I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Just one major hurdle to jump.

Before graduation.

A presentation.

Can’t I just write it for an extrovert to present, as I’ve written speeches for bosses in the past?

Although I’ve given a good number of presentations for development and other work and of course in undergrad and grad school, STILL DREAD IT. Even won a speech contest in high school, earning a trip to D.C. — STILL DREAD IT.

So, I decided to take advantage of the Communication Skill Center’s workshop today. What could it hurt?

Takeaways:

• Remember, the chicken sandwich. Intro/conclusion = bun. Body = chicken.
• Don’t bumble important words — as seen on Letterman’s presidential speeches.  Bush speech mistakes
• Not too slow, not too fast, no ums, pause, incorporate gestures, eye contact (though “they” say picture audience naked). So much to remember…much less your content.

So, I drew the short straw and had to give our group’s presentation for the conclusion on movies. Presentations are more fun when you don’t have to do the research or preparation or have time to get nervous.

But, surely I can come up with some ideas to make my final presentation on zoos fairly interesting. The mind is twirling to come up with the clencher — as we learned today.

I have a nightmare of giving a speech. I mean “I have a dream” of doing the best job I can to graduate and round out the all A’s.

“In conclusion” (see I remembered a transition word) as speeches are pretty inevitable on a university campus…and in the real world, take advantage of services the speech communication department offers. The outline and tips they provided do make the dreaded speech less daunting. We weren’t all gifted to be great orators like Lincoln, Kennedy, Clinton and the like, but we can add our personality to our expertise to make the “A” or get the sale.