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March 28, 2024, 08:01:43 pm

Author Topic: Public speaking anxiety..  (Read 1156 times)  Share 

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AR1472

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Public speaking anxiety..
« on: January 18, 2021, 03:45:47 am »
+4
Hey everyone, as the title suggests, I pretty much have public speaking anxiety. I haven't been able to give (even 1 minute orals) in class for the past 2 years. I'm not really sure how it started, because I used to be pretty nonchalant about orals until one day I just couldn't.

Anyways, I'm doing an honours course starting this year and I'm aware that there are presentations involved. Even though I have like...4 years to go, I'm terrified. In second semester this year I have a 5 minute oral and I'm freaking out already. There's a group presentation as well, and I'm scared of those too.

My parents don't really.. believe in mental health issues (they're traditional, old school, etc.) so I can't talk to them about this. Does Monash have any sort of support system for this? Not necessarily to get me out of presenting (because I know I'll have to face it someday) but some sort of program? Anything that can help me get over this fear. Have any of you faced a similar situation? I talked to my older sister who currently goes to Monash, who said that she's never seen anyone be scared of doing an oral and people generally find it fine. I'm worried I'm the only person who feels like this.

Any help would be great  :)
Thanks ^^

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Re: Public speaking anxiety..
« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2021, 09:16:26 am »
+4
Hey everyone, as the title suggests, I pretty much have public speaking anxiety. I haven't been able to give (even 1 minute orals) in class for the past 2 years. I'm not really sure how it started, because I used to be pretty nonchalant about orals until one day I just couldn't.

Anyways, I'm doing an honours course starting this year and I'm aware that there are presentations involved. Even though I have like...4 years to go, I'm terrified. In second semester this year I have a 5 minute oral and I'm freaking out already. There's a group presentation as well, and I'm scared of those too.

My parents don't really.. believe in mental health issues (they're traditional, old school, etc.) so I can't talk to them about this. Does Monash have any sort of support system for this? Not necessarily to get me out of presenting (because I know I'll have to face it someday) but some sort of program? Anything that can help me get over this fear. Have any of you faced a similar situation? I talked to my older sister who currently goes to Monash, who said that she's never seen anyone be scared of doing an oral and people generally find it fine. I'm worried I'm the only person who feels like this.

Any help would be great  :)
Thanks ^^
I have no answer for this, and I'm not going to Monash, but I also find it very difficult to do any sort of oral presentation. You're not the only one who feels this way, rest assured.
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cmati

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Re: Public speaking anxiety..
« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2021, 09:39:53 am »
+6
Hey everyone, as the title suggests, I pretty much have public speaking anxiety. I haven't been able to give (even 1 minute orals) in class for the past 2 years. I'm not really sure how it started, because I used to be pretty nonchalant about orals until one day I just couldn't.

Anyways, I'm doing an honours course starting this year and I'm aware that there are presentations involved. Even though I have like...4 years to go, I'm terrified. In second semester this year I have a 5 minute oral and I'm freaking out already. There's a group presentation as well, and I'm scared of those too.

My parents don't really.. believe in mental health issues (they're traditional, old school, etc.) so I can't talk to them about this. Does Monash have any sort of support system for this? Not necessarily to get me out of presenting (because I know I'll have to face it someday) but some sort of program? Anything that can help me get over this fear. Have any of you faced a similar situation? I talked to my older sister who currently goes to Monash, who said that she's never seen anyone be scared of doing an oral and people generally find it fine. I'm worried I'm the only person who feels like this.

Any help would be great  :)
Thanks ^^

Omg! I am the exact same, I stress myself out so bad and cannot bring myself to present something to my class without embarrassing myself or speaking too softly, my anxiety always shines through.

What I can recommend is going to some public speaking courses, I have looked into this and am seriously considering doing it.
--> https://www.monash.edu/english-connect/old/speaking-workshops

I guess some other tips that may or may not help are:

- Imagine everyone else in the room is not wearing clothes
- Prepare and learn your presentation off my heart, present it to yourself in the mirror
- Add in some props to distract from yourself

I'm not sure of any permanent "fix" to this public speaking issue (if there was one I'd be well aware, trust me  :-[)

It honestly just comes down to being confident in yourself. I hope you and me both can master this one day.
I wish you the best of luck and might see you at some of these workshops!!

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Re: Public speaking anxiety..
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2021, 09:56:14 am »
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Monash also provides free counselling to students, which could be useful for help coping with anxiety-related issues.

https://www.monash.edu/health/counselling

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Re: Public speaking anxiety..
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2021, 06:16:18 pm »
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People have some great advice already. I used to be terrified of this too.

Some things that really helped me were (though they will vary in effectiveness for each person):
- Try to focus on the wall behind the audience or stare at the spot behind the person who’s asking a question. It will look like you’re looking at them but you’re not actually. I find this helps to ease some of the pressure when you’re with an audience.
- Fake confidence. This one is probably the hardest tip but someone who acts like they’re confident will appear confident even if they’re petrified on the inside.
- Deep breaths. Self explanatory. Do them before starting to settle your nerves.
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Calebark

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Re: Public speaking anxiety..
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2021, 07:21:25 pm »
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I used to tend to pepper my sentences with a constant barrage of 'um' and 'uhh' as I always lost my rhythm. When rehearsing speeches, I tried correcting myself whenever I 'um/uhh' with a deep breathe. It keeps the rhythm going a bit more, and it fits into a perfectly normal cadence — and that gave me a bit more confidence.

When I first started presentations, whenever I got too anxious at everybody staring at me, I slightly blurred my vision so I couldn't make out individual faces. It made it easier on my nerves.

I talked to my older sister who currently goes to Monash, who said that she's never seen anyone be scared of doing an oral and people generally find it fine. I'm worried I'm the only person who feels like this.
I have had group presentations with other people, and I can confirm that there are people at Monash who find oral presentations difficult :) this rings true for high school, I recall it being a common issue. I work in a role that requires me to give a metric tonne of presentations to coworkers, bosses, and external bodies (think scary regulators), and I can confirm that even after doing this for nearly two years, I still feel funny about it on occasion. It happens, even if sometimes you don't see it :) 🐢

Monash also provides free counselling to students, which could be useful for help coping with anxiety-related issues.

https://www.monash.edu/health/counselling
Just quickly seconding this!

Best of luck with future presentations!🐢


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