Greatest Speaking Fear

In my personal opinion, everyone has a speaking fear of some sort, but how we deal with that fear determines how well of a speaker we become. When it comes to my speaking fear, I would consider that fear to be the fear of mispronouncing words. One such instance was when I gave my graduation speech. I was at the podium and started off smoothly, but then I started to struggle to get my words to come out correctly. My speech slowed, I would have to backtrack, and I became less audible as I tried to find my comfort spot again. I felt so embarrassed! After the speech, it was all I could think about. How? How was I struggling to get words out of my mouth that I had said so many times before? It wasn’t the first time, nor will it probably be the last. Sometimes in class, when reading a book out loud, I would experience the same flaw. You feel as though your brain is not correctly connected to your mouth, like there was suddenly a jumbled sense of thinking. Even though I got many congratulations on my graduation speech, the fact that I had struggled with my pronunciation was what stuck in my mind. I felt ashamed of myself and embarrassed. I knew that I should have done better, but I didn’t. Maybe this is because I get nervous and think about making a mistake, or I let my mind get ahead of my mouth. Whatever it is, the fear remains there. So hopefully, when I give this rhetoric speech, I will actually be able to speak without mispronunciations and feel like I succeeded.

Michael Lawn – CAS 137
Image: Liberator/Kultur-Terror (Culture Terror) 1944 by Harald Damsleth
• World War II
o 1944- liberation of Germany controlled Europe by allied forces
• Harald Damsleth
o Norwegian cartoonist and illustrator, and spent time as war reporter
o Over 200 different propaganda posters
o Moved from modernism to naturalistic style
• Used widely in Norway and Denmark
• Themes/Motifs
o Sexual casualness of American women
 Miss America, Miss Victory, Most beautiful leg
o Gun violence and Gangsterism
 Convict, Thompson submachine gun
o Anti-black violence
 Noose, Ku Klux Klan, Caged African-Americans
o Support for violence
 Boxing glove
o Mistreatment of Native Americans
 Indian head-dress
o Commercialism, materialism, greed, and corruption
 Moneybag ($), business suited arm
o Mongrelizing/primitive elements mixing with white race
 Muscle of African-American male, Jitterbug, JITTERBUG-Triumph of Civilization
o Distasteful American culture and its influence
 Jitterbug, phonograph record, gullible European
o Military violence
 Bomb, metal legs, airplane wings
o Jingoism and war fervor
 Drum, Miss Victory, Drum major outfit
o Love/influence of Jews
 Star of David banner, caricature of Jew on moneybag
o Demonization of USA symbols
 Reverse flag, Air Corps roundel
• “The USA wants to save the European Culture from downfall. With what right?”
• Ethos
o It would not be ethical to let the United States destroy our culture.
• Logos
o Is it logical to change the culture of Europe?
• Pathos
o Fear that the United States will destroy what Europe is and its traditions.
• What one side may feel is good, another may view as evil. No side is pure.

3 thoughts on “Greatest Speaking Fear

  • Posted on September 2, 2016 at 1:35 pm

    That is an absolutely justified concern. I think it’s so strange how sometimes when you start speaking your mouth and your brain seem to disconnect. (I have most definitely been there!) I am sure that is a tough fear to get over, but I am looking forward to seeing you succeed with this speaking assignment!

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  • Posted on September 2, 2016 at 1:39 pm

    Memorization is my advice to you. I do not mean to say that you should memorize your entire speech, that’s far too much work. What I mean is that you should memorize the key points, the big hook lines, the parts of the speech you know will get our attention, and continuously read the speech aloud to yourself until you are confident enough in it that you needn’t worry about stuttering or mispronouncing words. Everyone else in the audience is just as nervous as you, we don’t want to have to get up either. Reading your audience is helpful too. After all, if any mishaps do happen its alright; you are speaking to your freshman year RCL Class, not giving the State of the Union.

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  • Posted on September 2, 2016 at 1:53 pm

    First of all, congrats on having the courage to speak at your graduation! If you were able to go through the fear of possibly being judged by your entire class, parents, and teachers, you will surely be able to speak in front a small English class. Looking at your outline, it seems that you are very passionate about your speech already and have lots to talk about. Don’t be so hard on yourself, and remind yourself that you know what you are talking about. Even if you do slip up, try not to get stuck on that mistake. Remember that no one is thinking about your mistake more than you are.
    Good luck!!

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