Royal Purple

Issue date: 3/19/08 Section: Lifestyle

Media Credit: Alison Wisneski All eyes are on sophomore Samantha Schaefgen as she sums up her confidence to speak in front of her speech class. Public speaking may be unbearable for some, but is mandatory for most students.

Some students have experienced horror stories during public speaking, while others are as cool as this never-ending winter during a speech. Meanwhile the reality is public speaking is important to the future of any college student.

Junior Lindsay Fischer has witnessed massacres in her speech classes. She said one girl started giving a speech about her divorced parents and then hysterically cried for the rest of class to the point where she was hyperventilating. Another time, a student was so nervous she got sick in the middle of her speech which made one person faint and another get sick too.

Human Communication 110 Lecturer Tammy French has been employed at UW-Whitewater for two years, but has seen 15 years worth of student speeches.

Students have run out of her classroom crying mid-speech. She's even heard of students following the myth of taking shot of alcohol to calm down before a speech.

Freshman Amelia Tobias is a current Speech 101 student. Her first speech experience was the kind most students fear.

She was ready for speech class early so she took a short nap. She woke up late and had to sprint to class. When she arrived, she had messy makeup and hair and sweat dripped down her face.

"I had to give a speech on makeup and covering up the fact that you just woke up," Tobias said. "How ironic."

Tobias thought of herself as fearless in self expression but found uncertainty in speaking in front of classmates.

"It's kind of strange," Tobias said. "I shove needles through my face, mark up my body and dye my hair, and I'm not afraid of being judged. Yet when it comes to actually speaking in front of a class full of peers, that's where the fear sets in."

Tobias felt her nervousness during public speaking did not accurately reflect her personality because during her speech she was uptight.

Continued...

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