hey i'm a 17 year old girl.
i've always been quite shy and never too keen on giving speeches at school or anything like that.. i'd get the usual butterflies in the stomach kind of thing but it would be okay. however over the past year my anxiety has severly increased. for example today in class we went around the room and had to say why we chose the subject.. a really simple exercise but my hands started sweating and shaking and every word that was more than one syllable made me stutter terribly and my head was pounding so hard that i couldn't even think.
does anyone know how to overcome this?
thanks!
Nervousness is normal, especially in public settings. Fear of public speaking is the #1 fear, higher even than death. Even the most experienced public speakers get nervous before they present. While I'm no expert on public speaking/overcoming nervousness, I do have some suggestions which have worked for me.
1) If you know that you will have to speak, avoid alcohol and caffeine prior. These (and most) drugs will cause your nervousness to increase.
2) Again, if you know that you will be speaking rehearse your material by yourself beforehand. If you can't comfortably make the presentation to yourself there is no way you'll be able to do it in front of a crowd.
3) Identify what causes your nervousness specifically, and confront your fears head on. If you're scared that you'll randomly be called on in class, raise your hand and blurt something out. Fear is caused by the unknown, you cannot be afraid of something you're willing to confront.
Practice! You will feel much better about yourself if you can overcome this anxiety. Your confidence will increase as well as the quality of your life.
I got over it in a year and now am fairly comfortable with it :)
Good luck, THINGTHINGG
What I do is just tell myself everything will be alright and just say fuck what everyone thinks because they are all herbs lol.
I also smoked a lot of weed in school which didnt help. I smoked beore school and during and after we would smog the shed haha.
Just confront it head on you are normal.
I haven't cured it yet, I've just skipped off every presentation I can. Ducked right out.
I don't know if I have improved after being prescribed propranolol & prozac, but to be honest, presentations were such a source of terror I don't want to risk one to find out.
Tickly_Sc*nts offered good advice. Practicing in particular is important, as is confronting your fears head on. If you beat one of them, it will give you A LOT of confidence.
Sharing your nerves is helpful, especially to a person who, will witness your presentation. It's at least one person in the room who is expecting you to be nervous and will not judge you for displaying signs of nerves during it.
Do not take the thing too seriously, try to make jokes, and smile, even it's just a blatantly nervous smile. people will relate to that and be rooting for you.
But the best advice I can give is to take deep breaths. It is hands down the best way to relax you. Take maybe 15 deep breaths before and afterwards, you will feel much better.
Good luck!! you're not alone