Public speaking classes are exactly what they sound like! Here at New Castle, we have an elective called Public Speaking. Public Speaking is a class designed to teach you the skills and techniques necessary to command an audience’s attention, entertain and inform them, and present yourself as a highly likable speaker.

I had the honor of sitting down with Mr. Lubin, who teaches this elective, and a few of his students who were in the class. Jamie, Mark, and Demarion were 3 of the students who took Public Speaking this semester.

Mr. Lubin’s responses—

Q-What is public speaking?

Mr. Lubin: Public Speaking is learning how to present in front of people and using techniques like Logos, Ethos, and Pathos which are methods of convincing people based on emotion, and buying into your argument.

Q-How does public speaking help you in your everyday life?

Mr. Lubin: Everybody needs to be able to communicate with each other and taking a class like public speaking it brings you out of your comfort zone, it teaches you how to work on your own and speak on your own, it teaches you how to work with others, at the end of the day it’s about being able to get out of your comfort zone.

Q- Have you taken public speaking in high school? Or college? 

Mr. Lubin: Yes, I took it in college

Q-What does public speaking mean to you?

Mr. Lubin: To me, it means that you are able to confidently get up in front of a group and talk in an educated or convincing way about a specific topic and hopefully convince the people listening to agree with whatever it is you are speaking about.

Student Responses (Jamie, Mark, and Demarion)—

Q-Why did you choose to take public speaking?

J-I wanted to get more comfortable speaking in front of people.

M- I chose public speaking because I wanted to get more comfortable talking about controversial topics.

D- I chose public speaking because I thought that it would give me a more confident feeling when having to talk in a public setting.

Q-How has public speaking helped you as a student? 

J-It has helped me with my communication skills and confidence.

M-It has helped me personally with the dos and don’ts of constructing a speech.

D-I feel personally as a student it has helped me understand the complexity of a speech.

Q-What is your favorite part of the public speaking class?

J-My favorite part is getting feedback after presenting.

M-My favorite part is the excitement before presenting the speech.

D-My favorite part about the class is the environment that my fellow classmates made.

Q-Would you take public speaking again?

J-I would say yes, I felt like it was a good experience and I want to improve.

M-Yes, for another opportunity to take what I learned the first time and use it in a better way the second time.

D-No, because I would like to see what other electives are offered in future grade levels.

Q-Would you recommend the public speaking class to other high school students? 

J-Yes, to other students that seem to have a hard time speaking in front of others.

M-Not everybody because it may not be for everyone at that given moment.

D-I am not sure because it’s not what I expected the elective to be.

Q- What are some things you have learned so far in public speaking? 

J-The difference between logos ethos and pathos.

M-The dos and don’ts of a speech.

D-I have learned that I need to find different outlets for public speaking.

A special thanks to Mr. Lubin and the students for the interview. We hope you have a great year.