trouble speaking infront of people

Deleted • 25 June 2013 at 11:16 AM

In class I've never been able to speak infront of the class without freaking out...
I get super scared before and when i get up to do my speech or whatever i plan to make eye contact and not mumble but end up getting nervous and shoving my book or something infront of my face and looking down to read and mumbling...
I also have a really quiet voice so that really doesnt help haha
Then when I've finished presenting i blush so bad cos i feel like I've done a terrible job and looked like an idiot...
Anyone know a way i can be less nervous?
I dont even understand why i am, i can talk to everyone fine, so its not like im afraid of anyone in my class or something, just not standing up the front being the person people have to listen to..

newlife • 25 June 2013 at 11:23 AM

@eldnew
I understand how you feel. During class presentations, my knee always nearly buckles from nervousness.
I just push myself to my limit. I usually look at my friends, who smile and give me thumbs up. You could try that?

kurochi-akuma • 25 June 2013 at 12:19 PM

@eldnew

Practice!

Make sure you rehearse your presentation over and over again until it becomes second nature.

When you first get up there and start to feel nervous, just remember what you practiced and how you presented it alone/to your family and do the same thing.

It should brush the nervousness away.

Don't worry about what everyone else thinks. If when you presented it in front of your family and they said it's great, it usually means it is.

Hope that helps! 😊

plisser9 • 25 June 2013 at 12:35 PM

@eldnew i also get very nervous and tend to speak in a quiet voice. what helps me is concentrating as hard as possible on the information and how i sound etc. i also convince myself that i am doing very well (even if it isn't true).

you could try looking at the back wall instead of people and imagine you are in your room instead of a class.
when trying to speak louder imagine yourself shouting.

smiling or imagining something funny right before you start could help by taking your mind off of the class.

your harshest critic is yourself. other people won't judge you for how well you present ^^

sky • 25 June 2013 at 12:49 PM

@Eldnew

I've had this problem myself, I would forget what I was going to say for my presentation or I would start shaking like a chihuahua, but there are a few ways to overcome it.

Look towards the people you're presenting to, but not at them.
Never stare directly at those you are presenting to, you want to look passed them.

If that's still troubling for you, like @Newlife had suggested, staring at your friends helps to.

Another way is practice presenting in front of stuffed animals in your room, doing that normally makes me feel ridiculous, and just by doing that, you wont feel as ridiculous presenting as you were when you presented in front of stuffed animals.

I hope this was in some ways helpful.

fakeworld • 25 June 2013 at 2:24 PM

@eldnew I've had this problem so many times, but I've taught myself a useful method, and I'm willing to share it with you.



Usually before I read in front a crowd, I relax myself and then force my mind to think that there's no one around me(pretending to be alone). I had to speak in front of 20k+ people during a special event and nailed it by using that method, it'll help you overcome the fear of reading or talking in front of large crowds after doing it a few times. Don't even look at your friends, just keep you and your eyes focus on what you're trying to read.

newlife • 25 June 2013 at 2:45 PM

@fakeworld
Sounds like a good method, but some teachers require that you give eye contact or they take points off of your presentation.

fakeworld • 25 June 2013 at 2:58 PM

@newlife Yeah, that's the only problem I had with the method. ☹️

newlife • 25 June 2013 at 3:00 PM

@fakeworld
What about looking above their eyes at their forehead? Don't a lot of people use that method?

musicgurl333 • 25 June 2013 at 3:12 PM

@eldnew Remember that everyone else is just as nervous as you, and the people who haven't presented yet are probably too worried about their presentation to pay attention to you, and the people who already have presented are relaxing and enjoying being done, and aren't really paying attention.

The biggest thing you can do is practice. Practice in front of a mirror to see how you look. Record your self with a video camera and watch it, and get your friends or family to listen to you practice. The more practice you do, the better. You'll feel more prepared, more confident, and less nervous. Plus, by the time you're done with all that practicing, you'll probably end up having it at least partly memorized, so you won't have to bury your head in your book or paper and read from it. Not putting your head down will also help you be heard more clearly.

Remember, body language is important. Take a big, confident stance. You can use this to trick your brain into feeling more confident.

I hope this helps! I used to be *exactly* like you, but I've gotten a lot better with practice. 😊

Deleted • 26 June 2013 at 9:11 AM

Thank you all for all your advice 😊 okay, i have an idea of how to improve now 😸 thank you all 😊