Option #2:

A particular situation where I would like to improve my communication skills would be in speaking in front of a large group of people. Usually, I am fine speaking with multiple people in an informal setting. However, when there are thirty or more pairs of eyes looking at me – it gets difficult. In most cases during school presentations, I usually have an outline for how I present. However, all that seems to disappear and I start doing the presentation impromptu because of my “stage fright”. There are many cases where I would forget simple words and stutter a ton. The way I normally talk is informal and usually comedic. Although this is usually the case, I have no problems emailing a professor using very formal language; even speaking to them during or after classes. The problem lies within my inability to express my thoughts clearly and coherently in front of a large group.

During this “amazing” semester, I will have to do a thirty minute presentation with about six or seven other group members in one class and a fifteen minute presentation with four others in another. This in itself is nerve-wracking especially coupled with the huge workload that I have because I took those classes. My main goal in terms of communication skills is to get rid of the fear of speaking to a large amount of people. The only obstacles that I can immediately detect would be the fact that I can get overwhelmed easily with other school work and forget what to do; along with the obvious fear of lots of people.