Ryan Kwapniowski's FLP Portfolio

Communications 152

 

        Coming into college life, I was extremely grateful to have 59 of my closest friends around. I could find at least one person in almost every class that I knew and could relate to. One class in particular, Communications 152, was comprised solely of Freshman Leadership Program members who would spend the next semester studying about communication styles and delivery. I immediately found this class extremely difficult. Coming from a shy background with a severe phobia of public speaking, I realized that task at hand would be more than just a walk in the park. To my surprise, I was honestly relieved to have people I knew and care about in the class that I dreaded the most. My classmates were alway so positive and upbeat about everything and every aspect about this class. I never felt as though I needed to be afraid to fail or even mess up in front of them because no matter the outcome, I knew my friends would have my back... and lie to me and tell me how great I did. The two biggest speeches that challenged me and forced me to revaluation how I was looking at things was the informative speech and the persuasive speech. Both of these perspectives are 100% necessary within the leadership world and without these we would have no progress. I realized that persuasive is not my strongest suit. I struggle to this day to try to convince people to do things. I have always been a people pleaser, I cannot say no to things asked of me no matter how ridiculous when put forth in good genuine actions. If it's for the good of the group, I am all in. This can often lead to my downfall when I have ideas I want to purpose. The informative speech was not difficult purpose wise, I am a natural teacher, but rather it had its trial and tribulations within the actual delivery stage. This speech was one of the first big presentations that we did and nerves ended up getting to me. I felt as though my heart was racing, my hips were swaying, my feet were rocking, and I was on a roller coaster unable to stop. After I finished I felt completely fine and as the course went on things ended up getting a lot better. I feel as though I can stand up in front of a crowd and give a presentation with only a slight fear.

 

 

"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said."

                    -Peter Drucker