She would talk fast and no one could understand her. Her eyes welled up. Every time Michelle Zepeda Ochoa gave a speech in high school, she relished the moment it was over.
Fast-forward to her sophomore year at UNLV, Ochoa is now among four undergraduate communication studies students who are coaches for the COM Lab, a space for professional skill-building on the fourth floor of Greenspun Hall. They help their peers improve their speech delivery by focusing on tone, eye contact, and body language.
How did Ochoa turn her public speaking anxiety into a new role as a communication coach? A series of events during freshman year made it all click.
It was during Rebel Ready Week, when she met Sonya Portillo in an elevator. Neither knew anyone else in the College of Urban Affairs; now they are fellow COM Lab coaches. It was during the five minutes she spent talking with classmates at the start of each interpersonal communication class, an activity required by Susan Cunningham, a visiting lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies and director of the COM Lab.
And it was during the speeches she had to give in Cunningham’s public speaking class — but this time, she unlocked the confidence she didn’t know she had.
When Ochoa considered dropping communication studies as her major, it was the support from her first-year seminar instructor, Ashley Saari, in communication studies, who helped Ochoa realize how a communication degree would help her achieve her goal to become a therapist.
“What motivates me most to be a COM Lab coach is getting to see someone grow. If someone comes to me for their first speech and they’re really nervous, and then by their third speech they’re making more eye contact, becoming more expressive, and just seem more comfortable, I think that would be amazing,” Ochoa said. “If I can give them even some of the advice that helped me and then see that it actually works for them, that would be really rewarding.”
The COM Lab is open to undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff across UNLV. It is part a student lounge for study and collaboration, and part a learning space. Students can set up one-to-one appointments with coaches to prepare for presentations, speeches, and course assignments.
Portillo, a sophomore COM coach, is a graduate of the Explore Knowledge Academy of Public Speaking, and encourages students to seek out the opportunities the COM Lab offers to develop their greater confidence for in-person interactions. She remembers what it was like freshman year when it was hard to make connections in class when everyone was buried in their phones.
“When you send a message, it can come off the wrong way and there’s a lot of miscommunication. In certain times, it’s convenient, but other times, it’s not so great and lacks emotion and a lot of intimacy,” Portillo said.
The student coaches see the lab as a place where students can gain professional skills and get comfortable meeting new people, talking in impromptu conversations, and learning about each other. The students’ quest to get connected offline is almost revolutionary.
“It’s not just about talking. I personally think that the issue is that we, as humans, forgot that communication has to be taught,” said Chris Demma, a junior majoring in communication studies, and a COM Lab coach. “Communication requires skill and practice. It’s active listening. You need communication for a community.”
