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POST #2 Raquel Rodriguez

The United States of America has been around for 250 years; during those years, there were people who changed the way this country has run things. These changemakers were met with resistance, while some were met with harm or prison time. However, they did not let their voices go unheard. Instead, during their harsh times, they were loud and unstoppable. When I was doing my research on the changemaker I chose, Alice Paul (for group four, 1900s), I remembered learning how fierce and bold she was. During the hardship of her arrest, she only got louder by addressing the issues of America. Women didn’t have the right to vote. Alice Paul’s bold methods and loud voice eventually gave women the right to put their names on a ballot and choose a candidate that they feel will help the country thrive. Alice Paul was one of many changemakers that were presented throughout every group’s presentation—groups ranged from the 1700s to the 2000s. Every century in the U.S.A. has brought about signific...
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Yen Rios Blog 1.

  Watching the group presentations throughout this unit turned out to be a much better experience than I originally anticipated. At first, I thought the presentations might feel repetitive since all the groups were working with the same textbook and similar public speaking topics. However, as each group presented, it became clear that everyone brought their own perspective and style to the material. This variety made the presentations more interesting and helped reinforce key concepts in a practical and relatable way instead of feeling overwhelming. Group One focused on foundational chapters such as the evolving nature of public speaking, building confidence, listening, and adapting to an audience. I especially enjoyed their discussion on confidence. Instead of presenting confidence as something you either have or do not have, they explained it as a skill that develops over time. This made public speaking feel less intimidating. The chapter on listening also stood out to me, as the...
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Sandra Armenteros Blog 1.

  Public speaking is the hardest class I have ever taken . I have never liked being the center of attention, and speaking in front of a group has always made me feel more anxious than most people .  Between gasping for air and the hives that spread across my chest, public speaking has always been a laborious task.  Even though this  is  the case, I still really liked everyone else's presentations, and I learned a lot more about  public speaking than I thought I would.  Even though I've always hated public speaking, watching other people do it gave me a new way to think about it. I was able to see how different people gave their presentations and how their personalities affected how they  presented  instead of thinking about my own anxiety. One of the things I liked best was how each presentation felt different. Each speaker had their own style, whether it was their tone, pacing, humor, confidence, or even nervousness. This made it clear that ...
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Yanasey Martinez Blog 1.

   Taking a Public Speaking class has been a very interesting experience for me, especially during our group presentations. Each group member had to present a chapter connected to the evolving art of public speaking. Overall, I can honestly say that I enjoyed the presentations. I feel like everyone in this class is here for the same reason to improve our speaking skills and become more confident w so watching my classmates present showed me that we are all learning and that there is always room to grow. My assigned chapter was Chapter 15, which focused on the principles of “understanding argument”. Working on this presentation helped me understand that public speaking is more than just standing in front of people and talking. There are many parts to it, like being organized, understanding your audience, speaking clearly, and building confidence. I had to really learn the material myself before presenting it, which pushed me to step outside of my comfort zone. While watching t...
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Elizabeth Spataro blog 1.

  Public speaking has been part of my life ever since I can remember. From a very early age, theater has played a big role in my life, helping me build confidence and feel comfortable speaking in front of others. On top of that, talking is something I do every day with my friends and family, so being able to use my voice has always felt pretty natural to me. Because of this, I never saw speaking itself as difficult. However, being comfortable speaking does not always mean communicating clearly or effectively. Over time, I realized that public speaking requires more than just confidence.  it requires clarity, organization, and intention. Growing up, I was always very talkative, but my mom would often remind me to slow down and organize my thoughts before speaking. Many times, I would talk so quickly or jump from idea to idea that it became hard for others to understand what I was trying to say. Because of this, I decided to take a public speaking course at MDC with Professor Sh...
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Raquel Rodriguez Blog 1.

 Coopman, Public Speaking: The Evolving Art, 5e, is a book that is meant for Professor Sherri Sinkoff’s students to educate themselves about public speaking. Our first project was based on that book; instead of doing the project solo, we got paired in groups and got assigned certain chapters. I remember feeling hesitant about working with a group at first due to me enjoying more solo projects. However, I later enjoyed working with my respective group (group four) because it opened my mind to learning new perspectives and made me better understand how different people approach collaboration and responsibilities. Since we were the last group to present our project, I got to see the way other groups worked together just from their presentation format and the way they interacted with each other. By observing other groups’ dynamics, I was able to see how communication, time management, and patience absolutely impact the efficiency of group projects.    The first group’s pr...
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