I trembled before the class, my hands so sweaty I could see my notes
             getting dark from their dampness. I tried to remember what my speech coach
             taught me: make eye contact with people in the room; breathe deeply; don't
             fidget; don't read straight from my notes. I enrolled in this elective
             speech class so that I could overcome my fear of public speaking. I admired
             all my friends who were into drama or other performance art in which they
             could get up in front of a crowd and sing or dance. Because I was
             interested in journalism, I decided that speech class would teach me how to
             overcome my horrible stage fright. My first few speeches were disasters: I
             prepared for hours, doing more research than I needed to for the topic so
             that I could ad lib if necessary. I rehearsed in front of a mirror as well
             as in front of friends. I memorized whole portions of text so that I
             wouldn't need to refer to note cards. Yet somehow when I saw those faces
             staring up at me, all attention focused on my presence and on my words, I
             froze. Once, I lost my train of thought so badly that I had to prematurely
             end the speech with a meek "Thank you."
            
             However, today as I stood before the podium, I felt alright. Even
             though my hands were still sweating, I looked up at the thirty-something
             people in the room made eye contact with a few of my classmates, who
             returned my smile. This was the first time I been able to lift my eyes from
             the floor or my notes. Having taken that small step, I was then able to
             deliver my speech with aplomb: in fact, when I finished, the class
             applauded.
             Looking back on this moment of personal victory, I can recall the key
             things that helped me to overcome my fear of public speaking. First, my
             instructor provided me with the information and knowledge that I needed to
             deliver an effective, informative, and engaging speech. I took his
             instructions to heart; applying those teachings greatly contributed to m...