<p>I am not good at public speaking and would prefer not to have to do it. I want to either work for the State Department eventually or be a teacher/professor. I can handle public speaking but don’t like formal debates. I’m not sure if I should consider majoring in history or economics instead.</p>
<p>Political Science does not require a lot of public speaking, other than class discussions and presentations, but it probably isn’t much different than most other liberal arts majors in this respect.</p>
<p>Public speaking takes many forms, in addition to formal debates. In many professional and leadership positions, some public speaking will be required, so it would be a valuable skill to develop. You could do this, either through some formal classes or extracurricular and community activities, e.g., Toastmasters. Some schools also might offer some noncredit workshops, e.g., in their career development centers. A great many people have a fear of public speaking and some schools might offer skill-based counseling programs to help with this. I also think most instructors in this area are aware of this fear and try to address this in their courses.</p>