Public Speaking 101: A Case Study Directions: Read the case study and answer the questions individually first Be prepared to discuss your responses in your teams/groups. Design a team/group presentation and present. You will have 10 minutes. It was the first day of graded speeches in Public Speaking 101. Scott, the football team captain and a 4.0 student, was nearing the end of his speech on the use of steroids in high school athletics. He efficiently reviewed his main points and concluded his speech with a poignant story about a teenager who died because he wanted to play football as best as he possibly could, even if that meant taking drugs to do so. "...Jason Robinson died in pursuit of excellence. There is no need for other youngsters to follow in his footsteps to an early grave." His words ended on a quiet note and his classmates tentatively began to applaud before breaking out into a loud ovation. Breathing a sigh of relief, Scott gathered his note cards from the podium and began walking back to his desk in the third row of the classroom. His classmates were obviously impressed. "Way to go, man! Where'd you learn to talk like that?" "Geez, I'm glad I don't have to go next." "Was that a true story or did you just make it all up!" I asked the students to write down their comments on Scott's presentation while I finished writing my own evaluation. A couple of minutes passed and students began talking among themselves. I checked my sign-up sheet to see who would be delivering the next speech. It was Lisa. My heart went out to the timid girl sitting two seats away from me. Lisa had registered for my section of Public Speaking 101 last semester, but had dropped it before she had to make any oral presentations in the class. I knew she was nervous probably more so than any of the other students. As she dropped her stack of 4x6 note cards and busily tried to reorganize them, a niggling little voice spoke in my mind. "Maybe you should have touched base with her last week to see if she was ready for the assignment." And then the voice of reason and practicality spoke up, "You don't have time to spoon feed every scared student." "OK, Lisa. You're up next," I said in what I hoped was an encouraging tone of voice. A petite, blonde girl wearing wire-rimmed glasses and clasping note cards, stood, took a few audible gulps of air, and walked toward the front of the classroom. Twenty-seven pairs of eyes looked in her direction. Lisa cleared her throat and placed the note cards on the podium as the class had been instructed to do. Her hands immediately grabbed onto the edge of the podium in a white- knuckled, death grip. A flush slowly inched its way from her chest to her throat. As her cheeks turned a blotchy, fire-engine red, she cleared her throat again and began to talk in a faltering. timid voice. BUILDING COMMUNITY AND REDUCING COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION: A CASE STUDY APPROACH (TILLSON, 1995)