Facing your Worst Peers



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Public speaking was in my top five worst fears list and I didn't think it was ever going to be bumped down to the top ten but it has. My Ales 204 class dedicated lots of time to helping students overcome stage fright and improve their presentation skills. I am now more confident in myself when I am presenting in front of others and am capable of presenting the information without causing death by boredom.


In labs we participated in Pecha Kucha which is an event where people are given a limited amount of slides and time to deliver those slides to peers. In the group I was apart of each of us was studying a form of animal science so we chose to make a powerpoint about animals. We were given a ridiculously short time frame to create the powerpoint and then had to present it to our lab. Our final slide just ended up being pictures of LOL Cats. There were many awkward pauses and somewhat related rambling as everyone tried to fill up the time given for each slide. Everyone was in the same sinking ship which made the experience educational and fun because every student could relate to the one presenting. It made standing in front of everyone easier.

I`ll never forget the lecture given by Wendy Doughty. She was energetic and shared tonnes of tips on how to give a proper speech and what not to do when standing in front of people. Seeing someone look so natural at presentations give us shy people some hope that we can do that to. Dr. Doughty had the whole Ales 204 class screaming while standing and doing ridiculous movements that were suppose to help us ready our voices and bodies for a speech. I was near the end of a row and could see all of the people looking through the door windows to see what happening in our class. Their faces were hilarious and I`ll never forget it or the helpful tips.

I also learnt how to make an effective poster and powerpoint which has come in handy for my other classes. The skills I have learnt in this class I can apply to almost every other class and specific parts of my life.