Expectations for Com 101

I am a very shy person, so public speaking does not come naturally to me unless I know the group of people that I am speaking in front of, or I feel comfortable with them. In this course I want to become a better public speaker, and I want to be able to write and deliver a good speech in front of a group of people that I may not know enough to feel 100% comfortable giving a 15-20 min speech and not have the nervousness that accompanies speaking in front of a large group of people. I also want to get an A in this class, of course not just a given A but one that I earned and deserve by the work that we are required to do in this 6 week course.