It's lunch on Sunday of the first weekend of my public speaking bootcamp. This is a hard core, hard working class. All of the course is taught on two weekends and students have to be highly self-motivated to survive. Actually, the main concepts of the course are taught on the first weekend and the students have three weeks to write three speeches which they will give on the three days of the second weekend. The course is emotionally and physically exhausting but it's an excellent way of learning the basic skills of public speaking. Students tend to bond closely and the intensity of the class helps write what they are supposed to be learning into their neurons.
Yesterday they did their introductions and their impromptus. One of the most interesting comments about speech anxiety was made by a student who actually had the best delivery. She said that she didn't remember what she said. But she looked so calm -- had good eye contact, a strong natural vocal style, and natural gestures. While the rest of the class had a few problems with their delivery, overall I was very happy with the performances. Almost every person got the concept of a clear thesis statement (core outcome of the first assignment) and they all passed the impromptu. They are an energetic bunch. It's students like these who make this course manageable for me. They give back a lot and that keeps me upright. I was dreading this weekend but it's turned out to be a lot of fun.
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