Teaching Public Speaking

I have been teaching a Fundamentals of Speech course now for 1 1/2 weeks at California State University, Domingues Hills. The students are interesting and interested and the topic, I think, suits me! I love teaching classes that are more substantive and intellectual - but there is so much value in a course aimed at improving students' overall ability to communicate and feel self-confident. Maybe that was what drew me so much to teaching theater in the first place. I love to watch people push themselves past their normal bounds of comfort and begin to express themselves more freely.

Everyone has great ideas, a great deal of interesting and unique life experience. Unfortunately, a lot of folks have not had their ideas and abilities supported or encouraged. I find this to be particularly true with my female students. Many of my younger female students are extremely soft-spoken and shy, some up-talk and several don't make eye contact in order to avoid be called upon to speak or answer a question. Even though the men are the minority in my class of 50, still the women raise their hands less frequently! This is a strange realization for me because I come from a family with very strong women WHO LOVE TO TALK and I went to an all grils' high school where everyone who spoke up was, duh, female. I guess a lot of young women still have not been encouraged to speak up for themselves or voice their ideas in a public setting. This must change! One thing I will have to do is make sure that I find some examples of great speeches by females to show the class. If anyone reads this and can send a YouTube suggest my way, I would really appreciate it!

Muchos Besos!