Oral Communication

In political studies every student is required to debate with another student about a topic of their choice. My partner and I decided to debate about whether or not handguns should be illegal. I took the position that handguns should be banned and my partner took the opposite side. I then wrote a five-minute speech defending my position. My partner and I also had to answer questions from the class for ten minutes and then I gave a two-minute conclusion. My English teacher was observing the debates and scoring me on my oral presentation skills. The grade I received depended on whether or not I was an effective speaker, expressing my ideas in a convincing way. The high scores that I received show that I was a strong speaker who could easily communicate my reasoning to the class even though many people did not agree with me. There were some areas where I could have done better, like having more eye contact with the audience, but for the most part I did well.

The Project

I currently have an A in my political studies class. I am proud of that grade and I worked hard for it because political studies is the most difficult and involved class I have taken this year. Several different things factor into that grade. Presentation skills are worth 5% of my political studies grade. Every time I give a presentation of a project to the class, whether it be in a group or by myself, my English teacher grades me on my oral presentation. Oral presentation grades from all of the projects are averaged together to determine my overall presentation grade. This screenshot of my online grades in Political Studies shows that I have a 90% for Presentation, which is an A. I get very nervous when I speak in front of people so I feel that earning an A for oral presentation is an accomplishment. This shows that can effectively communicate my ideas to others even when I'm under pressure.

The Project

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