Public Speaking

[Dr. Scribe]

Hello all,

I just found out that I'll have to give presentations throughout my medical school curriculum and I'd be lying if I said I haven't been experiencing a fight or flight response.

I assumed that once I got into medical school I'd become some uber confident person, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

How do you all deal with public speaking, especially when it is front of your professors and classmates?

Thanks

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[Sleepymeg]

I have had a difficult time with public speaking for a long time! I made myself take a stand up comedy class at a local club, and I had to do a four minute set in front of about 80 strangers. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it made speaking in front of non-strangers a lot easier.

I find it easier if I know the presentation material inside and out, and if I enjoy the material. I get up there and pretend I'm giving a TED talk. You kinda gotta stop thinking about everyone watching you as judges and think of them as students. Just do the thing, fake some confidence, and know your stuff! :' )

 

[Goro]

Hello all,

I just found out that I'll have to give presentations throughout my medical school curriculum and I'd be lying if I said I haven't been experiencing a fight or flight response.

I assumed that once I got into medical school I'd become some uber confident person, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

How do you all deal with public speaking, especially when it is front of your professors and classmates?

Thanks

I hated public speaking i=until I started practicing my very first work-in-progress talk in grad school.

I realized "Wow! this is MY stuff!" and never had a problem with it ever again.

So, whatever you talking about, own it.

Remember that you're talking to your friends. After all, if you can't talk to them, who can you talk to? Your enemies?

Remember that you're talking to your peers. They are no better or worse than you are.

How about looking for a summer public speaking course? Or debating? Acting?

 

[theonlytycrane]

You'll have to do a lot of this in medicine i.e. presenting on the wards, presenting research, teaching etc. so it's something to get comfortable with. I would look for teaching opportunities to get involved in, get out of your comfort zone talking to random strangers, and/or figure out what makes you feel confident (attire / hitting the gym / wearing swaggy J's)

 

[DBV]

After seeking treatment for an underlying anxiety problem my presentations got a million times better. Might be worth looking in to if appropriate for you

 

[zanzizic]

In residency I had to give a 1 hour grand rounds lecture each year to the entire Division of Dermatology and any local private derms who attended. I was pretty nervous. By year 3, I was a pro.

Tips:

1. If at all possible pick something pretty esoteric that hardly anyone knows about. That way YOU are the expert and know more than anyone else in the room. My first presentation was about Cutaneous Porphyrias which outside one diagnosis are a vanishingly rare group of disorders. Great for board prep (I never had to study them again) and great because people were interested in the talk and didn’t have much experience with my topic. When they asked questions at the end it was out of curiosity. If you talk on something they know well, the will ask tough questions on stuff they know like the back of their hand.
2. If allowed, make a PowerPoint presentation with lots of pics. You can’t forget your next point when it’s up on a screen.
3. Know you topic really really well.
4. After you’ve written your outline of the talk, walk through the presentation multiple times and “fill in the spaces” of your talk with colloquial language. Once you’ve been through it several times, you’ll get a rhythm.
5. Practice it the morning of the talk. I’d go in the little amphitheater at 7 am and run through the talk twice alone and be ready to knock it out of the park at 9am.
6. Don’t speak to a crowd. Speak to one person at a time. Look at their face. Then look back at the screen for a moment and look back at another persons face. Do this over the whole group so you seem to connect to the audience.
7. Don’t skimp on preparation. Speaking confidently before a group of peers and attendings and doing it well is VERY impressive and will earn you a great reputation and great evaluations.

 

[584376]

propranolol

 

[CazadorFalconry]

Fake it 'til you become it. I'm a super introvert and definitely hated public speaking, until I just started doing it a bunch. I am now a successful teacher (university and community), present at national conferences, and occasionally enter public speaking competitions. I still feel a bit off right before a big one, but it becomes much more manageable with experience.

 

[anbuitachi]

Dont know exactly the OPs situation but i think theres a difference between hating public speaking and having a fight/flight response to it. Some people can do it, just hate it. Other people get panic attacks from it. Your heart goes to 150, your mind goes completely blank, your limbs go all numb, and your words dont make sense. I think with each episode it makes the next once worse cause you remember the previous experience and the horrors of it. You can practice 100 times and still mess it up cause your mind goes blank

After seeking treatment for an underlying anxiety problem my presentations got a million times better. Might be worth looking in to if appropriate for you

Drugs? there aren't many anxiety treatments out there. mostly drugs and CBT. I'd imagine itd be hard for med students to get CBT sessions. Pretty busy

 

[Dr. Scribe]

Dont know exactly the OPs situation but i think theres a difference between hating public speaking and having a fight/flight response to it. Some people can do it, just hate it. Other people get panic attacks from it. Your heart goes to 150, your mind goes completely blank, your limbs go all numb, and your words dont make sense. I think with each episode it makes the next once worse cause you remember the previous experience and the horrors of it. You can practice 100 times and still mess it up cause your mind goes blank



Drugs? there aren't many anxiety treatments out there. mostly drugs and CBT. I'd imagine itd be hard for med students to get CBT sessions. Pretty busy

Saying that I have a fight or flight response was hyperbole. I just hate it lol

 

[TrueConjecture]

As a medical student and PGY-whatever, you will be judged far more on the informational quality, medical accuracy, and professional aesthetic beauty of your Powerpoint slides than on your "public speaking skills" like eye contact, vocal inflection, etc. So while those latter small things do matter and take some experience (do a job requiring people skills or take a public speaking course if still in college), your priority is to learn every trick in the book with Powerpoint. When you have an opportunity to make Powerpoint slides, go all in, know your material/case inside and out, keep it within the allotted time, and KILL IT. The rest will take care of itself.

This is an essential skill to master. Your grades/evaluations will benefit across the board, in all phases of your training.

 

[takeurmeds02]

If possible, practice...seriously. The better you know your material the more your brain goes on autopilot while you're talking during you presentations. Half the time, I couldn't tell you what I actually said during my presentation but if felt easy because I had went through it a bunch of times.

If really severe, I'd definitely suggest seeing a psychiatrist through student services. They can help you talk through your fear. If you really find it an issue that's really hard to work through even after practicing, etc, they can prescribe you propanolol to keep the physical response at bay.

 

[TheIllusionist]

talk to yourself a lot

 

[DBV]

Dont know exactly the OPs situation but i think theres a difference between hating public speaking and having a fight/flight response to it. Some people can do it, just hate it. Other people get panic attacks from it. Your heart goes to 150, your mind goes completely blank, your limbs go all numb, and your words dont make sense. I think with each episode it makes the next once worse cause you remember the previous experience and the horrors of it. You can practice 100 times and still mess it up cause your mind goes blank



Drugs? there aren't many anxiety treatments out there. mostly drugs and CBT. I'd imagine itd be hard for med students to get CBT sessions. Pretty busy

Yeah man SSRIs are your friend

 

[carrots28]

The more you do it the more comfortable you’ll become. The preparation you will get early on will be helpful to you when you are in clinic

 

[a5ie5lavida]

propranolol

This. Makes a world of difference for me. I go from overwhelming sympathetic overload to being able to think straight and slowly and communicate what I'm thinking as opposed to rambling incoherently.