Now that I have finished this project, quite honestly, I just feel relieved. Although I enjoyed drafting, reviewing, and practicing my speech, I dreaded the final presentation. When the project was first presented to the class I felt a pit form in the middle of my stomach, I had no idea what to write about, how to write it, or how I was going to present it. I went home and just began to type “word vomit” into a Google Doc. By writing my direct line of thought, I hoped to make my language more conversational. Once I was done I read my piece out loud multiple times, until I liked how it sounded. When it came time for peer review, I was excited. I have always enjoyed peer review because it gives me an opportunity to see my writing through the eyes of readers/listeners. During both dry runs, I received mostly positive feedback, which I found disappointing. I knew that I could cut out a lot of my speech, improve my body language, and expand on my points more, but I had been hoping to receive more constructive feedback from my peers. However, I took my positive comments and used them to decide what parts of my speech worked, and what parts could be more like the areas that worked. When it came time to record ourselves, I saw myself as more confident in front of strangers, and I was proud of myself for that. Overall, even though this project was intimidating and hard, I’m proud of the speech I wrote and I’m proud of myself for presenting it (even if my presentation wasn’t perfect). Going forward, I hope to use some of the power-posing techniques the class practiced coupled with the knowledge that I am capable of doing this type of thing (and maybe someday I’ll even be good at it!).