{"id":12,"date":"2020-12-22T07:53:37","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T12:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2026-06-16T16:23:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:23:53","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"Who We Are"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024-Commencement-Speakers-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024-Commencement-Speakers-2.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024-Commencement-Speakers-2-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>2024 Commencement Speakers Sarah Zeleya and Kyle Goodwin<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Best-Speaker-in-the-Corps-5-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-284\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7778276481149013;width:837px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Best-Speaker-in-the-Corps-5-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Best-Speaker-in-the-Corps-5-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Best-Speaker-in-the-Corps-5-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Best-Speaker-in-the-Corps-5-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Best-Speaker-in-the-Corps-5-1-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>2026 Best Speaker in the Corps Gracie Mark<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Last-Cadet-Across-The-Stage-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Last-Cadet-Across-The-Stage-2.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Last-Cadet-Across-The-Stage-2-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>2022 Last Cadet Across the Stage Shannon Ziccarello<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We are your classmates, peers, and buddies in the barracks. We are veteran, graduate, and exchange students. In other words, we are students, too. We know how hectic life is at The Citadel and beyond, so we make sure to make the most of your time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-citadel-navy-color\">In order for us to do that, we ask that you:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Book an appointment<\/strong> via WCONLINE. While walk-ins are always welcome, it really helps us prepare for your appointment when we know more information.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Take notes on what we say and ask questions frequently.<\/strong> While we are not professors and the Lab is not a classroom, you only have so much time and will be doing most of the speech prep outside of the Lab. If you listen to what we say, write down what you understand, and ask when you don&#8217;t understand, your ability to succeed is much higher than if you came into the Lab for some &#8220;pointers.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Participate when we ask for it.<\/strong> We will provide background information and guidance, but we will not write a speech or design a presentation for you. In fact, most of our appointments require you to &#8220;build&#8221; a speech one part at a time by yourself. Then we come in and give you more guidance, and the process repeats itself. This helps you understand how to prepare for any type of communication when you leave the Lab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Don&#8217;t leave without practicing.<\/strong> Our tutors will manage your time during the appointment, but it is up to you to make sure that you end by getting up and delivering something. You may not have the entire speech completed, but trust us: practicing makes everyone feel better. It helps identify what is working and what is not working. It eliminates a lot of the voices in our heads that doubt our ability to speak in front of others. That leads to our final point&#8230;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Give yourself a chance.<\/strong> If you have anxiety when it comes to public speaking, join the club! Just remember that the secret of anxiety is that it pushes you away from whatever causes your anxiety. Just a think about that for a second: the more anxious you are, the more you avoid the anxiety. That means that most people with a public speaking anxiety avoid it all together which just makes it worse. We help you deal with it by sharing stories, strategies, and mindsets that will change your thinking and approach. However, it is up to you to push yourself once in the Lab.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024-Group.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024-Group.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024-Group-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>2024 Public Speaking Competition Finalists<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Fall-2022.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Fall-2022.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/Fall-2022-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Quad Talkers, The Citadel&#8217;s Public Speaking Club<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are your classmates, peers, and buddies in the barracks. We are veteran, graduate, and exchange students. In other words, we are students, too. We know how hectic life is at The Citadel and beyond, so we make sure to make the most of your time. In order for us to do that, we ask [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.8 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Who We Are - Patricia McArver Public Speaking Lab<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What to expect: The Public Speaking Lab (PSL) helps The Citadel community improve their abilities and confidence when it comes to speaking.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who We Are\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What to expect: The Public Speaking Lab (PSL) helps The Citadel community improve their abilities and confidence when it comes to speaking.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Patricia McArver Public Speaking Lab\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T20:23:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/public-speaking-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024-Commencement-Speakers-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.citadel.edu\\\/public-speaking-lab\\\/about\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.citadel.edu\\\/public-speaking-lab\\\/about\\\/\",\"name\":\"Who We Are - 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