My central communication struggle of my life.

My most central communication struggle is public speaking.  Being in front of an audience gets my emotions all out of whack.  My heart starts pounding and sometimes I will even shake at times.  I do not have problems speaking when it is one on one, but there is something about getting in front of a group of people that I have been intimidated by.  The only time that I remember feeling a little comfortable in front of an audience was the Comm 20 public speaking course.  I was able to feel more comfortable with each speech I gave, but it was a few years ago that I took that course, so I lost all my confidence that I had.

             I believe that studying deeper into the communication major and taking more classes will help me get a better understanding of how to communicate more effectively. It will help me better understand issues to be able to elaborate more on topics that we are discussing in class, whether it is an interview or a presentation, etc.  Although I am not yet a great public speaker, hopefully by the end of this semester I will at least have a firm understanding of how to put together a good presentation.  I am looking forward to this semester, hopefully to get a better understanding of these topics and to be able to apply them in my everyday life.

Before becoming a Communication studies major, I had thought that Communications was just communicating different topics to people, largely through public speaking.  I have been learning though that it is not just speaking, it can include different things like research communicating and business communicating.  Almost anything applies to Communication studies. Communication studies bring an integral skill to all individuals because if you do not know how to communicate effectively, it will be hard for people to understand or take you seriously.  Whether for a job interview or a presentation in front of an audience, these skills will be extremely helpful. 

I am in the beginning stages of my communications, but what I would like to get out of this degree is to become a better speaker and communicator.  I believe with these tools it will open a lot of doors in searching for a career.  I have not done much research into the different types of careers that come with being a Communications major yet, but I believe it will help me in many different areas of organizations.  My dream job would be to become a Sports Center broadcaster, but I would also like to consider management positions in a variety of organizations.  In these areas of work you need to be able to communicate to your peers and employees, and that is where Communications studies will really help me to become successful.