Page 39 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Self-Assessment

How Much Experience Do You Have Speaking?

Most of us recognize that there is a high degree of correspondence between skill and train-
ing. Most of us also will admit that any skill suffers from lack of training and practice, whether
it is shooting free throws or solving math problems. With this in mind, answer the following
questions:
1. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being little and 10 being considerable, what is your training
in public speaking?
2. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being little and 10 being considerable, what is your practice
and experience with public speaking?
3. Given your score for numbers 1 and 2, how would you rate your effectiveness as a
public speaker on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 representing ineffective and 10 representing
highly effective?
4. How well do you think the three scores you gave yourself correspond? We raise this
question because students frequently think they are better speakers than their training
and experience would predict.
Using your responses to these four questions as a guide, list 10 public speaking skills you
could improve on—for example, listening more attentively, feeling more comfortable speaking,
and thinking more critically about speeches you hear from others. Write down those skills or
record them in a journal. At the end of the academic term, compare your goals with what you
believe you have achieved in the class.

Personal Reasons for Developing
Speaking Skills

There are many personal reasons for mastering the art and science of pub-
lic speaking. Two of the most important involve helping yourself and helping
others.

Empowering Self

Understanding the speech transaction and becoming a skilled public speaker in
the process is one of the surest paths to self-empowerment. As this chapter was
written, for example, the individual voices of women in our community were
being heard in the effort to “Take Back the Night.” In symposia and open public
forums, speeches on once taboo topics such as incest and rape were shared with
the on- and off-campus community.
Just before the culminating event, an arm-in-arm parade marched down the
main street of our city. Over 40 women took the microphone and told their per-
2
sonal stories to the crowded audience during Survivor Speak Out. As they did,
many of them also commented that hearing other women speak in a public set-
ting had given them the courage to step up and speak out themselves, often for
6 the fi rst time in their lives.