Overcoming anxiety with public speaking

[mac_kin]

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[DeadliestSnatch]

Do you have the time/money to take a communications class or two?

 

[witness23]

you don't have to sound "eloquent" at all to be a good public speaker. moving here at 8 or 9 isn't even that bad. just enjoy your everyday conversations with people and get to know them rather than being overly conscious of how you sound. reading might help but not as much as talking to people.

 

[BlueElmo]

I think all of us have some anxiety when it comes to public speaking. The key, I think, is confidence. And you should try to read as much as possible in your free time, watch movies, talk with others, etc.

 

[spicedmanna]

I can totally relate. I used to stutter and mumble a lot and I used to dislike public speaking. Well, I no longer stutter and have no trouble speaking to very large crowds now. I think pretty much the fastest way to overcome that fear is to face it directly. Practice speaking to a crowd, extemporaneously, if you'd like. Working with a group like Toastmasters can be helpful. Start with a small crowd that you know is supportive and will give you feedback, progressively moving to larger crowds of unknown people. You'll find yourself gaining confidence in yourself and that's the key.

 

[Perrotfish]

To learn public speaking, speak in public. Try a club like Toastmasters, which basically forces you to spend a few lunches a week practicing your public speaking.

 

[mvenus929]

My freshman year in college, I had to give two presentations in smallish classes. The first one (in the fall semester), I managed to sit down before I completely blacked out, but if I had been up there for another 30 seconds, I would have passed out. The second presentation I gave I did pass out.

I got away without taking any classes that would require public speaking my second year. Then, my senior year, I had to take 2 classes that both required multiple presentations. I practiced and practiced, and managed to get through all the presentations just fine. Now, I still don't like public speaking, but I can generally do alright if I have to. It's all about practice and having confidence in yourself. The more you feel that people are judging you, the more nervous you'll be and the worse you'll do.

 

[Bacchus]

Take both a communications and public speaking class. The first will help you in smaller settings and explain and develop theories while the second will prepare you for larger occasions. My public speaking professor gave us a lot of different tips. He's amazing. (Hired for the PR department of GSK, helping out their reps)

Move around as you speak, if you can - it diverts stressful tendencies
Have confidence
Don't apologize
Practice, Practice, Practice

 

[koffein]

benzodiazepines

 

[acridknight]

What helped me was leading a student organization. I was often put in situations where I had to speak to student assemblies, in front of professors, or the like. The student org that I led was departmentally-sponsored, so the profs got to know me (another perk), and I was able to "intellectually interact" with the professors and administrators.

I'm not sure how much time you have left, but this may be a better option for you. Another perk is that you can use this as an extracurricular/ leadership experience.

Improving your public speaking skills will take time, but like any anxiety, you need to face it head-on and work through it. Public speaking and people management skills are extremely important to have (and also extremely useful to laud to schools when you apply ).

 

[redbull928]

join toastmasters or a speech club at your university. Also, read a book out loud and pronounce every single word. If you don't know how to pronounce, look up online for pronunciation. It all comes with practice. You're lacking confidence and it'll come with practice =)

Does anyone else find that they have a lot of anxiety about public speaking?

I'm looking for strategies to improve my speaking. English is not my first language but it has been for the majority of my life. I learned english at school when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My accent is mostly gone, I rarely have people ask me about my background because of my accent.

My main issue is that I find I have difficulty sounding eloquent (like all those great professors we have had who can teach the material in an interesting way, while still maintaining some humour). I find that this is because I lack the vocabulary. I know most people say that the problem is not reading enough, and it is true. Outside of school there is little time to read novels to build my vocabulary.

I know that I used to mumble a bit, but I have fixed that by speaking much slower.

I really just want some tips/strategies on how I can fix this. There are so many people in my class who can stand up and sound eloquent when they ask questions or address a speaker. I find that my main problem is that I have difficulty keeping this flowing. I can formulate my question/response and state it. But then when someone asks "could you explain that a bit more" I lose that eloquence, I have to think a little bit, avoid saying "like" etc.

I mean it is probably not as bad as it seems. People have told me I speak fine and no differently than the rest of my classmates, but yet I still feel that I could make lots of improvement.