I can't speak in-front of people!
 

I get very nervous if I am asked to talk or read out loud in-front of people such as in-front of my class. I continously worry what I look and sound like when I'm speaking and my words come out stuttering, bouncing on words, mumbling or merging words together, and I get red hot! When I look up at people, some have smirks on their face bacause of the way I'm reading out. I keep worrying abut what I look like to them and blush and sweat hard.

I really need to break this problem. I've been doing this forever and now I'm in university! I get a shortness of breath and don't breathe enough. If I breathe deeply, it's too obvious and people can see that I'm trying to get my breath back to prepeare for the next sentence.

I find that if I whisper something that I'm reading, I can do that easier and my words come out smoothly. But when I actually talk, the stuttering begins, and after a few paragraphs the back of my throat starts to ache.

I'm a very quiet person and tend to blush easily. I'm too conscious about the way I appear when I do something in front of people that I end up messing it up and go red. My written English is A-grade, but my speaking in-front of people is terrible. I can imagine the way I want to be, but I just can't do it on-front of people.

Damn that must suck a lot,
weird enough... i CAN'T for the love of god have a good conversation on the phone http://discussworldissues.com/forums...ies/wacko1.gifhttp://discussworldissues.com/forums...ies/blush1.gif

Makes me go blushing and stuttering , maybe we need to help eachother http://discussworldissues.com/forums.../confused1.gif
but i don't know how http://discussworldissues.com/forums...ilies/sad1.gif

Sorry i know the crappiest help ever....

Glad I'm not the only one! I'm a bit better on the phone since they can't see me. I prefer e-mailing! It's just that when I talk in front of people, I worry about how they are seeing me and I go downhill from there.

You're not the only one. I used to hate doing presentations. I don't think my problem was quite as bad as yours, but I used to get very nervous... even in front of just a dozen people I knew well.

I don't know what can be done about this sort of problem - but I do know not everyone is suited to speaking in front of people.

Isn't that becuase you're battered most of the time?

Its all about confidence, best way to conquer it is to present more often. Know your material very well and this will help. Furthermore stop worrying about how you look or what is thought of you, what your audience is after is an interesting presentation. So try and make your speach fluid and avoid a monotonic level, you want to change pitch especially when posing a rhetorical question or ending your sentences.

Your are the centre of attention, don't feel awkward about it, revel in it!

Getting professional help does make miracles, but in the not too serious cases it eases the pain if you've researched and rehearsed your presentation beforehand so well that you know the text and subject by heart, upside down and from the end to beginning, so whatever else might fail, you know you are gonna rock. [thumbup]

I've never met anyone that actually likes speaking in front of people. I've got to give a Presentation at a Job interview next week and frankly I'm crapping myself. I'm just trying to get it into my head that my presentation is good, it's only in front of 2 people and I know I can do it... I've just gotta convince myself of that :)

It's a random thing to suggest, but if you REALLY struggle with it, one thing to consider, possibly, is Hypnotherapy. I've had a couple of friends go through it, one for Smoking and one for the Confidence thing when speaking etc and neither of them have looked back since :)

I actually enjoy doing it when I'm up there. It's the waiting around and trying to remember what I am going to say that I hate [cursing]

Try reading stuff out loud when you're alone but most importantly rad out loud what you're going to present. It help memorizing it.

Answer - Confidence.


Thats all it is, u just need more confidence and to stop thinking/caring what others are thinking etc.

Be loud, be full of yourself, crack a joke if u say a word wrong ... dont be shy.


I had to give a presentation to the directors of my workplace and I just went at it full pelt. I said one part wrong, think I missed a comma or summet and it didnt sound right so I said something along the lines of, "If you pay me more, I'd put more thought into it" ... got a few laughs and then I continued.

Everyone is human, and we all make mistakes, doesnt matter how much their on or how cool they think they are ...

Be loud and just go with the flow :)

When I was in school (now 23) and college I had trouble communicating to an audience but was perfectly fine among friends etc. I just did not like standing up and versing the lines I needed to say, similar to the above OP but sans the sweating (eww!!).

Anyway, the issue resolved itself over time and the more I actually got used to being around a lot of people the easier it became to be more confident and say what needs to be said and people actually properly listening and taking you seriously.

Now I work in tech support so spend all day on the phone and in team meetings where I work so it's no problem at all communicating with random people daily.

Practice, like with everything ever, is the key mate :)

i got the same problem especially when girls are around ~~
i think it gets better and better though the more experience you get.. just do it, wahtever you fear and it gets better http://www.futuremark.com/forum/images/styles/World/icons/yes.gif

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'll get used to it the more I do it. I'll also be working in a tech support area for only a few weeks so I'll make the most of speaking with people at work as well as over the phone. Hopefully it'll bring my speaking skills up a bit as well as some confidence.

I have to present and demo my work to my class in a few weeks and seeing how it went to badly last time, I'm not really looking forward to presenting to the same people again. But I'll try and just give it my best without making too much direct eye contact. I tend to look at their emotions on me and that's where I fall.

I have that problem too, the big thing is if you're reading off of cue cards, don't follow the sentence exactly, just plot down the points because it's easier to just make up sentences on the spot rather than try to remember to say each word correctly.

Also, at the beginning of your presentation, say to the audience that you're not to good at presentations, I usually start with a joke saying something like "I think I'm going to piss myself", it may not work for you depending on how professional it needs to be, but I find if you say something like that, the audience is less likely to care how well the presentation goes, and will be more 'forgiving'.

My 2 cents.

I tend to not make too much direct eye contact but still look at people, I just kinda unfocus slightly and look between people if there are quite a lot. You don't really see their faces that way and as far as they're concerned, you're keeping good eye contact :)

lol combined with your avatar that line = class :p

I know exactly what you mean. I had to do a presentation last November about my uni project in front of 3 lecturers (one of them a Prof.) and about 10 of my fellow students. About 10 minutes long + questions at the end. I'd practised it beforehand in front of small groups of friends a couple of times which really helped. I ended up with 68% I think which I was very happy with because I consider myself quite a shy person especially in front of people I don't know at all or very well. There were a couple of people in the group who were very confident and did very well on their presentations. Some of the others hadn't practised and were very nervous and stuttery, which I would have been if I'd not had the practice.

When I was younger I used to be more shy than I am now. Since then I've had jobs at three different places and done presentations and group projects in college/uni. These things have really helped me.

I'd also agree with what robbiekhan said, the more you put yourself in those kind of situations the better you will get at it. Just try not to worry about it, practice and you'll be fine. [thumbup]

I used to have that trouble in Uni, in my second year I had to give a presentation and I completely went to pieces, it was painfully embarrassing to say the least. In the third year I got slightly better, not perfect, but I found preparing a script and having something to drink as you go along helps (stops mouth drying out).

By the time I was doing my PGCE I was revelling in my new status as centre of attention during presentations. Its just something that comes with more confidence and experience over time. Give it time and you'll get better, just don't expect to wake up one day with the ability, practice makes perfect.

you need to accept your self as who you are first.

you know what I mean....


anyway I have problems with answer machines