as we progress in the class. Another issue that could be caused from not being confident during a speech is that I will not be able to pay attention to feedback from the class. It will be important for me to be able to calm my nerves enough to stay alert to my audience so that I can tell if I’m not explaining something correctly or people are confused.  I have always enjoyed and responded the most to speakers that sounded just like they were talking one-on-one or to a small group. I think this is because when a person is relaxed, you are focusing on their content and delivery in a positive way. Hopefully I'll be able to overcome these apprehensions throughout the semester.

Introduction

Hi everyone! My name is Elizabeth. I'm 22 years old. I am a pre-nursing student and I'm just trying to get my last few classes done before I can transfer. I'm very excited to get into a nursing program and take the last step to getting into my career. I have had a little public speaking experience just through school. From about the 4th grade on we began doing basic speeches in class. I usually do pretty average on speeches, but I've never been one to be very excited for them. I'm usually nervous beforehand, but I look at it as a necessary thing sometimes. My goal in this class is to gain confidence and eloquence while making speeches, but also in normal conversation. The public speaking fear I would like to conquer is to be able to get in front of people and be able to talk comfortably and conversationally instead of rushing through it out of nervousness. I hope everyone has a good time in the course and is able to overcome whatever public speaking fears they might have also.