I'm Giving a Talk Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to give a less-than-five-minute talk. Were this in a church setting, this would be no problem at all. I'd start with a joke, explain the basics of my topic, maybe share an example or an analogy, share my testimony on the truthfulness of whatever gospel principle I spoke about, and then I'd basically be done. But this talk is very different from the others I've given. This talk is purely academic, not religious, and it's technically called a speech. For this speech, I am going to be graded based on my content, organization, and delivery. I guess that's the main reason I'm kind of nervous about this assignment: I am going to be given a grade.

I've never been good at receiving criticism. I tend to take it too personally, and to be down on myself, rather than seeing my shortcomings as opportunities to improve. Also, I care about my grade. I've gotten As in almost all of my classes, and I want to keep it that way. Any grade lower than an A is a disappointment, and my teacher has warned us in advance that she very rarely grants a perfect score for any speech. My speech will not be perfect, and if I'm any farther than 10% away from being perfect, my grade will be less than an A.

Of course, I'm worrying about this far more than I have to. I'm sure I'll do well. I've practised. I have a certain amount of natural charm. And even if I don't get an A on my speech, my scores on the quizzes have been high enough that it ought to average out. And even if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world. The exact grade I get on this particular assignment isn't all that important, as long as I do my best and my grade reflects that I did well.

There are many differences between the speech I'm about to give and the talks I'm used to giving, but the most challenging component is the same. In either case, I would have to stand up in front of a congregation and talk to them for a few minutes. That, I can do. This isn't going to be exactly like the talks I'm used to giving, but there are some similarities, and where those similarities come into play, I feel that I'm very well-prepared. And for the aspects of the speech that I'm not so accustomed to, I can practice and become familiar with them.

I chose to take Public Speaking instead of some other Communications class because I thought that having given many talks in Sacrament Meetings would give me an advantage at public speaking, and I still think it will. It's just that there are some aspects of public speaking that giving talks didn't prepare me for. I hope I still do well on those parts. And if I don't, well at least I'll know which parts I need to practice.