Speaking With Confidence
Based on the material learned in class, I strongly believe that it is essential to learn how to overcome nervousness or speech anxiety and own the stage during the meeting or presentation. Having the confidence is a powerful technique for promoting public speaking (Grice and Skinner, 2004); while on the other hand, the prevalence of nervousness leads to fear of public speaking. Some of the situations that account for my own nervousness or confidence in public speaking situation include; being self-conscious in front of a crowd makes me anxious and I only feel comfortable speaking to small groups. Being self-conscious in front of a crowd is caused by the concern about the idea that I would be judged by the crowd and forgets the fact that the audience does care about me, they are only there to receive or hear the speech I am giving. Lastly, the idea of failing to prepare sufficiently to analyze my audience also accounts for my own nervousness in public speaking.
Lack of preparation always undermines my confidence in public speaking, however, I can describe myself as a confident speaker because I always find myself out of this situations. One of the things that enhance my own confidence is the idea that I am able to choose courage over, confidence. Building confidence on stage is a bit difficult compared to the idea of realizing having courage. Courage on the stage is a proactive way that promotes a positive psycho-physiological response. For this reason, I can reasonably argue that speaking in front of a large crowd can be intimidating; however, good public speaking skills can help a speaker overcome this challenge.
Reference
Grice, G. L., & Skinner, J. F. (2004). Mastering public speaking. Pearson.
