Early this week in class we gave presentations on our
analysis of certain consumer advertisements. During this presentation we were
to give a speech that lasted longer than four minutes. I chose the Old Spice ad: The Man Your Man
Could Smell Like. Now I did the research and I connected what happened in the ad
to what we learned in class, and I felt like I had a pretty good handle on what
the ad was trying to say, and how they were getting their information across.
However as soon as I stood in front of the class it was like all my knowledge
fled out the window. I became an instant epileptic with how much I was shaking.
My whole body was vibrating and because I was standing in front of the podium,
everyone saw it. When all their eyes focused on me it was like I froze and all
my smoothness went out the window. Now normally I am, while not very calm, a
smooth talker, with fast ideas and even faster words. I like to get my ideas
out there and have people tell me I am right. But as soon as I am put in front
of a class all of my smoothness goes out of the window. It only happens when I
stand up in front of the class, if I could do the presentation sitting down I
would be fine.
When we are publicly speaking we are putting ourselves on display,
leaving ourselves open to the criticism of others. When we are just talking to
others in our peer group on less serious occasions we do not think on the judgment
they are paying to us only what we are saying. But when we are told we are
being graded on what we say and how we say it, it adds a level of stress that
is not there normally. This is because we put so much weight on how people
speak. When learning other languages we first learn that there is a formal and
informal version. When we are talking to friends we unknowingly use the
informal version of English, but when we publicly speak we are forced to use
the formal version. We get so stressed
out because this is not a version that we use often and so it does not come as
naturally.
Bottom line, I think either we should began learning about
publicly speaking in second grade so that by the time it matters we are
desensitized to it; or we should just get rid of it all together.
Stick to papers people!
I agree that coming into Penn State, many are not prepared to jump into public speaking. I have given many speeches, including at graduation which I felt as though I had the whole stage shaking. Though, I managed to control it. The audience was distant, and I had other factors such as music and a slideshow to distract the audience a bit. Each situation presents different obstacles. As in class, we did not have the podium as a guard either. Thinking I'd be brave, I immediately jumped out into the open space, and slowly detracted back to the podium. The distance we create makes us feel less vulnerable. I take part in Air Force ROTC here, and they teach us every day: get over your fears of public speaking. I will be in charge of a flight one day consisting of about thirty men and women. If I’m shaking, and stumbling, and missing the main point, there goes my authority designated by my superiors. It's a snowball effect: if there is no consistency, one fail will lead to another. It takes time. I have faith you will overcome this small scenario of delivering speeches. Your material was concrete; be brave! All comes with practice.
ReplyDeleteThough I have to say, papers will not influence people as words do. Not to get too personal, my ex fiancé and I had differences. The amount of papers I wrote him in the form of texts and letters did nothing. Though, when I got the courage to fly out and see him, I finally got to the bottom of what he was going through. I connected with him. Public speaking is essential, building pathos, ethos, logos, emotional appeals; you name it. Sorry for the long post by the way!
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