Last semester, I took a public speaking class. I signed up for it because it was required for my major. Starting from the first day of class, we performed a speech every week. We were given certain topics and key ideas that the speech had to go according to, and then we had to write out our spirits and memorise them. I was scared initially, because I had never spoken infront of so many people and class-mates nor ever presented my notes formally. I remember for the first speech I was so nervous and scared. My hands were all shaky and sweaty. Throughout my speech I stuttered a little bit too. It was just a quick speech about the past, present and future. However, after that first speech, I felt a little boost in confidence. I spoke loud and clear, and in the end the professor said I did excellent for my first speech. As the semester went on, we did more speeches with longer durations. With each speech, my voice got more loud and clear, my vocabulary improved, I didn’t get as nervous nor did I stutter as much. When time came for the last speech, I had much more confidence. I felt ready for the speech. We had to do a speech for an award, it could be any. My partner and I had chosen to do one for the oscars award winning speech, and I decided to be Leonardo DiCaprio and give a speech similar to the one he gave when he received his first oscar. I watched many clips of his speech and then we created our own that was similar but very different as well. I even dressed up and styled my hair just like deCaprio. I watched his speech again and again to copy his way of talking, and his body language. I showed up to class in my grey formal wear and I felt ready. It felt like I was born to do this. When it was our turn, my partner presented me with the award that I felt like I was ready to receive my whole life. I took over the podium to start my gratitude and then went on to list the people who contributed to DeCaprio’s oscars. I presented my speech with all the skills I learned and improved this semester. My professor was very impressed by my improvement and the extra effort of my clothes. I went out of the way to wear something similar to Leonardo DiCaprio. My speech was clear, it was fluent, and had a nice flow to it. Something I hated and was super nervous about at the beginning, became my absolute best interest.
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