Doomsday, our favorite fallen hero has risen from the depths of shame and uncertainty with fervent and unwavering conviction and belief in himself. In our initial encounter with Doomsday he was ridden with fear and shame of being unable to express his thoughts from the simplest to the most complex in front of an audience. He would be confidant the night before and would visualize triumph but the moment he rose from his seat and reached the front of the room his legs, would start to shake uncontrollably, his speech would be continuously interrupted by persistent stutters as well as “likes” and “uumms” and would fail to convey even half of what he intended to deliver.

But Now, as Doomsday has acquired indispensable skills that have helped combat his fear. He has learned of the importance of preparation, practice and and conviction. He has learned to embody these lessons and integrate them into all of his speeches and he now understands that so long as he strongly believes in his message and solely desires to convey it at the pinnacle of its clarity, therein lies his success. Through struggling and persevering he now has found public speaking not a frightening and fatal flaw of his but one of his most defining and enjoyable skills he certainly vows to change the world with. So goes the tale of how Doomsday the weak conquered his phobia and became Doomsday the conqueror.

I believe the two most important factors of public speaking are preparation including practice  and confidence. I believe if one truly immerses themselves in the preparation of their topic and adequately rehearses it  the first step is complete. I have found that the most important aspect of public speaking is confidence that your message is important and must be delivered with clarity and conviction. When one has a thorough grasp of both of these success in public speaking is not only guaranteed but inevitable. I hope to use my skill of public speaking in ever aspect of my not only my future career but my life as whole and I just want to say I am extremely glad and grateful I took this course.

J-Man has really changed a lot. J-Man never imagined that he could have made the changes that he has done in public speaking. The random acts of nervousness seem to have disappeared from his arsenal. He also does not overthink much while standing in front of the class. All he does is imagine that he is having a one on one conversation with the entire audience/class as one person. He has been participating daily in class, something he had never done before. Participation seems to not be a weak link anymore. He still seems to not participate when he feels his answer might be wrong. I don’t think J-Man has formed any new habits. A situation where he exhibits change is in group discussions. He is not afraid to speak up and has good eye contact with everyone in the group.

The most important characteristics of effective public speaking are probably volume, eye contact, and confidence. One observation that I have developed over the course of the semester is that eye contact is not as scary as I though it was. I will continue to use these skills in the future for group presentations, solo presentations, and job interviews. The most important thing to remember is to be confidence and knowledge of what your are going to say. That alone will take you a long way when it comes to public speaking.

Shanon is still a quiet unicorn along with a soft spoken voice but has been working on her vocal skills and most importantly volume throughout her communications course. She feels that she has improved and does more confident speaking in front of the classroom as well as in public.She no longer feels that she’s at her worst while doing class presentations but as a way to improve her communication skills.

Although she is currently unemployed and has no other means to practice or improve her communication skills among a large group of people, she will always remember the tips that she learned from the communications course.

I think the most important characteristics of public speaking are eye contact, a strong stance and just knowing the material that you have to present like that back of your hand. If you know the material well then you will feel more confident in presenting it. Maintaining eye contact with everyone in the classroom shows that you are speaking directly to them and that you care. And a strong stance displays confidence in the speaker, it shows a professional physical delivery throughout the course of your presentation.

An observation that I noticed about public speaking is that it isnt as hard as I thought it was. Also a personal observation that I noticed is that I like to incorporate some humor in my speeches, I mean after all the classroom is a judge free zone right? And I think that adding a bit of humor helps me ease up a little too. I will definitely remember the characteristics I listed in the future for any further presentations in other courses but I will definitely work on volume for a long time.

After taking a communications class, Mélange is much more comfortable speaking publicly, or in front of an audience. She learned very helpful tips on how to construct her thoughts, such as using a speaking outline, and how to voice her words effectively. When in front of the classroom she can speak extemporaneously, make eye contact and not depend on her index cards to shield her from those watchful eyes in the audience. Mélange feels in control when speaking publicly, and has realized that speaking in front of a group of people is nothing to fear.

I believe the most important characteristics of effective public speaking is to be able to successfully get your message across, engage your audience, and to own the material. Out of all three, I would say being able to know or at least show that you have a thorough understanding of the material is essential in effective public speaking. By demonstrating your own understanding of what you’re presenting, you show that you are confident about the legitimacy of what you are presenting and gives credibility to the speaker. As a speaker, if you are able to use enough vocal variety, strong posture, with an easy-to-follow presentation and the audience feels that you know what you are talking about – you’re on the right track to effective public speaking!

One observation about public speaking that I found surprising is the influence of speaking extemporaneously on giving a compelling presentation. Coming into the course, I did not realize there were different ranges of speech execution (scripted, extemporaneous, and impromptu/unscripted). Although scripted speeches can be well executed, I feel that speaking extemporaneously really pulls in the audience in a different way. The presentation feels more genuine and from the speakers best interest than simply reciting a written speech. I will definitely continue to use the many skills I’ve learned from this course in the future, especially speaking extemporaneously when giving presentations.

As it turned out, our reluctant hero slowly became a confident hero. No longer did the streams of time pass through his fingers – if you will recall, while waiting his turn the time dragged on, 5 seconds felt like 5 minutes, and when Time Bender was speaking at the podium, 5 minutes felt like 5 seconds!

It would appear that Time Bender has finally gotten a grasp on the streams of time. Time no longer flows out of control, but is normal and consistent. There is one quality our hero has discovered about himself. It would appear that he has a knack for shifting his body weight – left, then right, then left again, but this only happens at the beginning of his presentations. What is even more interesting is that as the presentations go on, our hero shifts his weight less, becomes more confident and his delivery is more natural and organic.

I believe that the single most important characteristic of public speaking is the planning and preparation stage. If a speaker has researched and learned his material well enough, and has prepared the delivery, then everything else will fall in place – he or she will almost always exude confidence in the material they’re delivering. What has surprised me the most is in fact the time spent preparing -and it has paid dividends. In the past I always felt my presentations were sloppy at best, but with more thorough preparation and rehearsals I’ve noticed a greater polish.  As far as using public speaking in the future, I’ve come to learn that several employees in my field of interest (foreign policy/international affairs) value written communication as much as oral communication. Oral communication courses were even recommended by foreignpolicy.com in a latest article regarding graduate programs in International Affairs. So there is no doubt that I will continue to polish this skill, and will probably include it in my resume.

Milly is still having trouble with eye contact and still gets nervous before and during speaking. Another bad habit that Milly realized she had is stuttering and relying too much on her note cards or presentation slides. Maybe that is why she has so much trouble maintaining eye contact with the audience. Also, she doesn’t show a very strong stance; she sways around a lot and even ended up leaning on the table during the last speech. However, with all these bad habits still lingering, Milly has found what she is good at. That is preparing for the speech. She finds topics that she has a strong interest in and tries her best to deliver her message with confidence. Although it may not always work out, Millys’ old habit of striving to do her best has not failed. Milly also realized that as you spend more time with the audience, going up there is not so scary.

The most important part of a speech is confidence; to really know and care about what you are talking about. If you don’t show that you are passionate about your own topic, will your audience be interested in it? Even if you are terrible at everything else, confidence is key. Of course some other important components of an effective speech are being prepared, nice volume, and eye contact. The one thing that surprised me the most is I actually got through it! I delivered the speeches!

Being able to communicate effectively is definitely an important tool to have. Even just having casual conversations, you obviously have to be able to get your points across.

Baboo-copter is a quiet and shy cartoon character. When she speak in front of people, she is very nervous. Her hands holds her outline without any gesture. Sometimes she fidgets with her hands during her presentation. She reads entirely from notes, and doesn’t speak extemporaneously or make eye contact with the audience. There have some obvious change since she taking this course. She not always reads from the notes, and she makes some eye contact. She trys to keep her hands still at her sides. She becomes more comfortable speak in front of people, but it comes with a lot of practice.

I think the most important things to public speaker are effective delivery and use visual aid, Such as having confidence, maintain eye contact, and use natural gesture. Firstly, speakers should have knowledge about their topic. They should prepare well for the presentation. They could show their enthusiasm to the audience. Having confidence can help the speakers to convey a message or convince audience. Then the speaks maintain eye contact with the audience can let them know they are recognized. Gestures are a natural and ubiquitous way to convey meaning in communication. A natural gesture will gets audience’s attention and helps speakers express their emotion. On the contrary, speaks fidgeting around would distract audience attention.

One thing surprise me is I have stronger volume when I present my speech. I used to be afraid to speak in the crowd and then I speak in a quiet voice. So the audience couldn’t hear what I said. One thing I learn how to start my speech draft from this course. Such as using some questions, story or quota to get audience’s attention; using vocal citation to avoid plagiarism; and using expert testimony and personal experience to support your idea. I can use this writing skill for other course. Another thing would be effective delivery. It’s helpful for my other course. (Jinjin Xu)

While the Flying Taco is still a pretty lame superhero, she has come a long way in terms of her public speaking skills. Before this course, she never used an outline to bring her thoughts together. Everything used to come out in random, unrelated chunks. Good ideas, but terrible delivery. Her biggest breakthrough, however, is her major boost in confidence. She no longer tries to hide behind “maybe’s,” “um’s,” or her hair. She owns her words and really throws herself into the deep end. So far, she hasn’t sunk. This superhero still needs to keep her hands still and let her words do the moving, but overall, she feels ready for even the most unexpected twists of public speaking. These new “superpowers” are also helping her navigate the scary world of Meeting New People And Not Sounding Like An Idiot.

I think that the most important things to keep in mind for speaking effectively are preparation and confidence. First, if you don’t know your material inside and out, you won’t be prepared for flubs in memory. You can’t rely on memorizing an outline word for word. Once a technical issue presents itself, you’ll end up having a Michael Bay moment. You must know more about your topic than what you’re presenting to the audience. Always always always. Second, you need to have confidence. If you’re prepared, then tell yourself: you got this. You know what you’re going to say and you probably know more about it than your audience. Even if you make a small mistake, keep going–your audience probably can’t tell. Really own what you’re saying. If you don’t believe in your words, neither will your audience. Let your words be your safety net, not your enemy.

I realized that public speaking is basically doing your homework and then teaching it to the class. You are learning the basics (and maybe a little more), writing it down and making sure you’ve learned something. Then you come into the presentation with the mindset that you need to make sure your audience leaves knowing something new.

The public presentation skills (and the proper outlining skills) that I have learned in this class will definitely help me in the other classes I take in the rest of my undergrad and graduate school years. I feel much more confident about speaking in front of other people and the outlines have actually inspired me for writing I do outside of class.

Jackson has changed a lot throughout this communications course. He used to have a lot of nerves when presenting in front of people. Although he still does tend to get nervous when it comes to public speeches, constantly practicing in this class has really helped him become more accustomed to it. He seems to have gained more confidence when speaking to an audience. He doesn’t become shy anymore. Jackson started off having a neutral feeling about public speaking but is now that feeling has become more positive. Jackson has formed a new habit of standing still with a strong posture when presenting. He also stopped fidgeting as much as before. Prior to this speech class, he would always move around during presentations and would only make eye contact with spot in the room. He has since learned how to scan the audience to make eye contact with everyone present in the room.

I believe that the most important aspects of effective public speaking are maintaining eye contact and having a strong physical delivery. Without these two aspects, even if you know what you are talking about yet are stuttering over every sentence, the audience will have a difficult time understanding what you are trying to say. Maintaining eye contact is essential to engaging the audience and allowing the audience to remain interested in what you are saying. One observation that I have noticed over the course of the semester that surprised me was the fact that it doesn’t really matter how many people there are in the audience to which you are speaking, people still tend to get nervous.

As a communications major, this course has equipped me with the necessary skills needed to progress in this field. This course has helped me get over my nerve of speaking in public, as well as teaching me methods to help me better get my message across to an audience. This course has also helped me outside of the classroom in everyday conversation as well as professionally.

Rosie has definitely made some surprising changes! While her nerves used to reach insanely new heights every time she was about to start her presentations, she seems to be much more calm now. Getting up in front of the room and speaking to a small group has become a regular thing in her speech communication class, allowing her to obtain a lot of practice. She no longer minds standing in front of a crowd and speaking for an extensive period of time. Although I think Rosie is sort of still struggling a little bit with eye contact, I think she has made some improvements in this element of delivery. Rosie has also learned how important is is to have a strong stance when delivering a speech, something she had not even thought about prior to her speech class. Minus a few distracting gestures here and there, I think Rosie has definitely gotten significantly better at her overall physical delivery. I also believe she will continue to improve after her current speech class as she should take what she learned and continue to implement it in future speeches.

I tend to think that eye contact and a strong, confident stance are the most important aspects of effective public speaking. In order to get your point across to the entire audience, I believe you need to make sure you look around and show each part of the room you are speaking to them. I also never realized before this class how important my stance is in conveying a message differently. During my first speech as well as a little bit during my second speech I had a strong stance, but I kept doing some distracting gestures that took away from the success of the message being communicated. I’m glad that this course taught me how relevant these things are because although they seem nominal, they actually make a big difference! I want to continue to improve on my physical delivery (particularly the unnecessary gestures) as well as making more eye contact throughout my future presentations.

Being in the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch entails me to make a number of speeches throughout my undergraduate degree. I wish I had taken this speech class even earlier as it would have definitely improved some of my past presentations in my business classes. However, I know I still have a bunch more coming up and I can definitely see myself doing a much better job with the skills I used in this class. In addition to my school work, I also intend to use these skills in future basic communication with my employers as well if I am ever needed to make some sort of presentation for work purposes.