Ok. Whenever my english teacher, in particular, starts calling on random people my heart begins to race so fast, faster than anything else can make it, I can barely breath, and I just get extremly nervous. All of these things obviously leave me unable to talk and I make an absolute fool of myself. I'm really scared. I have only been embarrassed a couple of times but I'm scared its gonna happen again. Its not even presenting, it can be as simple as answering a question with one or two sentences and bam my body acts like I'm about to be killed or something. It sucks. Does anyone else get like this? How do you cope with it? I'm in 8th grade, and am honestly thinking of skipping class everytime the teacher says were gonna discuss something, I really dont want to humiliate myself.
Speaking in front of class?!
- Thread starter jessica1
- Start date
A86
Well-known member
No you are not alone. While it was nerve racking presenting / public speaking, I remember the anticipation was always worse. The key here is to lessen the anticipation.
I always thought if I did it more it wouldn't happen, and to a certain extent that is true, but its opposite is definitely detrimental - avoiding the situation just enhances the next anticipation attack.
Just try to remember that most students are just going through the motions and you are not specifically their to carry all the perceived weight of a discussion... oh, and don't forget to breath
I always thought if I did it more it wouldn't happen, and to a certain extent that is true, but its opposite is definitely detrimental - avoiding the situation just enhances the next anticipation attack.
Just try to remember that most students are just going through the motions and you are not specifically their to carry all the perceived weight of a discussion... oh, and don't forget to breath
nightcrawler
Well-known member
I used to absolutely hate/dread speaking in class. Thankfully school was many years ago for me now (I'm 41) and have managed to pretty much avoid public speaking since. One time I had to go to court as a witness which I was soooooo anxious about, but luckily for me the defendant pleaded guilty so I didn't have to take to the stand. More recently my mate asked me to be his best man at his wedding I said I was flattered that he asked me but had to turn him down cos there's no way I'm giving a best man speech in front of a large group of people!
In one of the stand-up bits of Seinfeld one time Jerry mentioned that peoples' number one fear was public speaking, and second was death! He said "people would rather die than speak in front of a crowd!"
My point is...you're not alone.
I said I was flattered that he asked me but had to turn him down cos there's no way I'm giving a best man speech in front of a large group of people! In one of the stand-up bits of Seinfeld one time Jerry mentioned that peoples' number one fear was public speaking, and second was death! He said "people would rather die than speak in front of a crowd!"
My point is...you're not alone.
I also dread public speaking. Back when I was in high school, I would tremor every time the teacher called on us to speak or graded us on class participation. I don't know how I survived high school, but I basically scared myself into speaking up. I told myself if I want to get good grades, then I better do it or else. When doing presentations in front of the class, I would force myself to imagine that I love everyone in the room. Yes, I know, very corny. It's like putting on magical glasses that made me perceive everyone as angels. That's how I got through presentations, for the most part.
MotherWolff
Banned
Public speaking can be scary. But the more you do it, the less frightening it becomes. I'm living proof of that. My SA has gotten so much better over the years because I have slowly exposed myself to more and more social situations. You can do it. Don't become truant because if you do it enough times and if the authorities find out, you could go to juvenile jail. Don't let this fear of speaking in front of people stop you from graduating from the 8th grade.