One of my students of this most recent semester is a young lady (only slightly older than myself) from Brazil. She is a talented student who is very focused on her goals. Unfortunately, she was misadvised to enter a major that she feels doesn’t suit her, she is in IT and prefers Comp. Sci.
She does well in all of her classes except those that require her to give a presentation or speech. She mentioned that it is partially due to fear since she is still learning English. I realized upon this conversation that I once had a deep fear of public speaking.
Being thrown into a teaching role I had to overcome this fear quickly. Still, after 3 years I feel that I need to improve. I have managed to greatly improve my volume; I am naturally soft-spoken. I have to learn to verbalize my thoughts closer to speed which they are produced. I stutter during long lectures.
The goal has been casts, partial due to my student.
