By Selena Maddox
KENNESAW, Ga. – One of the biggest fears college students
face involves having to deliver speeches, so many avoid taking a public
speaking course in college.
Only communication students are required to take
COM 2129, which is the public speaking course, although it is an elective for
many campus programs.
As stated in the Kennesaw State University course
catalog, “COM 2129 covers methods and practices in effective oral communication
with an emphasis on speech preparation and presentation.”
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Kerry Welborn has been teaching at Kennesaw
State University for 15 years. She wants
students to
know that it’s okay to feel nervous about public speaking.
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Kerry Welborn, an adjunct professor at KSU, has
been teaching the public speaking course for about six years. She feels that public speaking is the staple
of the communications department. Welborn
does feel that the public speaking course should be required for all students
to take no matter what field of work they enter.
“I understand there are other important
requirements too, but I see usage [of public speaking skills] no matter what
you do for the rest of your life,” said Welborn.
One reason why many students try to avoid taking
the public speaking course is because they experience high levels of speech
anxiety. Students don’t want to
experience the feeling of being judged, graded and/or videotaped when
presenting a speech.
Thankfully, there are ways to reduce speech
anxieties. Welborn said that the best
way to reduce speech anxiety is to practice.
Practicing and knowing one’s speech will help students focus more on the
material they are presenting instead of focusing on the audience and other
distractions around them.
Aubrey Spivey, a student at KSU who has taken the
public speaking course, said she feels that it has helped her become a more
confident speaker. Spivey experienced
speech anxiety because she has a speech impediment in which she mixes up the
sounds of words.
“I realized if I slowed down and thought about the
words as I was saying them, then they would not all come out at the same time
or in the wrong order,” said Spivey.
Also while delivering a speech, Spivey holds a
paper clip in her hand to help her focus more on the paper clip and less on the
distractions around her. The main thing
Spivey wants students to know is that they can overcome their speech anxieties
and they should not get caught up in the moment when giving a speech.
Students are not the only people who get anxious
about giving a speech. Welborn used to
work at Cartoon Network during the day and would teach at KSU in the evenings
when she first started teaching. She
would use her lunch break to go over lecture notes, but one day she had too
much going on at work to stop for lunch.
She was unable to review her notes before class and felt unprepared. Welborn said that this was one of the only
times she has ever felt that she was anxious about speaking in class.
