In this chapter you have learned the following:

• Some people see their public speaking course as a fate worse than death; others see the course as a rare opportunity to perform.
• Nearly everyone gets a rush from standing in front of an audience.
• Nearly always, our fears before speaking turn out to be an exaggeration: nobody dies of heart failure, faints, or falls on the floor.

• Why should you study public speaking?
• To exercise your constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech
• To learn life skills
• To succeed professionally

• Although we are in the electronic media age, people really do speak to audiences in person, often with hefty speaker fees because audiences like to see live presenters.

• The communication process includes seven interactive components: speaker (source), audience (receiver), message, channel, feedback, situation, and noise.

• What is different about public speaking?
• Because "time is short," you cannot say much in a single speech.
• Because "simplification is necessary," you have to reduce complex issues, problems, and ideas into small, easy-to-digest parts.
• Because "points are few," you have to select only the most important points, arguments, and ideas for presentation.
• Because "topics are important," you have to carefully select subjects you think will engage your audience.

• What should you talk about in your presentations?
• Current topics that interest your audience are a good choice.
• Vital topics that relate to your community will engage you, the speaker, and your audience.

• What topics should you avoid?
• Avoid exhausted topics that have been talked about too much — unless you offer a fresh approach.
• Avoid illegal topics that include open use of firearms, illegal drugs, explosives, flammable substances, contaminated blood, etc.
• Avoid insulting topics that disparage ethnic groups, racial groups, religions, or cultural practices.
• Avoid plagiarized speeches that are lifted from the Internet and/or other written or visual sources.

• Turning you into an effective presenter.
• Understand the difference between hearing, which is physiological, and listening, which is psychological.
• Establish common ground with individuals in your audience.
• Establish a trusting relationship with your audience.
• Establish that you are competent in the subject matter.
• Demonstrate dynamism or the energetic commitment to the message.

• Most speakers experience some anxiety over public communication.

• Communication apprehension is an exceptional level of anxiety.
• Symptoms of communication apprehension include sleeplessness, worry, reluctance before you present, and off-task thoughts when you do present.
• Communication apprehension is not correlated with age, sex, or grade point average.

• You can reduce anxiety through several behaviors.
• Act confidently.
• Know your subject.
• Care about your subject.
• See your classmates as friends.
• See yourself as successful.
• Practice toward confidence.