Group Reflections

The communication between my group members occurred almost exclusively through text, aside from a few minutes this one day that we agreed to meet outside of class. What's interesting is that during that meeting, we didn't necessarily work on anything, but rather we showed up (most of us) and spent the 10 or 15 minutes becoming briefly acquainted instead. That wasn't the plan technically, but without knowing it, that was what our group needed.

Before this, our group's communication was stilted and impersonal. While all of us had exchanged our numbers, I, myself, hadn't taken the time to save any of their information into my "contacts" and literally did not know for a while who I was communicating with as anyone other than "a person from my group". In other situations in which I had worked with peers I hadn't been acquainted with beforehand and had to communicate virtually with, we had at the very least communicated via Facebook, which somehow feels a little less impersonal when you see a group member's picture pop up whenever they write something, instead of a grey blob of text. So, I am glad we had the foresight to meet, as that improved our communication drastically.

Beforehand, the communication was led by one person and very few would offer their own ideas, going along with what was presented, whereas afterwards the communication was much more equally spread and effective.

Public Speaking

Chances are that everyone will take part in some sort or form of public speaking at least once in their lifetime, whether they fancy public speaking or not.

I, for one, have never been too keen on public speaking. Public speaking's just not my cup of tea. In fact, sometimes I shudder just at the thought of it. Despite these sentiments, however, I have not been kept away from it. I've had to give oral presentations quite regularly throughout my school career, and nowadays public speaking is a weekly occurrence and, even more, it's a requirement. Thus, public speaking is an important part of communication because during public speaking one will need to, well, communicate. The benefit of covering public speaking in class is that we will actually learn how to effectively prepare for it. And that's the key of public speaking, isn't it? Preparation? 

I'm no longer as terrified as I had been of public speaking. With frequency and practice getting up in front of an audience isn't as difficult anymore—but that is not to say that the actual act of public speaking is any easier. 

There are many aspects of public speaking to consider in order to be a good public speaker, such as aspects of physical and vocal delivery which are all too easy to go awry.

For me, volume has always been the culprit of my public speaking disasters. I'm naturally a soft-spoken speaker (which I didn't realize until a pattern arose of the audience being unable to hear what I've said during nearly every presentation I'd given). It's hard to gauge if I've been successful in rectifying this. It's one of those little things you have to keep in mind (along with the other million little things). To improve this I will have to, in a way, be aware of it without worrying about it. I'll need to rehearse and be confident in what it is that I have to say.

A speech that resonates with me is Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream", not because it is classic, but because of its prowess and unwavering strength and hope that have rendered it classic, as well as having rendering a movement and change in civil society.