A
female
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:I've started at sixth form and so far I am really enjoying the subjects which I have decided to take however I have always been quite shy and nervous and in all my subjects they have told me I need to do a presentation in front of the whole class. Well my first one was today and it went terribly. I had everything prepared and knew exactly what I had t o say. I sat taking deep breaths before I got up in front of the class and then my name was called and I immidiately started shaking but I went to the front and put up the poster which I was using. But when I began to talk I couldnt speak and I went proper panicky and felt like I couldnt speak or breath proper (if that makes sense) so I tried to distract myself and forget about everyone else in the room but when I eventually spoke I sounded like I was going to burst out crying.I dont know what to do because I've tried everything to get rid of my nerves and nothing works. Its making it so that I'm thinking of dropping out because I cant stand the thought of going through that again. Can someone please help? x
View related questions:
shy Reply to this Question
Share |
Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
female
reader, hijacked_dignity  +, writes (14 September 2010):
 Believe me, I have been through the same exact thing as you have. I was TERRIFIED of doing presentations by the time I was in the 9th grade. I would literally rather write a ten page paper than a five minute presentation. I would cry the night before and just think of the worst things ever that could happen. The thing that really helped me out, believe it or not, was experience in making speeches. The more and more I forced myself to do them, the more I realized that there really isn't anything to be afraid of. The more GOOD speeches you do, the more confident you'll get. It's just all about jumping that first hurdle and conquering your fears.
Another suggestion is possibly joining an acting group, where you can get some experience being on stage in front of people. Another big help is to realize that the people that you are presenting in front of really don't care what you're saying. They're probably just dazing off into space, daydreaming while you're up there talking. I managed to get rid of that panic when it comes to speeches, though I still don't like to do them, and I still get nervous. I don't think that ever goes away. But you can definitely take the edge off of the fear quite a bit if you gain some confidence. Best of luck to you.
|
