Very Nervous?

Question

OK, I'm going to ask this.

I am always nervous when I have to present or say something in front of a group of people.Or when, for some reason, all eyes are on me. I get very nervous and my heart pounds and my face gets red. I feel like I'm going to faint or collapse. This happens mostly at school.On the first day of school we were suppossed to right 3 things we are good at and 3 things we need to work on. For the second question, I put Be better at talking in front of a group of people. Big Mistake. My teacher has been calling on me to answer everything! He thinks I don't notice but I know he is doing this to "Boost my confidence" The thing is, I have NO problem answering things from my desk when I can't see everyone looking at me. How can I stop him from having me answer EVERYTHING?

Also, we have been memorizing poems that we present to the class once we've memorized them. We did our first poem last week. I knew the whole poem perfectly. And even if i didn't, 12 people said it before me, giving me plenty of time to know it. However when I got up front, I got really nervous and my hands started sweating and I said the poem OK, not great, but it was a very short poem, Now, how can I be less nervous when presenting???? PLEASE HELP!!!

I'm not that old i don't want drugs

Answer 1

Ask your M.D. for some Benzo's. See a psychologist to talk about how to gain your confidence. Check out some books at the library about communication. This is not an unusual fear. It is perfectly normal, and you need to work on becoming more of a public speaker. If you get a good job in management one day, communication skills will be very helpful. Remember to feel the fear and do it anyways.

Answer 2

Just as a point of interest for you. If you know a fellow by the name of Bob Hope (a well known entertainer before your time), had a problem just like yours. He would have to go back stage and throw up before he was able to make his stage appearance. So nervous really is pretty common, even among entertainers. Who make a living on stage.

One thing you will need to learn is to not look at anyone directly. Unless you are directing some thing to them personally.One thing many use is; find someone in the audience and visualize them with no clothes on. Lots of tricks one can use to take the pressure off. The other thing is; learn to talk about things you know well. That way you can talk about them rather than make a speech.

Hope this helps a bit.

Answer 3

Did you know that this is the most common phobia. Just keep on doing it. My husband always told my kids to be the first to volunteer to give the speech because then you don't have time for the tension to build. There's the crazy old thing that never worked for me--pretend nobody in the audience is wearing pants. The only thing I could ever do to be a little less scared was to tell myself that I have prepared to the best of my ability, and I will do my best. Practice out loud, and then on your day, just go for it, tell yourself you can do this thing and do it well. If it's not perfect, so what, you are only human.

Answer 4

I know how you feel. It's sucks because it seems like you have no control over the nervousness. My secret to overcoming nervousness in front of a group of people is to focus my attention on the audience. Put yourself in the mindset that YOU are judging them. During presentations, I convince myself that everyone is interested in what I have to say, that they want me to succeed, and that I have something useful and important to share with them. This works wonders for not being nervous because if people are not judging me, I have no reason to be nervous. Years ago, I always hated making presentations, I often had negative thoughts like how everyone is staring at me, judging everything I say and every move I make, this then caused nervousness which caused me to stutter, I would forget what I was talking about, which make me more nervous, it's just a vicious cycle.

It's not really about boosting your confidence, I would describe it as having a lack of insecurity.
Practice doesn't necessarily make it better. I used to think memorizing exactly what I was going to say would help, but being in front of people still made me nervous.
What worked the best is my way of thinking. Instead of being selfish and focusing on what everying is thinking of me, I instead focused on being curious about the audience and how they are responding to what I'm saying. What are their posture and facial expressions telling me about how they are feeling today? Everytime I talk, in addition to knowing my subject very well, one of the things I do during the presentation is I would make it my mission to find anyone who looks bored and adjust what I say to make it interesting.

Answer 5

Drugs aren't for everyone! I was always sick to my stomach when talking in front of colleges. I helped co facilitate several meetings for things I believe in. Such as reducing stigma for the mental health community. I did this so I could stand up on the podium and not feel like my heart was going to sink to my knees. Participate in activities that you feel good about and have interest in and practice in front of friends, family etc and you will see how the next time and the next time feels. Each time it will get easier, but this doesn't happen overnight. It takes practice. Good luck.

Answer 6

If you don't want drugs, try meditation. Go to a quiet place and listen to yourself breathe. In, out, in, out. Breathe in the good, breathe out the bad. Calm yourself.

Then when you get to a speech, a few moments before you have to speak, go to your meditation scenario--breathe in, out, calm yourself the way you do every day.

I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that speaking in front of a crowd and leadership skills and confidence are all important to your future life. Practicing meditating (controlled relaxing) will give you the skills you need to calm yourself down when you're faced with any uncomfortable situation.

Don't panic, smile and pretend you speak publicly all the time. Pretend--my daughter was in the show choir in high school, and they were so lifeless, barely moving about on stages. Well, I told her that when her solo came, she should pretend that she was a performer--get out there with confidence and knock 'em dead. Now she sings for an acapella show choir at her college, and tries out for solos all the time--loves solos.

Don't forget that you control your nerves, not the other way around.

TX Mom

Answer 7

When I was in college, I had to make a presentation. I was so confident and ready, and then I froze up when I finally stood up in front of the class. A year or so later, I had to make a presentation in front of another class. This time, I convinced myself that everybody in the class was my good friend and they all wanted me to succeed in my presentation. Instead of thinking of them as a big group of strangers, I thought of them as a small group of good friends who were all nice people. My presentation went great. I was totally confident and even engaged their interest with jokes. One other thing that really helps is feeling totally confident in your knowledge of the material. Know your topic inside and out and learn to love it. When you love what you're talking about, you will show more passion for it which could help to engage the interest of your audience which in turn results in you being even more confident when they lean forward and smile at you as they hang off your words.

Answer 8

Well, just the people in front of you makes you nervous, right? OK, here it goes...at home put yourself in front of a mirror and put pictures of family, magazines, stuffed animals in front of you, so, when you talk, you'll be facing your worst judge...YOU, plus all the pictures facing you. Talk about your theme, or say the poem, look at their faces once in a while, but don't lose your concentration, smile, gain confidence and like what you see. You will like what you see, I can assure you that. Practice, practice, practice.
Next time you are in front of a class, just remember your pictures and you'll feel like a fish in the water.....................and you'll smile because maybe one of your classmates looks like the Teddy Bear you have. Good Luck, friend!!!
Oh! I almost forgot!! about your teacher....leave her!!! the more she asks you, the tougher you are getting!! take it as a plus!!! you know the answer? answer it!! you don't know the answer? tell her I don't know that one!!! pure and simple!!!

Answer 9

I'm the same way, but I'm not as bad as when I was younger... I remember in the 4th grade I had to read this story I had to write in front of the class, I was shaking so bad I could barely read the paper!! I've been getting better though... I think as I've been having to do that more and more, I've been getting more comfortable with it (although I still HATE it) ... :-)

Answer 10

You are having anxiety attacks. I used to get them a lot. It takes practice, trying to control your breathing. You are panicking before you are even up there, right??? You have to train your brain no to overreact. You assume the worst will happen, (like freaking out or running out of the run).. I waited to long to deal w/my attacks. You can get a therapist to help you or maybe your family. The trick is in the breathing and not thinking about "What might happen"..