The talk by Megan Washington, who is a famous singer and songwriter, is related to her speech impediment, namely stutter. She struggles with public performances and speeches as her communication apprehension makes it difficult for her to speak smoothly (Washington, 2014). However, it is not an issue for her musician career: she has a beautiful voice and sings incredibly. This fact seems the most exciting part of the whole TED talk, as it is challenging to believe that people with such a severe speech impediment as stutter can easily sing without a single stumble. I do not have any serious communication apprehensions, but I can relate to Washington’s talk as I sometimes cannot express my thoughts. Sometimes there are no appropriate words in the vocabulary to transfer some of my ideas and opinions, or I cannot find them. That is why I understand how hard it can be to struggle with expressing my mind.
However, there are many other communication apprehensions, and they are not always associated with physiological specificities. As stated by James McCroskey, communication apprehension can refer “to an anxiety syndrome associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons” (as cited in Munz & Colvin, 2018, p. 174). If I had to pick a source of communication apprehension, it would probably be the situation anxiety. It is a psychological reaction to a specific situation, and it relates to me as I cannot express my thoughts sometimes (Munz & Colvin, 2018). I would attempt to manage that problem by identifying what makes me anxious and how I can avoid such scenarios in my life. Washington’s example illustrates that communication issues are not the end of the world, and it is possible to live with them.
References
Munz, S. M., & Colvin, J. (2018). Communication apprehension: Understanding communication skills and cultural identity in the basic communication course. Basic Communication Course Annual, 30(10), 171-199.
Washington, M. (2014). Why I live in mortal dread of public speaking [Video]. TED. Web.