Today I gave a presentation to my class (I am in college), and I totally blanked out 10 seconds after I started. I just stood there for a minute in front of everyone. My whole mind went blank, I was so nervous! I had my notes in front of me but that didn’t matter. I felt like running out of the room but decided to finish it out and it got better. But I am so embarrased. It’s been 5 years since I have had to do something like this so I am a little bit out of practice, but I was never very good at public speaking. Everyone else in the class did fine….I just feel so dumb. When I was younger I’d be nervous, but then I would get up in front of the class and be fine. Today I just blanked out….it was horrible.
How do I get over this fear? Now I am even more scared for the next speech I have to give.
Related Blogs
- MARKET DECLINE IS BASED ON MORE THAN FEAR | PRAGMATIC CAPITALISM
- Heart attack survivors 'fear sex'
- Arial: It's a little bit Bullshit | Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha!
- Villa: I will do my 'little bit | Liveworldcup.com
- Google TV viewed with intrigue, not fear, by MIPS and Boxee …
Tagged with: fear • little bit
Filed under: Fear of Public Speaking
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
I used to be afraid to speak in public and sometimes I still am. The only way that I got over it was Spanish class. I had to give this speech in another language, one which I wasn’t even nearly as familiar with as English. Finally, I realized that no one cared what the heck I was saying. The people presenting after me were too worried about their stuff, the people presenting before me were still calming their nerves or worrying about what grade they got. The others just didn’t want to be there. I’m pretty sure not much has changed since high school in this respect.
Sometimes, when I get nervous nowadays, I just pretend that I’m speaking in front of a bunch of stuffed animals. When I was a kid I used to line up my animals in front of the wall and talk to them for hours. Now when I practice speeches, I do so in my empty room. (I would visualize an empty wall, but going from people to animals seems easier.)
Don’t worry. Just breathe. Ask if you can get a drink of water before hand and just stand outside the classroom until you are collected, that also helps.
This fear is a good thing. What was 10 whole seconds to you was likely a moment of reflective pause to your audience. Stage fright inspires the best performances. Did you know Frank Sinatra, as a veteran, would blow chunks before every Vegas show? Adrenaline makes things slow down..which makes it awlful for you…but makes you so careful you often give a profound impression on others. relax.
Check http://www.toastmasters.org/
Good luck,
Pete