In the United States alone, as much as 75% of the population struggles with the fear of public speaking, also known as glossophobia. Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking, some cases more extreme than others. Certain cases of glossophobia may be just a phobia, while other cases may just be as simple as stage fright. Throughout my life, I have had to give speeches on topics from Justin Bieber to the Jack Trice football stadium in Ames, and each minute is one I will never get back. Even though speeches are something I hate doing, I feel as though I learn something new each time I give a speech. The things I struggle with the most in giving speeches is the fear of being judged, the fear of failure, and how nervous I get before and …show more content…
The best way to prepare for a speech is to make notes, memorize certain parts, get the timing perfect (SC4). Failure while giving a speech is something that without the proper preparation, could very likely happen. Having small side notes written down while giving a speech are crucial to help move along the process. Notes not only move along the speech, but they are used as a guide as to what do say and talk about next. Memorization is one the biggest key components about a speech: without memorization a speech will not come easy and someone could fail without it (SC3). Timing is another one of the major key components of a speech (BE3). Along with memorization, without timing the speech, it may not flow and could be confusing to the audience. The best way to practice timing is to plan out your speech, focus on what needs to be memorized, and time it from there. Nerves are something that everyone gets before giving a speech, but others know how to control their nerves unlike myself. Nervous and worried, is exactly how I go into every speech I give, wishing I could be confident and excited (BE1). The best way to not be nervous is to take deep breaths, practice, and to accept the fear. Fighting nerves isn’t easy; breathing, is the easiest way (SC2). Before a big speech, when someone is nervous, their muscles will tighten, but taking deep breaths to get oxygen to your brain will help relax the body.
Public speaking is the number one fear in the world, which shows that the number one fear is really a deep fear of rejection from the connection of others. The narrator in “Typical First Year Professor”, who had a fantastic education and experience, has public speaking issues. She explains how her fear physically affects her in, “Ten minutes before my first class, I run to the bathroom and vomit. I’m afraid of public speaking, which
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.
Public speaking used to be a daunting task that I would try to avoid as often as possible, often I would be the last to present a project and would refrain myself from having to read outloud. When I would speak my head would fill with thoughts of how other were perceiving me and how easy it would be to mess up. With this nervous mentality my speaking was stuttered and confusing.
If any class I’m taking requires a speech that must be presented in front of others, I immediately dread the due date for that assignment. While the student, whose turn is before mine, is reciting his or her speech, I cannot help but feel my heart race and the palms of my hands begin to sweat. No matter how many times I take a deep breath and tell myself to relax, I still feel anxious. My anxiety towards public speaking has been happening to me since as long as I can remember. I was eager to take the PRPSA questionnaire to determine where on the scale my level of anxiety towards public speaking falls. To my expectations, my results for the questionnaire, a 98, was right where I figured it would be. I found my score to be accurate because yes,
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
Taking deep breathes before your speech is one good way to build your confidence. Doing so can help you calm down if you are really nervous. No matter how much you prepare for your speech you will be nervous before you get up and present and taking a few deep breaths in and out is a good way to calm your nerves. Another way to boost your confidence and also calm your nerves a bit is to drink water. It may seem a bit odd but it is very important to be hydrated before a big speech because your nervousness causes your mouth to dry up. Anderson (2016) suggests you drink about a third of a bottle of water before you give your speech to stop your mouth from getting dry. Those are a few simple things you can do to become more confident while giving a
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
I always stress myself out before, and during these experiences. I'd love to say that having my first oral-only presentation got me over my fear of public speaking. But it didn't. Today, though, I can say that I remember the days leading up to the presentation much better than I can remember actually presenting. While this experience didn't change my fears, it did change the way I will go into future presentations or public speaking requirements. Maybe the nerves going into something like this will die down slightly if I think about how short the thing I'm dreading will actually be. I think that this presentation experience sort of sums up my first semester of high school. I came into this school terrified. Even though there have been struggles in the time I have been here, they haven't been nearly as bad as I initially
Claudia Stepanovich gave me a message through power point that I completely agree with and that is that public speaking is not a skill you are born with; it is something that you have to learn and get better at. This message spoke to me, because I am extremely nervous about public speaking and I always avoid it when I can; when I can’t avoid it I always get nervous and start to stutter and forget information.
During my introduction speech, I was nervous, but it wasn’t terrible. The nerves I had affected my volume and caused a dependency on my notes, but I didn’t allow the nerves to get the best of me. As for gaining confidence, writing about myself really allowed me to be confident in my speech because even if I forgot what I wanted to say, the content was about me
Public speaking is often described as the most common fear in the world. It is also something that many people are required to do. It may be to give a toast at a wedding, to present a seminar at work, to make an argument to a local council, to receive an award or to be interviewed by a board of directors for a job. Public speaking is something few people can avoid and yet it continues to be a major fear. To understand this fear and how it can be managed and prevented, the issue will now be looked at in more detail. This will begin with a definition of public speaking anxiety and a discussion of the
Public speaking is a fear faced by over 75% of the Earth’s population. In fact, 5.3 million of Americans today face social phobia and speech anxiety. Commonly referred to as “glossophobia”, speech anxiety is fear people face when delivering speeches and/or lectures to large audiences. The article, “Conquer Fear of Public Speaking through Emotional Intelligence”, written by Gleb Tsipursky, provides people with expert advice on how to conquer their speech anxiety. As someone who presents ideas and projects on a daily basis, I have started to conquer my speech anxiety. When I first moved to Hillsborough in 2013, I was petrified when delivering my student council speech. No one knew me, and I only had a scant amount of friends. I patently remember being extremely
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
Only a select few people take pleasure in giving presentations or public speaking. I am not one of those people. Public speaking has always been a problem for me. G.A.D. or general anxiety disorder, has been a substantial factor in my life and being graded or judged on how well you speak in front of people, doesn’t exactly help. Whether it is five people or over a thousand, when pressure is put on you-you have to react. For example, when your grade for the quarter depends on how well you give a presentation, or when you have a competition or a big game. Consequently, you could become exceedingly anxious, and begin to doubt yourself, and that can lead to horrible situations.
I used the search engine Google with the search term “public speaking fear” and it brought up a great deal of interesting websites pertaining to public speaking. The first one I decided to peruse was 5 Tips to Reduce the Fear of Public Speaking on Psychology Today’s website. I learned that public speaking is the number one fear in America, while the fear of death is second in line. This means that we’re more afraid of speaking in public than we are of dying. I also learned five tips on how to reduce public speaking nervousness.