Question #1

The concept that I learned this semester that was the most helpful was how to physically prepare for each speech. I suffer from extreme speaking anxiety and found the breathing techniques and that the more one practices the less nervous one will be when presenting a speech in front of a group of people. With each speech I practiced both of these techniques more and more and especially for my last speech, the persuasive speech, I practiced not only my speech multiple times but also just breathing and trying to get a hold of my nerves before I went up in front of the class. Even though I was still considerably nervous it helped a great deal. I feel that I was able to keep my pace well and that I did not allow small things to distract me and get me off topic or lost in my presentation. My prior speeches I felt that my nerves mad my speech shaky and that I moved around a lot more, back and forth motion. And because I practiced my speech so much before presenting I was a lot more confident in presenting the facts because I was able to remember them. The one thing that I wish I was better at would be my notecards. Even though I got better at writing what I needed on the cards I still have a hard time actually using them while presenting. I feel like I get a lot more lost in my topic when I am constantly looking down at my cards, which is why I usually try to memorize my speech as much as possible.