Presenting Presentation as a shy person

[2L8]

Hey guys , later this week I have to stand before my class and make a presentation. The presentation/ slide is good but I have to speech over it and I'm terrified of speaking and the oral representation of this counts for 50% of my grade. How can I get over this hump and present my presentation without looking stupid?

[dfrecore]

Practice, practice, practice! My 15yo daughter had a presentation, and she is quite reserved, and was terrified. She practiced about a million times, until she could practically do it in her sleep. Then, the day of the presentation, when I picked her up from school, she said "I was WAY better than everyone else!" Not because she's so great at speaking, but because she was the only person who had her speech down pat, and didn't mess up, or forget anything. Going in with some confidence helped tremendously, and the only way to get confidence, in this case, is to know the material.

She is no longer terrified to make speeches, although she wouldn't choose to do it.

Also, something to keep in mind: no one is really that interested in YOU personally. I know that sounds rude, but I don't mean it to be at all - it's just that you're so wrapped up in how you look that you forget that everyone else in your class isn't all wrapped up YOUR speech - they are wrapped up in their own speeches! Think about this - if someone in your class messes up or forgets a word or just doesn't do a great speech - how much will YOU personally care? Not at all! By the next day, after watching 20 of those things, you probably wouldn't be able to walk into class and remember what people talked about or how well they did, unless they were awesome and stood out or resonated with you for some reason.

So don't worry so much, and just practice the heck out of that speech until you are saying it in your sleep, and you will be fine! Good luck!

[2L8]

Practice, practice, practice!  My 15yo daughter had a presentation, and she is quite reserved, and was terrified.  She practiced about a million times, until she could practically do it in her sleep.  Then, the day of the presentation, when I picked her up from school, she said "I was WAY better than everyone else!"  Not because she's so great at speaking, but because she was the only person who had her speech down pat, and didn't mess up, or forget anything.  Going in with some confidence helped tremendously, and the only way to get confidence, in this case, is to know the material.

She is no longer terrified to make speeches, although she wouldn't choose to do it.

Also, something to keep in mind: no one is really that interested in YOU personally.  I know that sounds rude, but I don't mean it to be at all - it's just that you're so wrapped up in how you look that you forget that everyone else in your class isn't all wrapped up YOUR speech - they are wrapped up in their own speeches!  Think about this - if someone in your class messes up or forgets a word or just doesn't do a great speech - how much will YOU personally care?  Not at all!  By the next day, after watching 20 of those things, you probably wouldn't be able to walk into class and remember what people talked about or how well they did, unless they were awesome and stood out or resonated with you for some reason.

So don't worry so much, and just practice the heck out of that speech until you are saying it in your sleep, and you will be fine!  Good luck!

 Thank you so much

[clep3705]

I have a friend who practices her speeches in front of her dogs.

Some people practice in front of a mirror.

My advice is to go have fun talking about something that interests you instead of delivering a speech. You'll do better if it isn't a chore.

[jsd]

Also, something to keep in mind: no one is really that interested in YOU personally.  I know that sounds rude, but I don't mean it to be at all - it's just that you're so wrapped up in how you look that you forget that everyone else in your class isn't all wrapped up YOUR speech - they are wrapped up in their own speeches!  Think about this - if someone in your class messes up or forgets a word or just doesn't do a great speech - how much will YOU personally care?  Not at all!  By the next day, after watching 20 of those things, you probably wouldn't be able to walk into class and remember what people talked about or how well they did, unless they were awesome and stood out or resonated with you for some reason.

This is great advice, and relates to something in psychology called the spotlight effect:

"The spotlight effect is the phenomenon in which people tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are. Being that one is constantly in the center of one's own world, an accurate evaluation of how much one is noticed by others is uncommon."

But even after realizing this, it's still hard to get over that we're not the center of everyone else's attention! Like dfrecore said, it sounds like a negative but it's simply the truth -- people are way more worried about themselves than they are worried about picking out all of your flaws!

[2L8]

Also, something to keep in mind: no one is really that interested in YOU personally.  I know that sounds rude, but I don't mean it to be at all - it's just that you're so wrapped up in how you look that you forget that everyone else in your class isn't all wrapped up YOUR speech - they are wrapped up in their own speeches!  Think about this - if someone in your class messes up or forgets a word or just doesn't do a great speech - how much will YOU personally care?  Not at all!  By the next day, after watching 20 of those things, you probably wouldn't be able to walk into class and remember what people talked about or how well they did, unless they were awesome and stood out or resonated with you for some reason.

This is great advice, and relates to something in psychology called the spotlight effect:

"The spotlight effect is the phenomenon in which people tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are. Being that one is constantly in the center of one's own world, an accurate evaluation of how much one is noticed by others is uncommon."

But even after realizing this, it's still hard to get over that we're not the center of everyone else's attention! Like dfrecore said, it sounds like a negative but it's simply the truth -- people are way more worried about themselves than they are worried about picking out all of your flaws!

 Thanks   it helps me feel a lot better. I'll just put in as much effort as I can and block it out. wml

[pugmomx2]

Volunteer to give your speech first.  I wanted to wait until last to give my first speech in Public Speaking class years ago, time came and I almost passed out as soon as I got up there.  Instructor talked to me after class and said that next speech I should volunteer to go first and get it over with.  Everyone else was so focused on their own speech they hardly paid any attention and I was able to sit back and relax while everyone else spoke.  Guess who was always first after that!
Good luck!

[Ideas]

Excellent advice by dfrecore. Since this presentation counts for so much of the grade, I would definitely say practice.

Ideally in front of at least a couple people. You could start without the people, or skip them completely. I think it's a good idea to record yourself and then watch, unless you have people who can give honest feedback. Usually people without practice will find that that they trailed off, said um, were too fast during some parts, were making nervous movements, weren't making enough eye contact, etc. Then they can work on improving those specific things.

Good luck!

[dfrecore]

I like your post jsd, especially how LARGE the font is!!  

[jsd]

Haha, wow sorry about that. I posted it from mobile and it did not show up that way for me when i copy and pasted that quote. Now that I'm on a desktop computer, I see that it's huge. Sorry!