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Member Since Mar 2019
Location: Montreal
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#1
I have severe anxiety about three upcoming oral presentations. I'm worried that I won't be funny or interesting, and that I'll make an *** of myself. I even considered dropping out of school so I wouldn't have to do them lol. Does anyone have any advice about how to regulate my nerves, and present more confidently?
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Threadtastic Postaholic
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#2
My son is 23 and had a stroke in november,and has made near 100% recovery. He too has developed an extreme fear of oral presentations. At this very moment he is with the model UN team AT the UN in NYC representing the country he was assigned and learning the ins and outs of bills, laws, treaties, etc. He said what has helped him was to over-prepare. Know what he has to accomplish but prepare for questions and comments concerning the subject matter around what he had to present. Knowing as much as he could helped him be less anxious because he felt like he could handle what was thrown at him.
__________________ "I carried a watermelon?" President of the no F's given society. |
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TheNightWhistle
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TheNightWhistle
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#3
Are you able to join Toastmaster’s where you are? Practice is the key. Also, some doctors will prescribe propranolol for musicians and speakers to deal with severe stage fright. That’s always a last resort to consider. Don’t worry too much about what people think. Most people are quite forgiving of public speakers because most people don’t like public speaking either.
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TheNightWhistle, WishfulThinker66
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Member Since Mar 2019
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#4
Quote:
Yeah I'm going to prepare as much as I can and create the best presentation I can. I'm just worried about turning red when I speak, and my voice shaking while I do it. __________________ "If you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change it, change your attitude." - Maya Angelou |
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sarahsweets
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BehindtheScenes, sarahsweets
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#5
Lots of people struggle with standing up and talking or being in front of a group of people. Just remember that you are probably talking to a group of people that tend to have the same challenge you are having.
One of the ways you can practice is reading to small children as children are not so opinionated and just love the attention. Sometimes that can take place in a local library. It's OK if you are not perfect. If your face gets a bit red, well, it's got color and that can actually look good from a distance rather than a pale face. |
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Member
Member Since Mar 2019
Location: Montreal
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#6
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__________________ "If you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change it, change your attitude." - Maya Angelou |
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Open Eyes
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#7
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__________________ "I carried a watermelon?" President of the no F's given society. |
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Legendary Wise Elder
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#8
Good luck! I’d not worry about being funny or particularly interesting, when speaking at public events I generally just speak like I naturally would, it takes the pressure off. The other thing is that I like to laugh at myself. If my face gets red or I make a mistake presenting, i just laugh at myself. I try not to take myself too seriously, it takes ton of pressure off myself and others.
I have several colleagues who aren’t shy speaking in front of the kids and teens but are anxious speaking in front of the adults. If you aren’t worried about speaking in front of the kids, then maybe when speaking in front of adults pretend that they are kids. |
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Member
Member Since Mar 2019
Location: Montreal
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#9
So I did my first one out of the three today. I had the best presentation in the class. I also wasn't the most nervous one because one girl actually started to cry in front of the whole class :O
__________________ "If you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change it, change your attitude." - Maya Angelou |
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Open Eyes
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sarahsweets, shakespeare47
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#10
Great! I knew you could do it!!!
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TheNightWhistle
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Member Since Apr 2019
Location: Istanbul
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#11
The last time I had to make a presentation I almost fainted because I couldn't breathe. But I still did it and got a B.
I didn't know I had anxiety back then, I thought it was related to my lung disease. Now I see why it happened |
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avlady
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#12
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avlady
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Member Since Jun 2019
Location: New York
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#13
totally agree with the statement "practice is a key". I'd got some situations when I forgot everything, however, I was preparing really hard and knew everything. practice, practice, practice
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avlady
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#14
I am happy you did well!!!!
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Grand Magnate
Member Since Jul 2014
Location: US
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#15
I get pretty nervous when giving presentations and speeches as well. I've even tried toastmaster's, but it hasn't helped much. I think part of my problem is that I have a impediment known as "cluttering". When I'm nervous, I make pretty embarrassing mistakes with syntax and pronunciation and my reasoning doesn't even seem to make sense. The only solution I see is to train myself to calm down and speak slowly and calmly, no matter what. If I speed up or get emotional at all, my speech really suffers.
Cluttering | Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter Quote:
__________________ My business is to teach my aspirations to conform themselves to fact, not to try and make facts harmonise with my aspirations. T.H. Huxley |
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