Presentations.

[Sync]

Hello, it seems to me that i am horrible at public speaking, it's not that i fear it and get all anxious about it but when i start speaking a blank and it is difficult for me to continue speaking, even when reading directly from a script. When I choke up is when i get self conscious about what everyone thinks about me, the guy who cant read a sentence without choking up. This then makes it even more difficult to continue. As much as I hate them i not only want to just get by but to excel at them but it seems physically impossible for me. Any advice about your experiences with this?

[BellaDonna]

One of the best things you can do is take an Oral Communications course or Public Speaking course and you will be forced to do a presentation weekly as a part of your grade.

 

Torture right? But by the end of the semester it probably won't even phase you.

 

I used to hate presentations. I never thought I would end up having a job where I would present at conferences and do trainings, etc. In the beginning I used to be nervous and over prepare. Now most of the time I don't even have a script to follow- I just do it naturally. Practice really makes perfect when it comes to this sort of thing. I even did one when I was 9 months pregnant, parked in a chair, and still was taken seriously. The only way to get rid of the anxiety of public speaking is to keep doing it.

[Sync]

Thanks, I will look into taking a course.

[karvala]

BellaDonna is absolutely right about the benefits of exposure. When I started giving lectures, I was very anxious, and spent days preparing for each one out of fear. A few years later, and I can wander into a lecture theatre with a new group of students with virtually no preparation (not that I'm advocating that!) and not worry at all, and even enjoy the experience. It's a two-fold confidence boost - you learn more about how to communicate, but also you learn more about what you're communicating. You need to be confident in both in order to pull it off.

 

The other thing I would say is cultivate a presentation personality, whatever that might be. Don't make the presentation about reading words (and reading is a very bad idea when presenting anyway, and potentially makes things a lot harder), make it about you giving an impression to some people, i.e. make it a performance. Act. Talk to them like they're your friends and you're talking passionately about a subject that you're interested in. Be stern, be funny, be whatever you want. But be something. Don't just act like an automaton who's been forced to read something out.