This semester I'm taking a public speaking course, because somebody apparently thinks giving speeches is a critical skill to have in the IT world. Regardless, we had our second meeting on Saturday, and there's one thing I've noticed.
I've gotten over most of my fear to speak in front of people. Over the years I've adopted this idea that no one person is really more or less important than another and that everyone feels some degree of anxiety when giving speeches, and I've mixed it with a general lack of giving a fuck. I'm in my twenties, a recently discharged war vet, and it's really time for me to stop fucking around. This gets me through most things, honestly.And I've learned to control the signs of my anxiety. I can control the speed of my speech, my fidgeting is almost non-existent, and eye contact is no problem. But the one thing that always happens is the fucking dry mouth. Immediately after beginning my first sentence, someone comes along and pours a bucket of sand in my mouth and it never fails. It's hard to speak clearly when your tongue is sticking to your teeth, so now I have to take a few awkward moments to salivate and moisten my mouth so I can continue. It's terrible. But I suppose like most things, it will dissolve over time. I've only got two more speeches to give this semester, so I'm not very concerned about it. =======================================My quest to learn Java continues. I'm working on a "game" now and found a sticking point with refining collision detection. Mostly I'm just trying to detect collisions before they happen and move objects to the point just outside of contact. I remember this being much easier in GameMaker. Coincidentally, I've named a few of the methods I've written to detect collisions after similar functions in GML. I figure it will help me remember what they do better. Is it sad that I still remember a lot about GML? In any event, tell me about your experiences in public speaking, game programming, or both.
I've always just told myself that people are sitting in their chairs worrying about their turn too much to care about what I'm saying.
@LAR Games: That's very true, which is why I usually opt to go first. Once you've gotten it over with, you're free to watch everyone else suffer.
That's exactly what I tend to do. haha
^truth
Yes, I'm well aware of the whole "having to pitch a project to a manager" bit, so don't think I'm that naive. There are all sorts of classes at my school that cover this, many of which are requirements to complete the CS program course. Hell, I've got to complete a group project next month where I have to do just that. But to have all these classes AND a dedicated public speaking class (in which we only meet four times, mind you) seems a little asinine.
That depends, what type of degree/career field are you trying for? Also, you'll have to forgive me if I feel like comparing speech classes to pure math is almost literally an apples-oranges situation.
Not really. It's a course about a specific topic that is also utilized in courses about different, or more general topics. Unless you feel that all learning must be entirely atomic and isolated from other courses, it's a bit nuts to complain about that.