I tend to get very nervous during any type of oral presentation. What can I do to make myself not nervous?

Question

I am doing an oral book report for school tomorrow, and I tend to get very nervous. I get shaky, sweaty, and when I get up to give it, I tend to talk fast. When this happens, my mouth gets full of saliva, and I swallow during the middle of my sentences, making it sound choppy and hard to follow. I need some ideas on how to keep the anxiety and nervousness down long enough to give a 2 minute report. Any advice anyone could give would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Most likely, you will not ever NOT be nervous unless you get much experience as a public speaker. However, you have taken the first step and that is to identify what your nerves do to you because nervous reactions are involuntary. In other words, you cannot just say stop, and your nerves will relax. Sooooo, you need to learn techniques that will work for YOU to combat what your nerves do to you.

Frst, to speak more slowly, concentrate on speaking slowly, almost in slow motion. Pronounce your word clearly and pause very briefly at the end of sentences. Do not be afraid to take a deep breath before starting. That may help relax you.

Second. Stare your audience down whern you first stand up. Look directly at them (till they settle down; a few seconds). Give yourself a pep talk as you do. Say to yourself that YOU are THE authority on your topic, and THEY have much to learn from you. Be in charge.

Third. If you are shaky, DO NOT hold anything in your hands to signal nervousness to your audience. Instead, use a lecturn for your notes (Still better, use a visual which tells your story and elinminate notes all together.). Hold on to the sides of the lecturn so you do not shake.

Fourth. As far as sweating is concerned, that is a nervous reaction, so the more comfortable you become speaking, the less you will sweat.

Fifth. Lots of saliva can be a problem as can dry mouth. So, I suggest you have a glass of water next to you and feel free to take a sip when your mouth is very dry or full of saliva. The excess saliva problem will disappear as soon as you are relaxed.

I hope this all helps. I used to teach speech to high school students. Good luck.

Chow!!

Answer 2

I also get really nervous about speaking to people. Here are some tricks that have helped me a lot.
*Hold a pen or something. My mom told me to do this last year when I had to give a speech. It gives your hands something to do and actually makes you feel like you have some more authority while talking. When I talk, I tend to lose control of my hands, so holding a pen keeps them under control.
*annunciate! Make sure you are speaking very clearly.
*speak slowly and really focus on what you're saying. When I talk, sometimes I find that i'm going off in weird tangents or talking in circles. It helps to focus on what you say. Also, if you can, use notecards with bullet points on them to keep you on track. I know that teachers sometimes make you talk off of the top of your head, though.
*If you're talking in front of your whole class, look at their foreheads. It sounds strange, but it's a lot easier than looking into their eyes. They'll think you're looking directly into their eyes, though. When you talk people in the eye, they pay better attention. So....if they think you're looking at their eyes...they'll probably listen to what you say. This is a trick that i have found is EXTREMELY useful and i use it all the time.
*have confidence. Unless everybody else in the class read the same book, you're the only one who knows what you're talking about.
*BREATHE. pace yourself and take a nice big breath at the end of every sentence. sometimes i sort of forget to breathe and get all choked up and have to take a breath in the middle of a sentence, which is sort of awkward and has an effect on the comprehension of the people listening.
*go third, if you can. this gives you some time to listen to other people and observe their techniques, but you also aren't just sitting there feeling nervous. This will make your presentation more successful.
*at the end, ask if anybody has questions. this will clarify anything they found confusing.
*practice by talking into the mirror. this helps a lot.

hope this helps!! good luck!

Answer 3

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RE:
I tend to get very nervous during any type of oral presentation. What can I do to make myself not nervous?
I am doing an oral book report for school tomorrow, and I tend to get very nervous. I get shaky, sweaty, and when I get up to give it, I tend to talk fast. When this happens, my mouth gets full of saliva, and I swallow during the middle of my sentences, making it sound choppy and hard to follow. I...

Answer 4

get started with a joke or something that gets the audiences attention - it really works! I did this for two of my presentations (of course the jokes/etc. are on topic) and I was relativly relaxed throughout the whole thing.
my idea of a joke/etc:
For my oral book report on The City of Ember, I asked my friend to close the lights for a second, then I asked, "How would you like it if you lived in a city that looked like this all the time?"
For my desert report with a friend, we had a dialogue between us where we incorporated the use of a joke. It had to do with double letters (like ss or tt); ever heard of the joke about "grandma likes ____ but not ___"? So we made a joke aobut deserts and desserts.

Good luck!

Answer 5

It turns out that public speaking is one of the most stressful things people do. I read somewhere that only getting a divorce and going to jail are more stressful. So you are in good company! One technique that people frequently cite is to actually picture your audience naked--it makes the audience amusing in your mind, it puts you in the control position, so you might want to give that a try. When you get up to talk, take a calming breath, smile, say "good morning", "hello", whatever-- a nice, friendly opening that, again, gives you control. As the person in control you have the power, you have the right, to be polite and friendly and courteous.

It also helps a lot to be familiar with your topic. If you are allowed to use notes, do. Have your talk organized so that it will go smoothly and efficiently. Speed is not as important as clarity. If you are enthusiastic, that helps, too, as if--this book was so good I can't wait to tell you about it...or...this book was so bad I can't wait to tell you how bad it was. You need to be aware of your speech. Talk loudly enough that people can hear you, but do not yell. Avoid mumbling, try to avoid "aahs" and "umms" and "you knows".

It might also help to dress somewhat importantly. Why? Again, it gives you control. It gives you an air of authority. As life goes on you will find that you will have to give a lot of talks, presentations, speeches. It will happen everywhere, in college classes, in business, in the military. It is a skill worth developing, and if it takes picturing your audience in an embarassing position to be able to do it, its worth it.

Answer 6

Step 1- Make sure you are well prepared.

Step 2- Take deep breaths 5 minutes before you are about to start.

Tep 3- Think of something beautiful or if you like something fun.

Step 4- Tell yourself " this is a piece of cake!!"

Step 5- Then when you start talking pretend as if you are talking to a group of friends.

Getting nervous is a mind over matter thing if you tell yourself repeatedly that this is gonna be ok it will, but think negative and that's when all the 'bad' things start to happen.

Good Luck with your speech!!

Answer 7

Before starting your presentation, practice proper breathing. Close your mouth and inhale deeply through your nose. Hold for a count of five then exhale slowly through the mouth. Do this several times prior to and while getting in position to give your report. Another technique that helps, I've heard, is to visualize all your audience totally naked.

Answer 8

I don't want to sound like a parrot but you need to practice practice practice. I am a speech communications major, most of my time is spent making speeches, and they don't get any easier. You have to be fully prepared with what you are going to say, you should be able to almost have a conversation with someone about it, you have to be that familiar with the material. Take a deep breath and you will do fine. It is more of the nerve of beginning, once your up there it will be a piece of cake.

Answer 9

Before you go up, take several deep breaths. Try to calm down and relax. When you get up there, imagine everyone in their underwear ;) Then, find a focal point in the room and focus on that point instead of looking around and feeling nervous. Don't worry, you'll do fine, and it will be over before you know it. Good luck

Answer 10

Valium!... No really I feel for you, I too get the really nervous feeling when having to speak in front of people. In the end I wish that I never had to speak in front of crowds, but in reality we all have to; so I look at it like this; you are speaking in front of people who know you... you are speaking in front of people that also have to do the same.... if you keep it simple in your head, it makes it easier; it's a fact not too many of us are comfortable in public speaking situations.. and once begun it's almost done... keep your head up, and know it will be over soon. Good Luck!