Although I had already presented one speech with the About Me speech during the first six weeks, the Research Speech which I presented on Tuesday was a much more lofty task as the longest speech I had given prior to this week was about four to five minutes, but in this assignment, I had to stand in front of a group of my peers and speech about everything I have done thus far in ISM for eight to ten minutes.
Heading into the speech, I was incredibly nervous as I did not know how I was going to be able to compose myself and talk about my research with my immense fear of public speaking. However, I forced myself to step out of my comfort zone and present my speech. By pushing myself beyond what I thought I was capable of, I discovered that my fear of being able to talk about my research for eight to ten minutes was not a problem at all. Rather, I learned that I need to make my presentations more concise as I did not struggle to hit the minimum time requirement; I was over time because I had so much to say. Although there were a few errors in my speech, being able to stand up and give it in a manner which I am proud of marked a major accomplishment for me in my ISM journey.
