To many, speaking in front of any group of people is more frightening than diving from the highest cliff into the ocean. A lot of people struggle with the fear of public speaking.

Fear spends her time eating at the confidence and security in others. She dances around our hearts and causes them to beat faster. We concoct scenarios in the mind, situations that haven’t taken place and become anxious about every possible outcome and how we will indefinitely be negatively affected by it.

Fear of public speaking is something that someone can struggle with for their entire life. Lucky for all students at EBHS though, we have amazing teachers like Mrs. Hagan and Mr. Pellicane to help us conquer that fear through the marvelous Public Speaking elective.

One of the first assignments students are given in Public Speaking is called an Improv speech. Students are given a random topic and must speak about it for at least one minute. Mrs. Hagan likes to, ” throw [her students] into the ring,” with topics that vary from imaging that you are an ant, and you must talk an anteater out of eating you, to convincing everyone why they should grow a beard. These hilarious topics work very well at outing everyone.  Not only does this icebreaker loosen the students up and get them used to being up in front of everyone, but it also demolishes the fear of being singled out for making a complete fool of yourself out of the window because with this speech…everyone will without a doubt make a fool of themselves.

The public speaking elective course is designed to help students become more confident speakers and better speech writers. Students learn to research, organize, write, and present various types of speeches: informative, persuasive, and demonstrative. They read, analyze, and deliver memorable speeches from literature and history. This class will teach you the power of your voice and the words you form with it.

Public speaking is the greatest way to say goodbye to your fear of presenting in front of others!

Trust me.
You will not miss the sweaty palms.
You will not miss the racing heart.
And you will not miss the queasy stomach.