Public Speaking

I thought I was crazy for signing up for 2 classes this summer, but I met a girl last night who is taking 4. THAT is crazy.

One of the classes I'm taking this summer is Public Speaking. For the next 9 Wednesday nights, I will be in class from 5:30 until 10pm. Ugh.

Last night was the first class. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the room was the video camera and large TVs. Turns out this is a 'Distance learning' class. That means that the instructor has 3 classrooms, one in Omaha, one in Elkhorn and one in Fremont. Each classroom has between 8 and 10 students. The instructor is at the Omaha campus, but through the wonders of technology, teaches all 3 classrooms. She wears a mic and the students in the other classrooms watch our classroom on TVs. We can see their classrooms, too. To talk, you have to press a button on a microphone so that the people in the other classes can hear you.

It's not bad enough that we have to get up in front of the class and speak, but the whole thing is on camera too. Blech.

The instructor had everybody get up and give a little impromtu speech just so we could get a feel for things. I'm up there giving my little speech, looking at myself on the screen. All I could think about is that episode of Friends where they showed the video tape of Monica and Rachel going to Prom. Monica's character was A LOT heavier in highschool. One of the guys commented about how big she is and she says that the camera adds 10 pounds. The guys replies, "Exactly how many cameras are on you?"

The number was definitly double digits for me.