1. All Communication 101 students come to instruction in public speaking from very different places. Some students have virtually no training, while for others, this is merely a review. Based on your previous knowledge, you should plan on using this web site to meet your individual needs. Some people will need to work meticulously through each section (perhaps returning to a section several times), while others will be able to move quite quickly through sections where they already feel comfortable. Analyze where you stand in your public speaking…...be honest!
2. Basic public speaking is all about one thing: FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS!! Anyone who is willing to take a meticulous, step-by-step approach can put together a basic public presentation. A web site such as this is really the perfect medium for people to work through this step-by-step process. Simply follow the links one by one and you will end up with a great basic speech.
3. Let’s be honest: most American’s hate public speaking (you may be one of them…). This is natural (even a bit helpful if you approach it correctly….), but this dread can be dangerous if you let it hold you back from what you are capable of doing. Many people use this fear of public speaking as an excuse to never start working on their presentation to begin with. Look at this web site as a completely safe place for you to begin this presentation and to start working through some issues of speech anxiety. It might also be helpful to review the PowerPoint regarding speech anxiety for some helpful hints, tips, and suggestions regarding this phenomenon. Finally, please feel free to call me if there is anything I can do to help!