Words and such

 I cannot say I was surprised when I took the PRCA-24 and was awarded a 108 out of 120 on the scale. Never in my life have I been fond of delivering speeches and presentations, and, if anything, my anxiety regarding this process has only grown as I have grown older. I can say this with certainly because I have the long-term memory of an elephant and vividly remember multiple instances in elementary and middle school where communicating proved difficult. In 3rd grade, I stumbled over the numeric value of how many miles the planet Venus was from Earth. In 5th grade, I forgot the pronunciation for the word "poverty" and felt like such a fool that I skipped over it during my presentation. In 6th grade, my legs were shaking so much as I gave my book report that a classmate afterwards announced that I had been "jiggling like Jell-O." In my sophomore year of high school, a classmate and I worked on a joint presentation, and all the while I was anxiously gripping my arm, le...

      Regardless of what direction my life may take in the future, communicating with other people is an inevitability. However, no two conversations are exactly alike, and the best plan of action during a conversation can change based on the recipient, environmental conditions, and body language. Reducing the rate in which miscommunications occur in my daily life is one of my major hopes in enrolling in this course. Although this class is online and may not always mimic real-life in that I am always communicating face-to-face with other people, I am interested in the difference between communicating online and offline and how effective my skills are depending on these factors.         Admittedly, an in-person communication class would undoubtedly have helped in overcoming some of my social anxiety, but I still see benefits in an online format and have already found differences in my communication style during this first week while speaking with my pee...