Speaking Comfortably in Front of an Audience

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind," said Rudyard Kipling. Communication skills are indeed one of the most essential skills that anyone can have. We were all born with strong voices and shouldn't be afraid to use them. Throughout the course of this semester, I feel I have improved on a few of the various skills I learned during this course. My goals for my CIP paper were to improve on my public speaking apprehension, writing skills, and verbal delivery skills. I have improved on my writing skills, verbal delivery, and researching skills, but I still have a fear of getting up in front of others. This class has helped me a little on my public speaking but I have a lot more practice I could ultimately achieve my goal of being completely comfortable in front of an audience. Since I have improved on my researching, writing, and verbal delivery, I believe I can research a topic, write it out, and communicate it with much more efficiently than I used too. In the beginning of this course, I struggled with a variety of different skills, but with a lot of persistence and practice, I have improved a great deal.

First off, I used to not really know how to exactly research a topic. I would spend hours on numerous amounts of websites and not find the material I was looking for. I know now what information to use and how to narrow my information down correctly. I learned what websites are good to use such as the library website and google. The library database helped me out a lot and made me figure out how to accurately find a topic. It really helps you narrow down your choices so you can get what you are looking for. I learned how to narrow my search down on websites, such as google or yahoo, by putting it into quotations. For my group speech, I used the library database and found a great website on my topic, that I put into my speech. I also found a lot of great sources for my informative speech from the library website and google. I feel that since my researching skills have improved, it makes my information better, so overall my papers and speeches have enhanced.

Thinking of something and putting it onto paper used to be a great struggle of mine. I always have tons of thoughts in my head and needed a way to organize them to put them down onto paper. I never know what to say, or how to say it. I think that this course and by learning how to outline and use transitions, has helped me a lot in this area. Outlines for my speeches have helped me to organize my topics and ideas. It helped me think of a main point and then figure out smaller ideas to talk about. I learned how to make unique transitions between new topics to make a speech or paper stand out. I think that these skills have helped me become a better writer because I am now more organized. For my group speech, I made myself an outline to organize my thoughts down onto paper. This helped make my speech clear and make sense.

I have also improved on my verbal delivery skills. In the beginning of the semester, when I first went up in front of the class for the "bring your own bag" project, I didn't do too well. My voice was shaky and too soft. I stood in the same position the whole time. I also didn't have different tones of voice to show my interest. I feel that by my informative speech and group speech I knew how to deliver my speech in a more proper manner. I know now how to emphasize something important by changing my voice tone. I know how to present a visual aid by using different gestures. In my group speech, I felt like I used a loud voice and used better eye-contact than I have before. I got into my character to make the audience respond. I have improved in my monotone voice and I feel like I put more energy into my speech. My delivery as a whole has improved greatly than before this course.

One thing that has not improved as much as I wish it would have, is my fear of public speaking. In the beginning of the semester, I dreaded talking in front of people. I would ignore it in any way that I could. I feel that now by the end of the semester, I have improved a little in the area, but not as much as I would have liked too. I still get very anxious in front of others and don't enjoy getting up in front of an audience. I think this course has helped me in the sense that I am more comfortable in some of my skills, so my speech is overall a better one. I still need to get over the fear that everyone is judging me and just go up there and do the best I can.

The speech topic that I will alter for my English course next semester is my gay marriage speech. I was very interested in this topic because it is currently a very hot political issue. I know some people personally that are homosexual and would like to get married, but don't have the opportunity to do it. They have strong opinions about this topic and they believe everyone has the right to equality. I feel that this speech made me learn a lot more about the issue and got me even more intrigued in this topic. For my English class next semester, I will alter my research strategy by researching my topic more in depth and really get all sides to the story. I think I researched it and got a lot of general information, but not enough details. I would like to hear all the different sides to the argument.

By the end of this course, I have become a much better researcher, writer, and have better verbal delivery skills. I now know how to research information and know what websites are good to use. I know how to research and narrow down my search choices. My writing skills have improved a lot and I now can organize my thoughts clearly down onto paper. My speaking skills and tone of voice has gotten better. I don't talk in such a monotone voice and I emphasize the importance of my topic by speaking loud and clear. I wish I had overcome my fear of public speaking completely, but I think with even more practice that will eventually diminish. As everyone always says, practice makes perfect.