Is there anyone else who's afraid of speaking?

[fadedteal]

After I did a speech in high school and had some audiences yelling out telling me to "Go home" and clapped their hands in the middle of my speech to make me shut up, I started to fear talking in front of people. I remember when I had my oral test, I just dead aired for minutes because my heartbeat was so fast I was afraid I would have a heart attack. Of course I didn't get a good grade on that oral test. Anyone here on the same boat with me?

 

[Srijita52]

Oh wow that was really awful. Sorry you had to go through that.
Yeah, I'm terrified of public speaking too. Its something I've avoided throughout school and my grades always suffered for this.

 

[wariomona]

Your situation in school sounds absolutely horrible and I can see why you'd have so much trouble now...

My brain used to literally just shut down whenever I had to give a speech so I didn't feel all that nervous, but had no idea whether I was speaking clearly or not, nor whether I was even speaking English, and within seconds of finishing I couldn't even remember speaking in front of anyone at all...
Question Time was always the worst though. I just pretended I was answering their question, but I probably didn't, especially since their words would just get interpreted by my brain as "%$&*! %*( !#??"

 

[crazypants]

After I did a speech in high school and had some audiences yelling out telling me to "Go home" and clapped their hands in the middle of my speech to make me shut up, I started to fear talking in front of people. I remember when I had my oral test, I just dead aired for minutes because my heartbeat was so fast I was afraid I would have a heart attack. Of course I didn't get a good grade on that oral test. Anyone here on the same boat with me?

OMG. Yup, that's pretty much my worst nightmare- I'm sorry you had to go through that!

You're braver than me though, I probably would have just accepted a failing grade and skipped the speech altogether! Last time I had to do something like that was at work, and I felt like I was having an out of body experience. Can't believe I didn't faint. I don't know how people do it!

 

[JuiceB]

Back when I was in school I was always afraid to read aloud in class because of my stuttering. My speech is better now than ever but back then it was horrible.

 

[psych]

fadedteal, I never would've been able to handle something like that in high school. The fact that you didn't flee earns you a pat on the back or better as far as I'm concerned...

So what if your grade wasn't great. You got through it, as rough as it was. Good for you. Public speaking is a very common fear.

I still sometimes will make an excuse and bail in the middle of morning meeting at work...

There was a stretch, about 2-3 weeks where I had to run it every damned morning...

If the caseworkers, nurses, & supervisors show up, plus the clinical director...
It can become a group as large as 26 people, small room, in a big circle, with 16 unhappy, sarcastic patients all staring at you as you narrate & direct the flow of the meeting.
Sometimes I break out in a cold sweat... I usually take a trip to the bathroom afterwards to chill a minute or two.

 

[9407]

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[9407]

I think that describes everyone here. I remember in grade 11 I had a teacher who made us do 6 presentations in front of the class during that semester. I didn't like her. She was one of those old fashioned teachers that doesn't understand SA. That's why I much prefer young teachers. They seem to be more understanding of that kind of stuff.

 

[KiaKaha]

I thought this thread was going to ask "Is there anyone else who's afraid of the big bad wolf"