Prompt: What are the big takeaways from chapter 1?  In a full journal entry, help explain the significance of what you found important and what you connected with in the chapter.

The first chapter spoke very briefly about a variety of things that pertained to public speaking, including a bit of history, the reasons to pick up public speaking as a skill, how you can learn to improve your public speaking skills, some varieties of communication, and the components of a speech.

I personally found the sections that spoke about the different kinds of communication and components of a speech to be the most important sections, as both were relatively new to me. I have taken a public speaking class previously, but it didn’t talk much about the components of speeches or kinds of communications. Instead it focused on giving us lots of practice on how to give a speech in practice without giving us much textbook knowledge on the subject.

As for what I personally connected with, the section that spoke of the benefits of learning public speaking skills really felt true to me. I have found that in both my schooling and the jobs that I have taken, the practice and experience with public speaking I’ve had has helped me significantly. I personally believe it’s an incredibly important skill to learn, and I hope to learn more about it in this class!