Speaking of Fear

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March 22, 2010 • Reed Hausser  
Filed under Uncategorized

            Public speaking and gut-wrenching fear have always been two things that seem to go hand in hand. In an attempt to try and help with this growing dilemma, Current Issues instructor, Tyler Gwynn, has incorporated speech into his classes’ curriculum.

            Since the beginning of March, classes have been giving short speeches on topics covered throughout the year. The process is fairly simple; if your name is called you must come and draw a topic out of a coffee mug on his desk at random. You then have thirty seconds to collect your thoughts before you must give a sixty second speech about your topic. Students are graded in three areas: time, diction, and delivery. With over one hundred topics you could draw anything from the H1N1 epidemic, to teenage suicide, or even the Clinton Body Count conspiracy theory.

            During this exercise, peers are able to give each other constructive criticism on their presentations while maintaining an organized classroom setting. Now you might be wondering if all the topics are as sad and serious as teen abortion, but Coach Gwynn provided other topics such as “getting something off your chest,” or “deep thoughts” to try and prevent this effect. The less frightening topics also usually prove to be quite comedic and these seem to go much more smoothly than a speech on “the war in Iraq.” When asked why he decided to incorporate this activity, Coach Gwynn responded, “Throughout my teaching career, I have noticed that my students have an incredible ability to create PowerPoint’s and other presentations. Once they come up to speak, however, the project goes downhill very quickly. The power point isn’t the presentation; it’s the student who is speaking.” With all of the topics Coach Gwynn has available, his personal favorite would have to be “getting something off your chest.” But for just the opposite he said that the health reform would be his least favorite simply because he is so tired of hearing about it in the media and politics.

            As much as the teacher may say their students enjoy an assignment, we all know it’s usually an exaggeration. For a more honest opinion I asked Sophomore Will Cole his opinion and he said, “I thought the assignment was a lot of fun, and it kept it interesting with all of the random topics.” Personally, I found this assignment as a good exercise and it really showed me how I stand up in comparison to my class mates with public speaking. Unfortunately, I realized I’m closer to the back. But fortunately for Allatoona, Coach Gwynn has noticed this issue and is doing something to try and stop it.