The "Intro Jessica" video gave a great example of what we should be shooting for as amateur speakers. She applied anecdotal references, confidence, and conversational skills to her speech and outlined what it takes to overcome the common anxieties of most new speakers.
I extracted the most information from the visualization aspect of the video. Imagining myself giving the speech does the same thing for my anxiety as would writing notecards. But since this class deals more with the conversational style of speaking, visualization is key. I won't have the security of a written speech before me so I'll have to rely upon a combination of memorization and improv. If I visualize myself giving that speech, starting that conversation, however, it keys into the same parts of my brain that would respond to the tangible presence of notes. That sounds like a bit of a ramble, but that's because I really do stress out about the conversation aspect of this class. In the few blogs that I've already written, I basically suggested that I wouldn't have much of a problem with speech anxiety, but considering that I won't have a written speech in front of me gives me stress. I would feel much more confident committing a speech to memory and presenting it from then, but in this course Jessica's advice about visualization will come in handy. I'll be sure to do that before the culture speech - that much is certain.
- I. F. K.
What you said about getting more information from the visual aspect of the "Intro Jessica" video" is similar to how I felt. I watched her hand movements and her demeanor at the podium. I feel that I learn by watching others and if I can mimic her, I will feel less foolish in front of the audience. I will be able to tell myself, that other speakers act like in this manner.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I noticed about your post is that you feel stressed out not having a written speech. I assume this is because you are use to a written format. I on the other hand look at it as liberation. I am free to change how my speech will go at any moment. Rather than memorizing and using notecards to read out a speech verbatim, I will be able to say, I think this will come out better like that during the last minute.