Public Speaking

In the past, I have participated in a lot of classes and training dealing with many different topics, but unfortunately, public speaking and/ or communications was not one of them. In fact, the last class that I took even relatively close to this one was in junior high school. In some sense, I guess that this could be thought of as a good thing, because now I can learn at a college level to begin with.My goals for this class are fairly numerous, but all are based on all around knowledge and improvement of public speaking in a general sense. I want to be able to get up in front of a group of people and deliver a message in a way that makes people want to listen. I'm planning a career in the field of psychology, and as much as I may not like it, I think public speaking will definitely show its face many times. My specific goals for the course include improving on my stance, speaking more clearly, and improving on my fear of speaking in front of a large group.After reviewing my videotaped speeches, I have noticed that, among other things, I am constantly fidgeting and doing something with my hands like playing with my note cards or something. Also, I am clearly not comfortable with standing up there. Although it is not overly visible on the tape, I can tell that I look very nervous, and I tend to stutter a little and lose my place and focus in the middle of the speeches frequently. I really don't understand why speaking in front of the class bothers me so much. If I were to give the speech from my desk, even though everyone would still be looking at me, I think that I could do a much better job and be more relaxed as well. I think that improving on these previous aspects will give me enough experience and confidence to at least have a working knowledge and ability to successfully speak publicly. Although my career will probably not involve an immense amount of public speaking, it will require some, and this course will surely provide valuable...