Fear Not: The Evolution of a Speaker in a Speech Class Kathryn Singer—FIRST PLACE CONTEST WINNER I thought long and hard about who I wanted to commemorate today. What person, place, or thing could I truly pay tribute to? And then it hit me. Actually, it spoke to me last Tuesday, sitting in my usual seat at the end of the second row. As I listened to Sean speak to us about the 82nd Air Bourne Division, I realized the best thing to commemorate was our speech class. So, today, I am going to celebrate our torturous struggle from petrified pupils to a little bit less petrified public speakers. As our instructor said in the beginning of this stressful semester, “Public speaking is one of the top fears the majority of people have, and I’m going to show everyone how to make leaps and bounds to overcome that fear.” As you all probably recall, the first day of class we all shuffled in here, finding seats we’d either become married to or seats we’d later forsake as friendships flourished. As we sat and settled ourselves on that first day, apprehension weaved its way into our minds. Anxiety rising as we peered down at the syllabus, seeing all the speeches to come throughout the semester: demonstration, impromptu, informative, persuasive, and commemorative— each staring up at us in emboldened letters. Our heads swam. “Over my dead body will I speak that much,” I’m sure a lot of us were thinking. But we didn’t die. We stood in solidarity with each other as we prepared for that first speech, that first and what only now seems incredibly short speech. But, back then, it seemed like forever, if not incredibly painful, painful to stand in front of the class. Not just standing but speaking, and not just speaking but teaching, demonstrating how to do something: How to write with your toes, how to make Kool-aid, how to dance, how to serve in tennis. All were wonderful topics, but think back, can you remember the fear? Panic strangling your body, skin on fire, mouth drier than the Sahara desert, and a voice that seemed equally fearful of the situation, as it cracked and quivered and
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