The fear of appearing unintelligent is exactly what prevents lots of African-American students from contributing to discussions during class. I know for a while it kept me from asking questions, voicing my thoughts, or doing anything that might force me to speak out.
In an effort to acquire the confidence to speak out in the lecture hall, I started off taking very small actions. My starting point was to become accustomed to hearing my own voice in a silent classroom. When the instructor garbled his words or was unclear in his thoughts, I would raise my hand and ask, "Can you say that over?" This didn't call for any forethought nor will it enable another person to contest or negate your issue. It's simply the standard, "I didn't understand exactly what the teacher said, and I'd like some clarification."
The next step was to answer the questions the instructor asked within my head. While another college student was responding, I would answer the query on my own, and also occasionally write down my views. When other students held a viewpoint similar to mine or cited a point I could build off of, I would put up my hand and deliver my opinion. Piggybacking off the students who already had laid the structure to introduce my feedback made me comfortable enough to chime in and offer my perspective in the classroom.
With this process, I began not having any problems with voicing my thoughts in the lecture hall. I began voicing my thoughts and opinions on a consistent basis and was not afraid to provide a unique point of view from the consensus, as I regularly did.
This rather long process was well worth it. After learning to talk openly in classes with hundreds of people from various backgrounds, public speaking got to be quite simple. If you happen to be scared of voicing your opinion in university classrooms, begin by getting accustomed to solely talking in the classroom. Then, continue on to expressing your viewpoints. You'll witness your own self-confidence improves each time you do.
In an effort to acquire the confidence to speak out in the lecture hall, I started off taking very small actions. My starting point was to become accustomed to hearing my own voice in a silent classroom. When the instructor garbled his words or was unclear in his thoughts, I would raise my hand and ask, "Can you say that over?" This didn't call for any forethought nor will it enable another person to contest or negate your issue. It's simply the standard, "I didn't understand exactly what the teacher said, and I'd like some clarification."
The next step was to answer the questions the instructor asked within my head. While another college student was responding, I would answer the query on my own, and also occasionally write down my views. When other students held a viewpoint similar to mine or cited a point I could build off of, I would put up my hand and deliver my opinion. Piggybacking off the students who already had laid the structure to introduce my feedback made me comfortable enough to chime in and offer my perspective in the classroom.
With this process, I began not having any problems with voicing my thoughts in the lecture hall. I began voicing my thoughts and opinions on a consistent basis and was not afraid to provide a unique point of view from the consensus, as I regularly did.
This rather long process was well worth it. After learning to talk openly in classes with hundreds of people from various backgrounds, public speaking got to be quite simple. If you happen to be scared of voicing your opinion in university classrooms, begin by getting accustomed to solely talking in the classroom. Then, continue on to expressing your viewpoints. You'll witness your own self-confidence improves each time you do.
About the Author:
Learn how you as a black student can deal with other obstacles you may encounter in college by checking out the book The Only Black Student here.
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