i have to read a speech in class 2morrow for school. I get stage fright, any help?

Question

Ive already tried practicing ahead of time, it didnt work. As soon as i stand in front of a large group, i get so scared i forget everything and get really cold. Its quite embarrassing! Any help please?

Answer 1

Take a deep breath and calm yourself down as soon as you get ready to speak. count to ten if it helps. dont look at the ppl. memorize the first line, and highlight all important words so you can easily glance down w/o reading it word for word. spread your feet apart squarly, so you dont sway or anything. try thinking of other things b4 you give the speech to keep you mind off it.
you can also practice the speech in front of a mirror, so you can see any nervous habits you might have.
good luck!

Answer 2

Ok before you get to class go outside or somewhere where you are alone and make some weird noises. It will loosen your throught. Then when you get infront of the class, take a deap breathe. Don't look at anyone in the eyes. That will make you more afraid. At your house you can stand infront of the mirrow and practice your presentation, get your parents to sit down and be your audiance and practice infront of them. Also when you get up infront of the class you can take 10 deap breathes which will calm you down and then say your speech. Whatever you do this is one thing that doesn't work for many people when they are nervous is to imagine people in their underwear. The reason why this doesn't work is because when you are nervous it is very hard to imagine. This is the best advice I can give you. Try the things i just said and it should help you if not completly get over stage fright it will help you get over it mostly. Kate

Answer 3

1. Remember to focus on breathing at an even pace. Focus hard and this will block out the people.
2. Until you are comfortable, do not look anybody in the face. Instead look just above their heads. It will appear as if you are making eye contact somewhere when actually you are not.
3. Remember that generally they know nothing about what you are saying, so if you keep your speech rather neutral or from your own perspective, no one can poke holes into what you are saying.
4. Remember they are as scared as you are and also not trying to show it. So scared in fact that most will not even be paying close attention to what you are saying.
5. Try to stand in a relaxed pose and use your hands for expression from time to time, this distracts the eye of the listener and keeps you busy and your mind off of what you are doing.
6. Keep notes with keywords handy to refer to so that you don't lose your train of thought.

Good Luck.

Answer 4

Used to be the same way. Trick is: don't look at any particular person, but look at the back of the room and shift your gaze from one side to the other. There is always something such as a picture, exit sign or something you can look at. Many people in the audience will swear later that you were looking directly at them. Once you realize this works, you can speak publicly for an hour with no butterflies at all!

Answer 5

My suggestion would be to pick out individuals in the group and talk to them. The woman in the third row, the guy on your left. Make each point in the speech to a different person. That way you're talking to one person at a time and not a group.

Answer 6

One thing that has not been mentioned by your readers is picking a subject that you are intimately familiar with, a hobby, cooking, your best friend, etc. You won't have the problem of forgetting anything about this subject and because of the subject you should enjoy doing it more. Give it a try and let me know how you did. Ok?

Answer 7

Try thinking about what your auctually presenting. Don't think about how your going to be graded or the fact that people are watching. Only focus on the presetation at hand. If you eliminate all the other factors you should feel more comfortable.
Or you could always take the obvious route and imagine everyone in their underwear. :)

Answer 8

Think of a place you most enjoy and pretend that you are there. Or you could try imagining all the students are heads of lettuce. I've never liked speaking in front of people, but I 've done it several times and have yet to have any physical or verbal abuse from it.

Answer 9

Pick one person you are comfortable with and look at them the whole time ( you should tell them in advance). It will be more like a individual conversation. You should look around on occassion but you don't have to make eye contact with the entire group.

Answer 10

One good thing is that you have to read it. So you wont be looking at your audience. Just make sure you stand with good posture. Look at the speech you're holding and read as loudly as you can. Maybe humor will make you comfortable. Point your finger at the listeners as if you're preaching to them.