Public speaking is an important element as it can help individuals create opportunities and advance their careers in various organizations or institutions. For example, having high-quality public communication skills could be applicable in areas such as conference speeches, accepting awards or taking to new recruits in an individual’s area of expertise. Others include family speeches, weddings and charity events among others. Prior to this class, I had various challenges concerning public communication that included self confidence, body language, planning and nervousness. For example, I could sometimes be very nervous making me to talk quicker leading to message distortion. Furthermore, I had issues with body language like standing straight and looking at audiences. This happened one time when giving a family speech during a get-together celebration. As such, I can rate myself a poor public speaker prior to this class.
There has been tremendous growth when it comes to public speaking since I was able to improve on my weak points like body language communication, nervous control, practice and appropriate planning. In relation to body language, eye contact, use of gestures, taking deep breaths and feeling natural were some of the lessons learnt. Appropriate planning involves having ideas or facts properly understood and analyzed before presentation. Other areas of planning may involve starting with headlines and catchy or interesting hooks. On the other hand, practice is aimed at boosting a speaker’s confidence and enhancing smooth flow presentations. I was able to apply these skills during class presentations.
Considering the above progress learnt in class, I believe that areas like emotional appeal, fun, and body language are some areas I need to improve on. Firstly, emotion and humor are important elements of public speaking. This is because such elements normally help audiences to remember conveyed messages when they think of fun or the emotional appeal of a speaker. Despite learning some elements of body language, sometimes I have challenges on deciding when to smile or not. I believe public speaking is important in boosting self confidence and enhancing a person’s reputation. As such, it is necessary for people to gain skills such as planning, body language, nervous control and practice among others.