I have to say, I wasn't real excited about signing up for COM 320. I am required to take two professional-speaking courses for my Computer Information Technology major on top of COM 114. I'm not the type of person who likes speaking in front of people so I do not consider COM classes something I would enjoy. I would much rather be sitting behind a computer, preferably with multiple monitors.
Despite all of my preconceptions, my experience of COM 320 so far has been great. I am on a team of people with different experiences and personalities who work well together to complete the course assignments. Our team name, Sticky Thinking, came from our experience using the Affinity Technique in a class activity at the beginning of the semester. The picture below shows how the Affinity Technique is used. I like our team name because to me it means we want to create a presentation that “sticks” in the audience’s mind. It also represents our group contract rules in that we hope to consider each group member’s opinions, ideas and thoughts.
Another thing that surprised me about COM 320, besides liking it, is the number of presentations given. I did not expect to have completed several presentations by this time in the semester.
Even though speaking in front of others still is not something I look forward to, I can definitely tell that this class has influenced me already. I think that by the end of this course I will be able to speak better and more confidently because of the experience I have learned in this class.
-Rachel Page
