Overcoming Private Speaking: A Personal Journey

647 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Fear of public speaking related literature

Salt Lake City, 2016

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

Oh God. It still chills me to think about that question, even more than getting asked a question at all. They say public speaking scares more people than death, but I had a slightly different problem, private speaking. The guy across from me might have found it harmless, but the old me would have become a whimpering mess.

Cue flashback: first grade. Seven of us found ourselves tasked with making a skit. We needed to assign roles, but the thought of saying anything made my heart freeze. But suddenly, I had a moment of genius, play the villain. Since no one could in any way consider me maniacal, I could play the villain easily; I exposed nothing vulnerable.

Cut to sixth grade. I sat at …show more content…

A boy stood over my desk. I did not know what he wanted, but I sure could not talk to him. I didn’t know him! How could I talk to him? I turned my head back into the safety of my book without a word and listened for his footsteps to walk away from my desk. Unfortunately, my gratefulness for his leaving soon turned to disappointment that I had missed an opportunity to reach out. I kicked myself internally, but moved on.

Freshman year. My mom did not think I would make a good fit for speech club, given my lack of social skills and shy attitude. However, I felt intrigued by the idea of challenging myself with debate, and my dad encouraged the idea, so I went all out. I paid for membership; I bought a suit for tournaments; I went to every practice, all without the partner I would need to compete.

The coach assigned me to the only other person as shy as me, telling us to stay in constant communication to coordinate research for tournaments. After exchanging numbers, we never talked outside practice again. In rounds, we failed to communicate with each other, so our arguments collapsed. She quit after three months, but I had invested myself; I would not

Show More
Related

  • Persuasive Essay On San Antonio City

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are a lot of options in the San Antonio real estate market at this time, which can prove to be a bit taxing for a prospective home buyer. Those interested in purchasing a home can browse through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in order to view all of the listings available. As a whole, the real estate market is thriving, yet the general price of properties in the area are surprisingly affordable.

    Read More

  • Essay On Washington City

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    Washington D.C: Our Nation’s Capital Although the entire world is familiar with the City of Washington as the United State’s capital, the city was nonexistent when we became a nation in 1789. Thanks to the brilliant design of the French born engineer, Pierre Charles L’Enfant and his assistants Benjamin Banneker and Andrew Ellicot, our capital city that was once a swamp now is beautiful with many different parks, gardens trees, tall buildings and wide avenues. Washington, District of Columbia named after Christopher Columbus, has played a unique role in the wars of our nation and has been dramatically affected by their awesome events.

    Read More

  • I Was the Only Girl, but I Was Determined to Make the Golf Team

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first day of practice was interesting. All my fellow teammates treated me as an outcast – even the coach. This was the coaches first year of coaching varsity golf and had no idea what to do with a female on the team. When coaching a sport you need to be able to help a team member when they are having difficulty with the sport. For golf, this includes touching the person to insure they are swinging the club properly. Being that the coach was male, and I am female he would never help me because there are particular spots where you can touch a guy but not a girl (for example the bust region). After playing nine holes of golf, the team would usually go down to the driving range to relax our muscles that we had just used. At the driving range, the coach would assist the team members with the problems they were having. He would help reposition your grip, hold your legs, arms, back, or hip region, whenever they were incorrect. He never approached me. If I needed help with any of my golf game I would either go to another schools coach or get professional lessons.

    Read More

  • Essay On Oakland

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    There’s a lot that could be said to convince you that renting apartments in Oakland would be one of the best decisions of your life. Maybe you’d be interested in the fact that Oakland is a smart city; it’s one of the top cities when counting residents with bachelor’s degrees. Maybe you’d be intrigued by the fact that Oakland is known for its ethnic diversity, as well as its sustainability practices. Many more facts could be spewed at you, and they’d all add up to one thing—Oakland is an awesome, hip place to live.

    Read More

  • A Tale of Two Cities Essay

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Tale of Two Cities Essay Throughout history, the powers of love and hate have constantly been engaged in a battle for superiority. Time and time again, love has proven to be stronger than hate, and has been able to overcome all of the obstacles that have stood in the way of it reaching its goal. On certain occasions, though, hate has been a viable foe and defeated love when they clash. In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents several different power struggles between love and hate.

    Read More

  • Finding the Voice to Speak

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    Finding the voice to speak "The Woman Warrior" consists of five stories which focuses on five women: Kingston's long-dead aunt, "No-Name Woman"; a mythical female warrior, Fa Mu Lan; Kingston's mother, Brave Orchid; Kingston's aunt, Moon Orchid; and finally Kingston herself. Based on her mother's stories, which are integrated with Kingston's imagination, "The Woman Warrior" reveals her past childhood experiences, and explores her struggle to reconcile her Chinese heritage with her American identity. It is only at the very end that Kingston realizes that, through her writing, she can express her concern about the unfairness toward the voiceless Chinese women. In the beginning of the first chapter, Kingston made the theme of the book very clear: Chinese women are voiceless. It is notably ironic that the story begins with something that is supposed not to be said: her unnamed dead aunt: "You must not tell anybody about that', said my mother."

    Read More

  • Sedona, Arizona-Personal Narrative Essay

    324 Words  | 1 Pages

    One of the most surprising and uncommon events happened to me in the summer of 2015, Sedona, Arizona. It started out as a pleasant summer getaway; visiting the Grand Canyon, Sedona rock slides, and just having an amazing, memorable time with friends and family. One day, we decided that it would be enjoyable to have a picnic in the forest. The trees were deep green and lush. The tranquil, relaxing stream of a nearby river could be heard, and birds were chirping cheerfully. After lunch, we all decided upon venturing deeper into the forest near the river. On a rock, a single bright, pastel green caterpillar- equipped with unique spikes, caught our eyes. None of us had ever seen such a creature. We were captivated and intrigued. Since we were not

    Read More

  • Essay On Atrophy Social Life

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    The very idea of spending time with people outside of school is exhausting and my heart begins to pound as I raise my hand to speak during class. Speaking in public, even if it’s just to answer a question in class, or carrying out tasks like ordering Chinese food can lead to tears or a sudden lack of ability to breathe. If I think I say something in a weird way or join a conversation I feel I should not have joined, I will remember the terror (because it is pure terror) that I felt in that moment basically

    Read More

  • Reflective Essay On Communication Skills

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    For the aforementioned reasons, there is no doubt that fears and shy had been controlled myself throughout the years. According to The People’s Almanac presents The Book of Lists by David Wallechinsky, Irving and Amy Wallace, one of the topic was titled “The 14 Worst Human Fears”, and the fear of speaking in public is the first fear of all fears (Richard I. Garber, 2009). This make me realized that it is perfectly normal to feel anxiety and fears to speak. Everyone, even an experienced speakers has some anxiety when speaking in front of a group of people. As for my experience and situation, I should have just fight the fears in me to throw my voice out asking questions in class otherwise I would might left behind a bit and need to struggle up for the subjects more than everyone does. Asking questions does not make you any stupid, it’s the source of

    Read More

  • My Personal Characteristics Of A Type A Personality

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    I approach the tee box and meet my opponents. I begin my pre shot routine, with thoughts racing through my mind. I step back, I aim, I take my practice swing, I align myself and I duff the ball. I completely mis hit the ball in front of my competitors on my first drive of the day. Censure begins to form in my mind, I am absolutely furious. Not only did I mess up my first drive, but all my drives. I am appalled, my drives were perfect the day before. I cannot refocus myself every shot; however, I am able to persevere through the game, a lesson I have learned through practicing golf. Perseverance is crucial to everything I do as a Type A personality, because it allows you to work through harsh conditions. At the end of the two days, my coach explained to me that I can not focus on the other players or my last bad shot, I have to pull myself out of negative thinking and just do. His advice was difficult to take on, because I was upset for shooting a 222; a total of 87 strokes higher than my teammate, Sabrina. Although coach Grazier’s advice was tough to hear, by attending this tournament I gained a better sense of my self worth. In addition, I strengthened my sportsmanship skills and team spirit. All of my teammates were proud of me for playing in the tournament, without me playing they would not have had a team

    Read More

  • Stephen Lucas's The Fear Of Public Speaking

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    How has public speaking become so feared? “In a study [of 9,000 people] that concentrated on fears in a social situation, their top ranking fears were public speaking, speaking up in class, meeting new people, talking to people of authority, important exams or interviews, going to parties and talking to strangers”(Lucas, 2012, pg. 9). This question has always perplexed me, because I too suffer from a fear of speaking in public. But after reading chapter one of The Art of Public Speaking, I understand now that it is a blend of different subjects that make public speaking seem so unappealing. Stephen Lucas opens this chapter on the power of public speaking, by saying “Throughout history people have used public speaking as a vital means of

    Read More

  • Confidence vs Arrogance

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    Finally Friday came. The tournament lasted for about three hours, peppered with constant complaints, arguments, and threatened fist fights. To my own disbelief, we lost -- by one point! For the rest of the night I rationalized our loss by creating stories of how they must have cheated, accented by remarks about the character blemishes of their mothers. I just kept saying that we were still the best and it didn't matter that we had lost. By the end of the night no one was speaking to me, not even my partner in the competition. I finally snuck off and went home. All the way, I could feel myself choking on ...

    Read More

  • Social Skills Deficit Research Paper

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    I did have great communication skills but whenever I had to communicate in front of a group of people for some reasons I fail miserably. My public speaking fears had become worst when I got to college. I was required to take a public speaking class which I couldn’t escape in since it was one of the required courses for my degree. My first day on that class is so far the most terrible day of my life. I was asked to introduce myself to the class using only one word to describe me, the moment that my name was called it felt like I was walking into an unfamiliar galaxy. I am standing in front of a classroom full of strangers doing nothing but looking around and

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative Essay: A First Day In A New School

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    It was finally the first day of school; I was excited yet nervous. I hoped I would be able to make new friends. The first time I saw the schools name I thought it was the strangest name I’ve ever heard or read, therefore I found it hard to pronounce it in the beginning. The schools’ floors had painted black paw prints, which stood out on the white tiled floor. Once you walk through the doors the office is to the right. The office seemed a bit cramped, since it had so many rooms in such a small area. In the office I meet with a really nice, sweet secretary who helped me register into the school, giving me a small tour of the school, also helping me find

    Read More

  • My Brother the Drunk

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    My brother stood tall a few feet in front of me. He was almost towering, and I felt myself become very nervous. With his head held high, he walked over to me. He asked how I was doing; I told him that I was fine. My brother flipped his head back in a cocky manner, as if to emphasize his ear-length hair. I secretly rolled my eyes. Making small talk, I asked him how school was going. He replied that it was great and that all his teachers loved him. He also commented on how he might be playing baseball for his college again this year. I smiled and said that that was wonderful. He didn't bother to ask how school was going for me. Feeling strange, I told him that I had to run. We said our goodbyes and he began to leave. As he left, I noticed the way he walked. It wasn't a normal walk. It was a walk that commanded everyone's attention. It was a steady stride. With his shoulders back and head up, I could tell that everyone at the grocery store was watching him. Unfortunately, so could he.

    Read More

More about Overcoming Private Speaking: A Personal Journey

Open Document