Speech Nerves
As an introvert speaking in front of teachers and classmates has always been a challenge. Hearing those words “We will present next class” fills my body with terror. No matter how well I know my topic I mentally freak out. Scared that I will mess up and end up with a bad grade. Terrified that students with make fun of me. Sometimes I’m too nervous to answer even a simple question. It’s a never-ending process. As my last week of high school approached I was relieved that most of the projects and presentations were over. However, I still had one final speech. My speech for Spanish class at speech festival. Speech Festival is once a year on a Saturday, usually held on the last few weeks of school. The festival, which is nothing like a festival, is a day were all the students who are taking a foreign language class, present a speech of that language in front of a few judges. Depending on which class level you were at, one through four, would decide how difficult and long the speech should be. Level one would only have to speak for a minute and could speak about their summer or who they are. Level four, my level, would have to speak for at least three and a half to four minutes and speak about a topic related to a Spanish speaking country or Spanish art. On the day of the speech festival you would go to the school and at a certain time each level class would go. They would split each person in that level in different classes to save time, and make it more
Actually, not too long ago I was reasonably confident and had no problems with talking to people. This all changed the day we were given the assignment of a presentation. The word presentation already sends shivers down my spine thinking about it. Everyone hates them, right? Not me. Not when I was in first year anyway. Truth be told I was ecstatic to do this presentation, I loved speaking infront of others, forcing them to laugh at my "witty" jokes and boring them to death with things I considered interesting. When the word "presentation" or "solo talk" was mentioned, I used to jump for joy. Now, I shrink into my seat and stare at my desk, hoping it will go away. I would spend hours on talks, preparing them and memorising them. A few years down the line I would find myself struggling to write notes as I begin to think about standing in front of an audience, causing my heart to beat rapidly and my hands to shake. It's not fair, really. Even now I still panic when trying to think of what to say, as it has to be
Did you know that public speaking is ranked as the number one fear in America? This fear, called glossophobia, is “as common as fingers and toes.” (McDermott,5). Many of us have experienced anxiety during a speech. It might have happened to you, and also it might have happened to your friends too. It happens to everyone, even to those people who today are famous and excellent speakers. The book “Speak with Courage” written by Martin McDermott, author and master teacher, is a unique guide to the art of confident public speaking. This book has helped thousands of students to overcome their fears and rise above speech anxiety by using the right techniques. I totally agree with McDermott when he claims that everyone can leave behind the fear of
Let me start by saying I was nervous, which in itself caught me by surprise. I consider myself a fairly confident person; I’ve always experienced butterflies prior to any public presentation but this was more than that. The nervousness led to other issues such as the vocal characteristics of my presentation. For instance, I stumbled on my words during the introduction, tongue-tied as it were. I saw the words in front of me but couldn’t seem to verbalize them. I stopped, re-grouped and moved forward. I continued with a number of vocalized pauses which prove not only
I always try to prepare myself and practice a lot before speeches or presentations. I want to be ready, and I want to know that I can give this speech, and do it well. I try to get to a point in which I will know I can get a good grade, and I can do my speech smoothly. I will practice in front of my siblings, parents, or by myself, and I’ll feel totally prepared. Then all of a sudden, when the time comes to finally
Speech is way of communicating to people it means speaking, verbal communication or to express thoughts, feelings and ideas. Children may learn through copying other children or adults which helps them to produce sounds which will then help to say words that other people can understand. In my setting I have non-verbal children so there speech is usually babbling or making a gesture through pointing.
There are more people that neither love nor hate giving presentations in front of many people than choosing one. I used to hate giving a speech before this class. We do this thing Gita competition for church every December where all the youth from age 16-30 gives a speech on the same topic. Even though topics are different every year, all the topic has to do with Bhagvad Gita – an Indian Holy book. Although we get 2-3 weeks to prepare for the speech, it is never enough. When the time comes to actually speak in front of many people, my whole body starts shaking and my palms starts sweating from when I get to the church till the end of my speech. I agree I still do not love giving a speech, but I sure do feel better about it after this class. This class has improved my public speaking skills. Because of going up there in front of the class so many times now, the thought of giving speeches does not scare me as much as it did before. You and this class showed me my strengths and
I spoke in public when I was in high school, 11th grade. I had to present about America and Vietnam war without using the note in my history class. However, I was little shy and scare that people will laugh at me because I cannot speak fluently English, even I was practice a lot at home and in my free times. In that moment I thought that I will give up. But, when I hear my friend’s presentation I feel like there are two person talking inside of me. One is motived me to go and the other one is not. At that time, I choose to step up and speak in front of my class because I know that I cannot hide behind my back forever so I motivated myself that I have to win the afraid in me. After that time, I have more experience, and in 12th grade I spoke
In the five minutes that I have the pleasure to speak with you every 13 seconds of those five minutes a divorce will occur. At the end of today there will be a total of 6,646 divorces and in one week there will be a total of 46, 523 divorces (Portnoy, 2008). I am here today to be the voice of the children whose parents are divorced and transform the children’s lives but I cannot do this alone and I will need your help.
One of my more vivid experiences of public speaking was when I was taking a class at a community college. While taking this class I would often have to give speeches and demonstrations in front of the class. As I was waiting for my turn to give my very first speech, I was very certain that I would have no problems at all, it would a piece of cake, or so I thought. All of a sudden, I hear my name being called as it was my turn to deliver a knockout performance, but as I stood in front of that small class of people I just blanked out. An overwhelming amount of anxiety came over of me. I could feel my heart beginning to race and my hands starting to sweat. I could not for the life of me remember what I was going supposed say. In addition, the
There is no question that after giving about four speeches, I have become a much better overall public speaker. In the beginning of the semester, I would tend to get nervous during some of my speeches and consequently the delivery of my speech would be greatly affected. If I had made a mistake, my level of nervousness would drastically increase and I wouldn’t know how to correct it. Although today I have improved on these aspects. Normally in order to control my nerves I try to think as positively as possible. This is critical because when I start to think even a little bit negatively then I severely hurt my chances of giving a good speech. Instead today, my main priority is to stay very confident and tell myself that I’m going to perform fine.
Another interesting experience that helped me gain confidence was my speech communications class with my professor, Mrs. Larson. I knew I didn't have any trouble with talking to a group of people. I love to tell jokes and stories to many people at one time, but I was nervous and somewhat embarrassed about preparing some boring speech and making everyone else suffer by listening to it. Mrs. Larson explained that we all have problems with this and that it can be overcome. I remember something simple she said that stuck in my mind: "The only way to get over the fear of something is to just do it." She was right. As I had to go up to give the speech, her words constantly kept running through my mind. After the speech, I realized that we were all in the same boat suffering from the same seasickness- nervousness, We all had to give speeches. No one was out to criticize anyone else and we all ended up supporting each other! I learned that I could make a "boring" speech interesting if I have fun with it and feel comfortable as the speaker of the moment.
For as long as I can remember, public speaking has always been one of my greatest weaknesses. Whether it’s a simple in-class presentation or a speech in front of an auditorium filled with people, I can barely get my words out from the anxiety and
This public speaking course has taught me alot by helping me to become a better person and by growing me into something I never thought I could be.Speaking out loud always made me nervous, even when I was just reading a sentence from a book to some of my closest friends. Even though we are not even halfway through the school year, I have learned and improved so much. One of the first things this class had taught me was all about body language and how to present yourself to make an impression. Little things that we do can make us seem small, such as slouching, crossing our arms and legs, and looking at the ground, while others make us appear big, for instance, stretching, sitting up straight, and taking up alot space. Properly presenting yourself is important and can make a big difference in your life, whether it is for a job interview, meeting new people, or speaking in front of your peers. I have also learned to control and overcome my nervous habits, for example, playing with my hair, rocking back and forth, and moving my hands. Habits like these show the audience that you are nervous and it may turn their attention away from your speech and onto your actions. The audience-speaker relationship was also a great thing to learn. This relationship shows cause and effect, for example, when you lose the attention of your audience you may begin to second guess yourself leaving you to becoming nervous and self conscious. You then may start to panic and your speech may become a
I was known to be an introverted and quiet person. As I reflected, I questioned if I want to be like this forever. Of course not. In life, there are times where I have to deal with different people. I used to be nervous whenever I have to public speak and present in front of the class. But this all changed in Junior year of high school. In my Psychology class, we had to do a lot of presentations and public speaking. I was nervous in the beginning, but then it gradually goes away after practicing a lot.