Public speaking to me is pretty scary. Although I feel okay when I am speaking in front of a crowd, I feel like time is running slower than usual. My fear is completely forgetting what I have to say and looking like I have no idea what I am doing.
When I was going to school at KVCC I took a public speaking class. Before then I was TERRIFIED of talking in front of a class or crowd. My teacher forced the class to face their fears of public speaking. I think that helped me a lot. I notice that the longer it is between oral presentations, the more nervous I get when I have one to do for a class.
Doing oral presentations helps with a lot more than just public speaking. It helped a lot with me being comfortable in interviews. Although they are very different in some aspects, the "spot light" concept is pretty much the same. All eyes are on you, and that can be intimidating.
What helps me the most is practice, practice, practice. The more familiar I am with the subject I am talking about the more confident I am. When I am iffy on the topic I feel more tempted to want to read straight from my note cards... which is a big no-no.
For my oral presentation in this class I have decided to do a process that I do at work because I am familiar with it. That way, I will not want to read from my cards because I will already know what I want to say. I feel like I will sound more natural that way too. I haven't decided yet which process I want to do. I want it to be interesting, but not complicated to the point where people don't understand what I am trying to explain.
Overall, yes public speaking is scary. But I know that it's important to practice it in school because it will help a lot in the later years of my career.
No comments:
Post a Comment