RE: Speaking with Confidence

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Following are the factors that account for both my confidence as well as nervousness in public speaking situations:  

Language: I use the language I feel more confident with. English is my second language and I avoid using English while speaking in public. I get nervous in the conversations where I have to rely on English to express myself. I usually rely on my first language (that is Urdu) in most of my conversations and that brings in more confidence. Thus language is a factor that accounts for both my confidence as well as under-confidence.•   Knowledge: I feel more confident while discussing my own area of excellence. There are some areas we feel more confident about and that confidence comes through knowledge. Discussing about subjects or issues I do not have proper knowledge about is inviting nervousness.•   How I carry myself: My confidence also depends on the way I have maintained or prepared myself. If I feel I look good, it boosts my self-confidence and if I feel otherwise, it brings down my confidence.•   Some confidence factors I have read about in my course materials include knowledge, beauty, strong personality, positive self-image, and good company.

Keeping in view these confidence factors, I would like to believe that I am conveniently confident speaker for I usually avoid the situations that can make me nervous; I avoid languages that make me uncomfortable; I avoid to get into conversations when I don’t feel I am looking my best. There are many ways I can improve myself so that I can feel confident even in the situations I try to avoid. Some steps would be:•   Language: I should learn English language and practice it more and more so that I get confidence with its usage. Having hold on a language plays an important role in determining one’s confidence during public speaking.•   Knowledge: I need to make myself more well-informed about areas of my interest as well as areas I am not interested in. It will boost further my confidence and will reduce the number of topics I avoid discussing about because I don’t know much about them.•   Positive self-image: I need to stop placing too much importance on what others think or how I look. I should learn to have a positive self-image of myself and that’s what should matter. People can’t bring you down unless you let them to.•   Facing one’s fears: I think I need to face the situations I usually run away from. I should converse more and more in English language which will make me more confident in using it. I should not shy away from the topics I am not well informed about which will help me to atleast know something about them. I should be as excited to express myself when I don’t feel presentable as much I am when I do, which will help me to have a positive self-image as well as confidence.

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17 hours ago

Loveilla Leeks 

RE: Speaking with Confidence

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Nervous is not even the right word for how I feel when I speak in front of people. I am very shy in a lot of areas in my life. So just having someone looking at me for a long-time affects me especially if I’m speaking or giving some sort of presentation. I have spoken years ago at church functions and conventions, and I really be about to pass out from the anxiety. Then when it’s my turn I am able to put away the nerves, the anxiety and speak confidently about my topic. My confidence only shows up when it’s time to speak because there is no way for me to back out, and if I did my research, I am confident in what I have written and researched. How I have my hair and what I have on also contributes to my confidence with public speaking.  I would say I am a little bit of both, a nervous confident speaker. Our textbook encouraged me in knowing that most nervousness isn’t visible. I do realize our thoughts can cause the nervousness to show on the outside. I’m still learning to not expect perfection from myself.  Incorporating the deep breaths before one is to begin a speech is priceless advice our textbook recommended. Being prepared, knowing that you don’t have to be perfect, taking those deep breaths before I began, reading my speech out loud several times giving myself good practice are the ways I would increase my confidence in public speaking.

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Lucas S. (2014). The Art of Public Speaking. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

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6 hours ago

Montasia McClain 

RE: Speaking with Confidence

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Public speaking or giving speeches in general does not have my best interest. I start to sweat and stumble over my words, I even catch myself talking too fast. As stated above, choosing a topic that you are more comfortable, familiar, or can relate to will really help some of the nerves settle and the speech to go by smoother. “When you look good, you feel good,” I always keep that in mind as that is a very true statement, and it boost your self-confidence. With confidence on high, there is absolutely nothing that can knock you down, including the uneasy feeling of presenting a speech in front of a large crowd.

Some other things that may assist with the uneasy feeling that comes with a speech it to know your audience, it helps you with the flow, when to make a joke, and/or be comfortable with them as listeners.

Practice your speech prior to presenting to the listeners, as you are preparing yourself and do not have to read everything word from word, constantly looking at notes, and you speak loudly and with confidence. Breathe, you have to take deep breaths to get the chills gone and nerves settled. Lastly, be you, the listeners will either love it or hate it, no in-between, so just be you and provide your speech on what you know and not what you think you know!

Lucas S., 2014, The Art of Public Speaking, McGraw-Hill Higher Education

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1 hour ago

Joel Rolon 

RE: Speaking with Confidence

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To begin with, speaking with confidence is a key factor when presenting a speech to the audience. When a speaker does not show confidence in what they are speaking about it may appear to the audience that the speaker does not know fully the topic that they are speaking about and may lose the audience’s interest. Although being nervous before making a speech is quite common for speakers. According to The Art of Public Speaking textbook there was a 2014 survey by researchers at Chapman University which had asked 1,500 participants from across the United States of America to name their greatest fear public speaking was the highest named fear out of all the participants.  

When it comes down to me, I do get extremely nervous when I am publicly speaking. Even though I feel like I should not be nervous about it or no matter how confident I am in the actual speech and work I put in I still get stage fright before speaking. In my old profession I had to make a lot of presentations to my peers, and I do not feel nervous until I know that I will be the next person to present. I start feeling my heartbeat rise and I feel jittery and the part that makes me nervous is the fact that I want to appear confident and make up scenarios in my head of the speech going wrong. The reading has shown me that I could try to turn negative thoughts and stage fright into positive energy to use it as excitement. Knowing that I am more of a nervous speaker I could use this technique to enhance my confidence. 

References 

LUCAS, S.T.E.P.H.E.N.E. (2019). Art of public speaking + connect Ac. MCGRAW-HILL EDUCATION. 

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4 minutes ago

Joe Nava Maldonado 

RE: Speaking with Confidence

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Good afternoon, Professor.

Speaking with confidence is very noticeable from the audience's point of view—the atmosphere in the room changes when the speaker is talking confidently. I can probably name many situations that make me nervous when I think about public speaking. I always think back to when I mispronounced "penknife" while reading to the whole class in middle school. The whole class started laughing, and the worst part was that my teacher was laughing so hard that he was crying on the floor. It was probably the most embarrassing memory of public speaking for me. In another event, I had to create a presentation about something personal and present it to my class. The presentation was going well until I started getting emotional, making it hard to talk clearly. These not so excellent public speaking memories make me nervous every time I need to make a presentation or speech. So I constantly think about my pronunciation of words and my nerves.

           The textbook explains how body language, practice, and a deep breath can help build confidence for public speaking. For example, a person's body language can be tricky to ready, which is suitable for the speaker. However, the speaker does not have to worry much about the audience reading their body language. However, practicing a presentation or speech can help with nerves and negative thoughts. Once a speaker truly understands how to explain their presentation, the actual presentation in front of an audience will be significantly more manageable and comfortable. Practice does not make perfect, but it does help. Personally, practicing a speech makes me more comfortable with the subject and on delivery of my speech.

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