IPC 205

The second speech I did was as a group, which made it a little more challenging then the first one. It was kind of difficult at first to get everything moving for the speech and to prepare for it. No one really took the initiative as a group to organize and assign people what to do, and the speech was getting closer. I decided to go ahead and send an email to the group stating what we should do and how we should go about it doing it, luckily that went over well, sort of. Everyone was good with their part, however we never heard from one our group members, and the speech was getting closer. We decided just to organize the speech without that member and continue on with our progress. Everyone new their parts, what they were discussing and everything seemed to be going smoothly, until the day of the presentation. Three out of the four group members were ready to go, when the news came that one of our members wasn’t going to be able to make it to the speech due to an illness. Once we found this out, the nerves kicked in to overdrive.

The speech had to go on, so we improvised. We were going to give our speech to the best of our ability. I decided I would take over the part of the missing group member, why I thought it would be a good idea, I am not sure. I was pretty nervous getting up there and not know exactly what I was going to discuss when the new part of my speech came along. I delivered my speech, pretty well, I thought. Of course, I can always work on better eye contact and speaking at a slower rate. After I delivered my section, I new there was another section I was going to have to deliver to the audience. Not know this part very well, I had to read straight from the paper and improvise as much as possible. I felt I got the information delivered, but wish I could have been more prepared for it.

Giving presentations and speeches in front of a group of people can be difficult, but adding in the elements our group had, made it a little more difficult. I feel with everything that was thrown at us, we did a decent job. Plus, going first is never easy!

Well, now that the first speech is over, I can definitely relax.  The first speech for me is always the worst.  Getting up in front of people you have to see for the next thirteen weeks is nerve-racking.  If you mess up, you still have to face them again.  For me, it is much easier to get up in front of a group of people I will never see again, but that is not the case for this class. 

Once, I got up in front of the class, the nerves begain to kick in.  I could felt nervous, I was shaking, and I could feel it in my voice.  I know that if I just take a deep breath and let it go, I will be fine, but I never seem to think to do that when I am up there.  My voice was quivering, but I was getting through the speech.  I tried not to look at my note cards too often, but I know I looked at them more then I should have.  As the speech went on, I could really hear my nervousness in my voice, which I’m sure everyone else could too.  Between being up in front of people and making sure I spoke for an adequate amount of time, my nerves were fried. 

Once I sat down, I was releaved, the speech was over.  But I felt that I did not do as well as I could have because I was nervous.  I told my friend how nervous I was, and of course, he said that he could tell in my voice.  But at least the first speech was done and over, and I could relax, and start preparing for the next one.

I know I need to learn to relax, just take a deep breath, and do my best.  Having 25 people staring right back at you and trying to deliver information to them without getting a little nervous seems impossible, but it is something I will continue to work on.  Getting up in front of people is something that will not go away, especially when I enter the work force.  All I can do now is hope that the next speech goes a little smoother and I hopefully won’t get as nervous.