SethDamien Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Im one of the speakers in an open forum... one huge problem, i dont only have stage fright, but im introverted as he**... Im supposed to give an insight of my experience as a professional in front of all the students in my uni though im only 24. Im not gonna lie, i've had exceptional performance in my career, but speaking in public isnt one of them. i want to convey my message clearly and hopefully inspire the future generation of our profession to become great, but i cant do it with a shaky voice, or be burdened by fear of being ridiculed... How should i go about this? im feeling sick already Link to post Share on other sites
loveweary11 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Im one of the speakers in an open forum... one huge problem, i dont only have stage fright, but im introverted as he**... Im supposed to give an insight of my experience as a professional in front of all the students in my uni though im only 24. Im not gonna lie, i've had exceptional performance in my career, but speaking in public isnt one of them. i want to convey my message clearly and hopefully inspire the future generation of our profession to become great, but i cant do it with a shaky voice, or be burdened by fear of being ridiculed... How should i go about this? im feeling sick already There is only one cure for stage fright! Get up on stage as often as you can! I used to have the same issue when I was your age. I made lots of presentations and got used to it. Link to post Share on other sites
Author SethDamien Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 I cant argue with that, but at your first attempts at delivering a presentation, did you ever stumble or been laughed at? or were you confident already? how did you pull off your first major presentation in front of a huge crowd? Link to post Share on other sites
StBreton Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I cant argue with that, but at your first attempts at delivering a presentation, did you ever stumble or been laughed at? or were you confident already? how did you pull off your first major presentation in front of a huge crowd? The bolded area above is key. When I was in uni a long time ago ...my fellow students used to tease me that I ruined the curve for presentation assignments ... My secret ... I was confident that I had knowledge of which they didn't and this was a chance for them to gain knowledge and I was there to deliver that knowledge. I'm not an introvert so I don't "live in my head" ... I think outward so maybe the concept I put forth seems simplistic but it IS the key to getting through public speaking. YOU have special knowledge ... Go educate those people! You don't want them going through life without the knowledge you possess do you? Link to post Share on other sites
loveweary11 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I cant argue with that, but at your first attempts at delivering a presentation, did you ever stumble or been laughed at? or were you confident already? how did you pull off your first major presentation in front of a huge crowd? Definitely stumbled, turned shades of red unimaginable, choked up a couple times, lost my place,. You know what? No one laughed because everyone knows what it feels like. There are relatively few people who feel absolutely no nerves giving presentations. The rest of us feel nervous... and we get used to it. My first real presentation was a huge independent study required for my undergraduate physics degree. It was in front of every faculty member and student in the department in a large auditorium. These people were nit pickers from hell, naturally. They found plenty of fault, asked plenty of questions. However, not a soul made any remark on my stammer ring through the verbal stuff. No one cares. They care about the content. Just go up, ve scared as hell, give it your best and next time you'll be less nervous. Link to post Share on other sites
truthtripper Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I'm a musician. Performance is my specialty. What you must do is visualise yourself giving the lecture-you are confident, charismatic, you deliver your material with poise and finesse. The more you rehearse this in your mind, the more likely it will actually happen. You see, the brain can't tell the difference between fantasy(the visualisation in your mind) and reality, so every time you visualise/dream your brain thinks it's really happening. In other words, effectively, you can gain the practical experience you haven't got, simply by imagining that you are giving the lecture-and most importantly, with confidence. Already as you start practising this, your brain begins to form the appropriate nerve connections, so that by the time you have to actually execute the lecture, you will be performing automatically to some extent, depending on how much you practised beforehand. Believe me, it works. And also, it doesn't matter whether you are an introvert or an extrovert. Most people have some nerves before they have to perform, whatever the discipline. In fact, it's better to feel a little nervous than not to, as your body will automatically convert this into adrenaline, which helps you to focus. You can do it Seth. You just need some patient, positive mental preparation. Link to post Share on other sites
Author SethDamien Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 THANK YOU!! hearing from you guys really made me feel confident already. I guess its my personal experience that i say people are judgmental.. When im one of the audience listening to a speaker, I always try to observe their level of confidence. If i notice he/she is nervous, it makes me feel uncomfortable too.. but maybe its because i was picturing myself in their shoes the whole time. Link to post Share on other sites
matt1221 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Im one of the speakers in an open forum... one huge problem, i dont only have stage fright, but im introverted as he**... Im supposed to give an insight of my experience as a professional in front of all the students in my uni though im only 24. Im not gonna lie, i've had exceptional performance in my career, but speaking in public isnt one of them. i want to convey my message clearly and hopefully inspire the future generation of our profession to become great, but i cant do it with a shaky voice, or be burdened by fear of being ridiculed... How should i go about this? im feeling sick already To your doctor and ask him for inderol.. It's a Beta blocker and will help you a lot Link to post Share on other sites
burnt Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I'm including a link below of an amazingly inspiring TEd talk about the power of introverts by the author of the book "Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking". In the video, there's comment she makes about her own struggle with making the presentation in front of the whole TED audience. Definitely watch the video. Please read the book also--it's a truly beautiful book. I'm an introvert myself btw and I cannot tell you how comforting and inspiring I found her words to be. Link to post Share on other sites
d0nnivain Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Public speaking is a learned skill. It makes everybody nervous. Practice in advance will help. Remembering that you know more about your subject then any one else in the room will also ease your fears. Fake it 'till you make helps; meaning if you make a mistake keep going because unless you acknowledge it, nobody in the audience will know. Also get over the crutch of "I'm only 24" you are a a grown adult not a 14 year old child. have a little faith in yourself. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
burnt Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Public speaking is a learned skill. It makes everybody nervous. Practice in advance will help. Remembering that you know more about your subject then any one else in the room will also ease your fears. Fake it 'till you make helps; meaning if you make a mistake keep going because unless you acknowledge it, nobody in the audience will know. Also get over the crutch of "I'm only 24" you are a a grown adult not a 14 year old child. have a little faith in yourself. Ditto on the 'practice' comment. To add to the above, couple of suggestions: Once the talk begins, find someone in the audience who is making good eye contact with; there's something extremely encouraging about seeing that someone is 'with you' during the talk. I'm sure there's some funny psychology involving this, but I find it very helpful to come back to that one/few who seem to be engaged in the talk. Link to post Share on other sites
regine_phalange Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Write your speech down. It's great to know you have a piece of paper in case you forget what you need to say. You don't have to be charismatic about this. You've done a great job, and your job wasn't about being charismatic. Link to post Share on other sites
Author SethDamien Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 Good news! it was a success! i was able to speak calmly during the forum which lasted 3 hours in a full-house auditorium! I took in your advises... I thought about my audience rather than myself. They didn't have the knowledge i possess, so i felt obligated to deliver it to the audience to further their knowledge. Plus, i realized i was the most learned person in the auditorium (aside from my professors). I imagined myself as the smartest guy there i guess there was a bit of haughtiness in me. After the forum, the master of ceremonies commented that i was intimidating... it was the last thing on my mind, but somehow it felt good that i dominated the lectures... Thank you! 3 Link to post Share on other sites
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