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Anyone ever take a Public Speaking class?

aphex

aphex

Moderator<br>All Things Apple
Moderator
Im thinking about taking one during summer school....

How was it? Did it help alot?
 
Actually helped more than I thought it would.

First speech I had a lot of anxiety going into it, and could barely go a sentence without having to catch my breath..but by the end the words just came out smoothly and I was very much looking forward to speaking in front of class.
 
High school juniors (me) are required to take it in Illinois.

Kind of cheesy material, really just the practice was helpful (obviously, you have to give a lot of speeches to pass, and gradually you become more comfortable speaking).
 
I haven't yet. It's required for my degree, but this coming fall semester was the first time I've been able to get into it.
 
i really wouldn't recommend taking it during summer school. i did and man that was ruff. I thought i would just get it over with as quickly as possible since it's only 6 weeks instead of 16 but what i didn't think about was the preparing of the speeches. That is actually the hard part and they force the same amount of speeches in that short period as you have to do in the longer period. My teacher told me that it should take 1 hour of preparation for every 1 minute of a speech (topic, research, sources, props, memorizing, practicing etc.) but I had to take a lot longer than that. we had 1 speech every week. class was mon-thurs for 2 hours each day. we didn't get the assignment until weds or thurs because we were watching other people's speeches and we had to have our next one ready on monday in case we were called. the last few speeches (i think the last one was 12 minutes) took up every minute of free time I had for the last half of class. anyhow, that's my experience with it anyways 🙂 hopefully yours is better.
 
joining debate in HS is better for you to learn public speaking IMO....PS was an easy A if you are confident...after that, it's just technique and semantic.

my 2 cents
 
I took it in high school and in college, and enjoyed it both times, given that I don't have a real fear of public speaking. There are useful points that you do learn in the class, like how to properly pace yourself, how to properly maintain eye contact, and how to appropriately handle question and answer sessions, etc..
 
Its much easier as you get older. When you're in high school, you're really self-conscious to the point of hypersensitivity. Getting up in front of all these people that you know and live next to and will see everyday for a couple more years, its nerve rattling. There's the whole obsessive image thing in high school where your own worrying about screwing up will cause you to screw-up more than you otherwise would. Blah.

When you're in college, or older, its like, "Hey, I don't know any of these people, or I only know a few of them, and I really don't care what any of them think!" That helps.
 
still don't like doing it, but i can 😛

i figure it was like a torture test thats good for you, kinda like going to the dentist🙂


<--positive thinker😉
 
I'm in high school right now, and do Lincoln-Douglas Varsity Debate.

I've never been afraid of public speaking, and have no problems doing speaking at school assemblies or stuff.

Public Speaking classes are required at my high school, but I got a waiver from the teacher saying that I do debate, and didn't have to take it 🙂
 
I thought the oral communication class was excellent. However, I still can't talk in public if its on a microphone. It echos in my ear and I confuse my thoughts. I can speak fine with out a microphone. I guess I need one of those ear plug things that only lets you hear yourself as you speak not what the microphone projects.
 
Mine was much easier when, after the first series of speeches, I realized that everybody else in the class sucked at speaking. What a confidence-booster.
 
Originally posted by: ryzmah
Required by my university - didn't help much at all.
Click to expand...

And in High School as well.
Being on the debate team at my university helped more. I think the only thing that really helps is acclimitization, in the end.

 
Toastmasters worked miracles for myself. It also looks good on your resume too.
 
It DOES help, even if you don't realize it. Most people start to choke when they first get up in front of people, but this class helps you get over that. You may not learn a lot about how to write a speech, but you will get experiance. I took 2 speech classes in HS and was nervous about every speech I gave (I would almost shake). In college (Public Speaking), I was as natural as can be.
 
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