Question

Interview 3 people by asking them whether or not they are afraid to speak in public. Why or why not? Compile their responses along with your own response to the same question.

Answer 1

Answer and explanation:

The first person I interviewed was a 26-year-old woman called Neille and she answered yes to the question of whether or not she is afraid to speak in public. Neille said, when asked to explain why, that she felt anxious to finish speaking because she believed that, if she took too long, the listener would lose interest. She also said there were times when she simply gave up on explaining something to someone because she feared she was making the person bored.

The second interviewee was a 52-year-old woman called Lourdes who is used to dealing with people. She is a civil servant and has to help all sorts of people by offering them information. She claimed she is not afraid of speaking in public because she knows she is offering useful knowledge. She also says she regards the listener as someone who needs her help and empathy, independently of how they treat her or respond to her.

The third interviewee is a 17-year-old boy called Joshua. He also claims to love speaking in public and has never had a problem with shyness. Joshua says he loves being in the spotlight and feeling that everyone is paying attention to him. He seems to see speaking in public as a moment of fame.

As for myself, I do not have a problem to speak in public. However, I'm more selective about it. I do enjoy it when I'm supposed to talk about something I like and know well. I see that as an opportunity to share knowledge. However, if I feel forced by a social circumstance to talk about a subject that does not interest me or to offer the same information over and over again, speaking in public becomes boring, even annoying.