Persuasive Speech : Stage Fright

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.

Overall no matter how many times I do a rehearsal or practice I always get stage fright. Stage fright is my weakest area I have done rehearsals and private or with one or two people but when it comes to the bigger picture I always freeze. I need to learn to speak with confidence and try to get the audience involved instead of rushing the presentation or speaking very softly so no one hears me I need to be able to let the audience know that I am confident and the information that I am sharing is worth their time to listen and learn

Some instances of these fear are: missing important points, inability to answer the questions, lack of communication and being rejected by the group based on the background. In order to overcome these fears presenter needs to speak with confidence which can be gained through practicing and rehearsing before the presentation as the audience can easily spot the signs of a presenter without confidence. In addition, presenter needs to be in control of his mind by rehearsing before the presentation. Maintaining a strong eye contact is also very important. This can be achieved by not looking at someone for too long but also not shifting eye contact or scanning the audience very quickly. Wearing clean and comfortable clothes can contribute to self-confidence and projecting a good image. A presenter must be careful not to reveal their shortcomings by addressing their weaknesses and stating their nervousness about speaking in

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.

For more minor cases of public speaking anxiety, preparation and practice are common methods of overcoming the problem. Just like many tasks, the more able a person feels about completing the task, the less anxiety they experience. This sense of being ready and able to complete a task is achieved by being prepared. Practice is also important, since this makes the individual

After countless games and competitions, I still could not escape the fear that came with performing. I realized that my fear was irrational because I had done the work flawlessly so many times before arriving at the competition. My fear was fake and wanted me to fail. After screwing up the first 16 counts of the show, I recovered. However, I was on edge the rest of the show. Of course after the show, my instructor was disappointed and gave me a scalding, but that memory of what it was like to be frozen in front of the entire stadium haunted me. I had two more competitions left in the season, and I was determined not to screw them up. Two weeks had passed, and I found myself in the same position. Walking towards the 50, heart racing, fear building. The only thing that changed was that I was determined to conquer my

I have many expertise, but my greatest of them all is Art and public speaking. I believe I was gifted with talented art skills. As a kid, my mother noticed I was great with my hands and saw my capability of picking up a pencil and drawing. My drawings improved through practice and later I decided to start using charcoal. I’m skilled at drawing faces with charcoal. I’m great with shading and drawing every detail from a face, and I hate sketching, so I just start doing it and it comes out looking great. I have gotten great reviews with my art skills and I believe I was gifted with it since I never took Art in high school to improve it. On top of being great at Art, I am a talented public speaker. Public speaking is something I really have improved on. I’m a shy person and yes, speaking in public scared me and I remember trying to avoid presenting and it still affects me just like any student out there, but throughout high school being part of my academy, Core Academy, it helped me so much. In Core Academy we have done numerous presentations, and every time I do one, I noticed I’m only getting better at it. The way I got through it, besides practicing, was confidence. Everytime I do one, I remind myself that I can get through it and it will soon be over and if I believe it, I end up doing an excellent job. I always get comments that I look so confident up there, but in

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

At the age of 15 I was shy and reserved. People who had been in classes with me for several years would shrug when they heard my name because I did not want anyone to see me. After being in theater for four years, my confidence grew more than I ever thought possible. After a while I was able to stand in front of a large crowd and perform with self-assurance. I never would have imagined that was possible.

My preparation for my speech was simple. First, I used the method of cognitive restructuring, which “transforms negative self-talk into positive self-talk (Schwartzman, 2014, pg. 37). I used positive self-talk and a positive self-concept of myself to help boost my confidence for giving my speech. I also used systematic desensitization to reduce communication apprehension, which describes the feeling of anxiety about oral communication with others, according to Schwartzman (2014), to harness my nervousness and anxiety about presenting the speech in front of an audience (pg. 35). In addition to this, I rehearsed my introductory speech several times to make sure I was ready to present in front of my class and used the concept of visualization

When I get up in front of an audience of any size, I always feel like I do a large range of different things physically and mentally. I definitely get really nervous, and usually, end up feeling scared before I have to give a speech or presentation.

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

how they are doing on the unit, if they have any questions. If a student asks you for help don’t make them feel stupid, then ask why they don’t ask anymore questions.