First Speech Questions

1.    Public speaking is the number one fear in America. Death is number two. Why? What    makes public speaking so scary to people?

      While, when someone is standing in front of people, they might feels not so confident, and afraid to speak something wrong. Personally, I think that speak in front of others is quite a problem for some of the international students. Because they are not the native speakers, so one might be afraid about the accent, or if he use the wrong term, others might laugh about the mistake. On the other hand, people always afraid of judgment, because that can influence their confidence. Without the confidence, one might don’t want to speak out loud, and scared to communicate with others.

      Actually, I have a friend who is that kind of person who is afraid to speak in front of others, just like the debate or the presentation or giving a speech. Before she speaks to others in English, she always thought about what should she do if she just uses the wrong words, or is there anyone laughing about my accent? So in order to get over this kind of things, she would have dome deep breath when she needs to do the presentation. Sometimes, it works, but not always. Practice makes perfect, so the only thing one can do is to speak English as much as they can.

2.    In your opinion, what makes a speech good/ interesting? What makes a speech bad/boring? Why? You might imagine you’re giving someone advice about giving a speech.

      Personally, I think that if someone wants to do a good speech, one need to remember the stuff he wants to talk about. Preparation is really important. If someone goes for a speech with no idea about what is the next thing he’s going to talk about, the listener will thought that he is not ready for the speech, sometimes; it’s a kind of sign of not respect. A good speech needs to speak a little bit slow than general talking, and if the room is big, a tool like microphone might be helpful. A dramatic opening is a way to grab others attention. After that, the person who is giving a speech needs to move on with some emotion. And a clear structure is needed. One needs to show his main idea clearly, or others won’t know what he is talking about.

      On the other hand, there are some bad habits one needs to avoid in a speech. Firstly, a bad grammar could let others questioning about one’s level of education. Secondly, using cuss words, such as f-words, or others would think that you are not so polite. Thirdly, speak to fast or too slow. Talking too fast would cause others can’t hear clearly, but speak too slow might let others think you are indecisive. Forth, don’t be too emotional, or others would be scared.