When I am nervous, I tend to talk very fast. Just ask anyone about my eighth grade valedictory speech. I had written a great speech but when I took the stage, I got very nervous and talked so fast no one could understand a thing I said. My friends told me they understood one line near the end of the speech when I made a reference to the ??? movie. When I watched the video, I couldn’t believe it. It really didn’t feel like I was talking that fast while I was up there. While watching it, I realized I do talk really fast when I am nervous. I was very nervous up in front of that gym full of people!
2 Design a game plan with SPECIFIC techniques to tackle …show more content…
I am a high school cheerleader, so I am in front a gym full of people very often. Of course, I have a whole squad with me. I really haven’t given a formal speech since that eighth grade graduation; I really hope I don’t repeat that fast-talking during my four speeches for this class. To make sure I don’t I will use several techniques:
1. I will practice several times and record myself so I can see how fast I am talking before I do the recording to turn in for class.
2. I will try to be very familiar with my speech but not memorize every word. I will use note cards to guide me but try to speak more naturally instead of just reciting or reading a speech (I had that 8th grade speech memorized word for word and just recited it).
3. I will speak very slowly realizing that while it may seem slow to me it is likely to be a normal rate to my listeners. I know I loose my sense of speaking speed when I am nervous.
4. I will take a deep breath before I turn on the camera and pretend I am just talking to my friends. I am not shy so there is no reason to get so anxious. I think it will help in this class that my audience is very