Public speaking is very similar to being opened up and maneuvered by a room full of people. All of their hands poke and prod and move inside you as you try to guide their hands towards your heart. The whole ordeal is extremely invasive and morbid and I absolutely love it. Some people tend to point out what the public thinks of them, but not me. It took me a long time to realize it, but every audience wants nothing more than to have fun and enjoy the show. No one in the crowd is analyzing your delivery or nitpicking your word choice. Everyone wants to believe that you are a great speaker. First, though, you have to believe it yourself. The middle school years were a sort of social hibernation for me. I literally don't remember talking to anyone other than my friend Matt the entire seventh grade. Eighth and ninth grades were better, but high school was a whole new animal that was only a few months away. The last semester before high school, my mother forced me to take a public speaking class to feel more comfortable speaking, and this is where I learned to speak with more than just a drawl. I spoke with passion. Talking in a group helped me make the “conversation” less personal. For some reason, fifteen people were easier to relate to than one or two. If I told a joke, people were more likely to laugh when I was in front of the class than if we were simply exchanging small talk. Something about the situation loosened everyone up and allowed for a feeling of greater acceptance. I took my new understanding of crowd mentality and practiced with it. When I left that class, I was speaking like a social human being in front of the class and at the lunch table, take... middle of paper... your last line from your previous stumbles. The event was a huge personal success. I threw myself into other events as a result. I played Lynn Roper, an expert witness on drug safety and educational administration, in a mock trial competition. I entered a speech contest discussing the downsides of texting on my generation's social skills. Additionally, I stand in front of a group and speak whenever the opportunity arises. No matter how bad I do, there's no shortage of people telling me how amazing I was or, at least, telling me how brave I am for speaking in public in the first place. Courage is fine, but to have your own group of fans one day, you have to be smart. Sometimes it is easier to calm the dragon than to kill it with the sword, just as it is to conquer the public with ease of speech rather than with a "perfect" strategy”.