Public speaking has always been something hard for me. Speeches? Memorizing 500-600+ words and having to say all of it in a 6-minute time frame? Needless to say, I was shaking in my “boots” when I heard of this assignment.

I went on the last day of civic artifact speeches, and I am grateful; it allowed me to polish up my speech and learn from what my peers did before me. Yet, I was still panicking the day before, even resorting to rehearsing before a Lysol container. But it was not for naught. When it was my time to go up, I felt confident. After hours of rehearsing, the final speech started, and I started talking about Gangnam Style and its civic impact. Six minutes later, I was done and satisfied, albeit a bit shaken.

Looking back, I believe I utilized the room’s space well, having rehearsed it numerous times before. I felt my body language was great, but the speech itself? I could not really tell. In practice, I was going at a slower pace, but up on the stage, things can change; nervousness, anxiety, and pressure can change the dynamics of my pacing and vocality.

Several days later, I received a message from my peer reviewer and Professor Minbiole on my speech. I was grateful for their positive comments on my performance and even more so for their criticisms. The two common issues had to do with the speech itself: pacing and volume. My peer reviewer mentioned how I could have paused or slowed down more to emphasize some points (a criticism I made to the peer I was reviewing), but it seems that I did not heed my own criticism. Some of the positive notes I received were on the subtle humor and excellent examples I provided to aid the delivery of my speech.

As one who was obnoxiously nervous about this speech, I felt great! But things can still be improved, especially in the speech. We will see how it goes on the even crazier TED Talk that we will have to give!

 

Photo: PSY – Gangnam Style // YouTube