Should I take a public speaking class even though I have an accent?
theunknown asked:
The English do not? my mother tongue. When I talk with other people, I get nervous and become Inarticulate. Should I take the public speaking course to overcome these problems? Should I take it even if I accent? I 'm afraid that people won 't understand when I' m d that? a speech.
Ely
The English do not? my mother tongue. When I talk with other people, I get nervous and become Inarticulate. Should I take the public speaking course to overcome these problems? Should I take it even if I accent? I 'm afraid that people won 't understand when I' m d that? a speech.
Ely
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:50 am
That is a really big reason to take the class
March 25th, 2008 at 1:01 am
As much as you will dread it, yes. It helped me. I have no problem getting up in front of people. My teachers always comment on how comfortable I seem. Don’t worry about your accent, the more you think of it, the worse it will get.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
If I were you I wouldn’t give a **** what other people think. It’s definately going to help you, so yeah, you should take it.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:34 am
yess. i took one with around 25 people and about 8 had accents and were a little hard to understand. everyone was supportive. if you dont start now, when will you? its good to practice. the more you do, the better you’ll get. good luck
March 28th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Yes, take it if you feel it will help you overcome nervousness. Don’t worry about your accent. If you keep speaking English and are around the English language all the time, it will eventually fade away…but I personally think other accents are quite interesting and charming. Don’t feel too pressured to lose it =).
March 30th, 2008 at 2:04 am
its hard to say, but i think that you should follow what u think is best for u. plus, this could be a problem u need to overcome, so taking public speaking class could be good. it could be bad. its up to u.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:34 pm
It would be a good idea for exactly the reasons you stated. Knowing that you have to get up in front of people will “force” you to practice your speaking skills and become even more aware of what you need to do speak more clearly. Good luck!
April 2nd, 2008 at 4:33 am
I am good in public speaking – impromptu, extempo and declamation, even debate. I have classmates like you that have articulatory problems. They don’t care about it and just go on. It does not hinder them to express their thoghts.
So, go!!! Take the public speaking course. Make a difference.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:50 pm
your accent has nothing to do with proper langlugish, say your heart, not your words
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
are you a student or would this be just a one shot deal?
i think sure if you are not nervous about speaking in public
i did read where you said you get nervous when speaking with people but some dont get nervous giving a prepared speech
or if you want some thing more fun maybe take a voice over acting class. i did that and it was interesting and fun and you can hear your self speak and you get critiqued on your “performances” also i find artsy people not so snobby so hopefully you wont be nervous about your accent….and usually people find accents hot!
good luck!
dont let other peoples hang-ups direct your life do it if you want to and not to fit into some pigeon hole
April 6th, 2008 at 5:30 am
ABSOLUTELY YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Most people are afraid of public speaking–get nervous and so on. Introductory speech classes in college are designed to teach you the mechanics of writing and delivering a speech–but the main focus is on helping you overcome that fear.
Being able to speak effectively is an invaluable skill–the only other one that is more important is being able to write effectively. And don’t worry about the “other people in the class not understanding”–I’ve been there–and I guarantee they will be just as scared as you are! Also, DO NOT worry about having an accent–that does not matter, even a little bit.
I am very serious–a public speaking course is the single most valuable elective you can pick, period.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:32 am
Intro public speaking courses are good but frankly they may not give you enough experience. The reason is because there are reltaively few speaking opportunities due to the size of a class you can only speak your turn. A lot of speech involves written material as well, so much of your efforts are on the written portions rather than the actual speaking. Also, the ones listening to your speech are classmates who are all nervous about giving their own speeches so wont really care to listen to you.
I would suggest joining speech clubs — there are usually organizations for this type of thing that welcome new members whose specific goals are to be a better speaker.
Drama classes are good too. They tend to break one out of the bottle a little better than a speech class since the focus is on performance rather than writing.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Yes you should definitely take a class as it will help with your nerves and give you tips on how to organise your presentations so that you don’t become inarticulate.
I highly recommend that people with an accent slow down their speaking rate as this give people time to understand what you have said and to use pauses during the speech as this also gives people time to think about what you have said. When giving a speech, write it out in full and then high-lite on the page where you want to pause, practice your speech and when you get to the high-lited area count to 3 – one, two, three and then continue with your speech. This seems very strange when practising but comes across very well to the listener.