When I was nine, I had stage fright. There was a story telling class and it was my turn to present my story to the class. However, I was frozen stiff, convinced that I could not do it, and I cried. I could not speak and was led away by my teacher amongst the students’ laughter. I never presented again until I was in secondary school. But, when I spoke in front of my friends for a project presentation, I remembered that I could do it and that I did not make a mistake.
Surprisingly, the words flowed freely out of my mouth! I was amazed and as I finished, I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I had overcome my fear! I was ecstatic, as I knew it would greatly benefit me for sure in my future talks and presentations when I was much older.
Indeed, I was glad to have overcome my fear. It meant so much to me. I had finally grasped the true concept of overcoming stage fright. Overcoming that fear was the simplest thing one could accomplish without a sweat. I realized that all I needed to do was to relax, and to speak my mind, but of course, controlling my words. I was afraid of making a mistake, which caused the first episode of stage fright that time.
Ever since that incident, I have changed and I am no longer afraid of speaking publicly or on stage.
That incident has caused me to be more confident in whatever I did, be it my presentations, or what I did. I was no longer the old me, who used to be so frightened at every presentation and every task that required speaking to groups of people. Now, I can speak and present to audiences smoothly without mistakes, getting better and better at them.
Every time I think back to the very day I succeeded in presenting to my classmates, it is one of my greatest achievements that mean so much to me because without that achievement, I will never be able to present to people when I am older, which is important if I want to succeed in my studies and life.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
I was scheduled to give a 45-minute speech I had spent months working on – taking an 8-hour course down to a 45-minute review was tough enough, but when I arrived, I asked the program coordinators where the educational programs were to be held – her response was, what educational programs? She finally let us have some of the tables that were set for the luncheon – the entire time the caterers were setting up the luncheon, talking and crashing dishes……
- 438 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Public speaking phobia is an intense and irrational fear of experiencing judgment by others when speaking in front of public or being embarrassed or humiliated in such situations causing dread, panic, and avoidance (Teachman, 2010). More accurately, it is not the scrutiny and negative judgments themselves but the speaker’s own emotional response to them; the feeling of shame, rejection or humiliation that causes intense fear in the speaker. Sufferers recognize that their fear is excessive or unreasonable but they feel powerless to do anything to change their responses (Teachman, 2010). Therefore, the feared situation – such as presentations, speeches, and meetings are avoided or else endured with intense anxiety or distress. In Bill’s situation, he suffers from intense fear of intense fear of public speaking and finds new ways of avoiding situations that involve speaking in front of audience, until his recent promotion at work.…
- 1202 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
I used dread the discomfort that arose from public speaking and avoided every class presentation, which to my frustration, resulted in missing exciting opportunities. During my sophomore year of high school, I chose to take a speech class to embrace speaking opportunities instead of shying away from them. The first few days of class were nerve-racking, but steadily I gained more skill and confidence in my speaking abilities. Towards the close of sophomore year, I stepped into a leadership role, despite my previous anxieties. In a 100-student mock trial, I confidently presented the opening and closing statements for the defense.…
- 100 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
Few people are fearless speakers. As students, we generally feel the rumble of butterflies in our stomachs, but the most we have to lose is a good grade.…
- 1592 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
This is the first opportunity for me to present information of any topic to my class in a while. I’m not sure if I remember the last time I presented in front of a class full of people, which made me very nervous for this presentation especially in front of people I didn’t know and had never talked to before. As the date for me to present was arriving I began to get more nervous because again I haven’t done this is a while but once I entered the class I did a good job of keeping my nerves down and simply reading the slides to the class and presenting the information of my particular dialect very well I feel like. For many people presenting such things are enjoyable and fun for them but for me I’ve never been a big fan of presenting in front of a classroom full of students and in this case a classroom full of students I don’t know.…
- 669 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The car ride with Mr. Buckley positively affected my view on education. I always knew how important education was because I heard my parent’s tell me about every day of my life that it is important. Although last year I did get a bit lazy and…
- 650 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
There comes a time or two in our lives where we struggle with certain aspects which we will overcome at a later time in life. As a child, I was told that I was very outgoing and friendly, but I felt like a shy and quiet soul. While my friends were shining stars and found merriment in groups, I was just merely a shadow behind them, finding content in being alone. However, teachers would notice this trait of mine and try to pull me out of my shell time and time again. When facing the judgemental eyes of my teacher and curious classmates, I would freeze up and an uneasiness would fill my body from head to toe. Panic would set in and my words would come out in a jumbled mess. Public speaking was just not my forte.…
- 570 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
It is more than likely that I will always have some anxiety before speaking in front of a room of people; this is a natural reaction and can be managed quite easily. I have learnt to take this type of anxiety as an advantage as I use the anxious feeling to focus on what I need to remember. I have learnt that by being congruent and showing positive regard to myself that I can increase my confidence levels. When trying to deliver a message in a way that wasn’t true to me I became confused and this showed in my role play work.…
- 1154 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
I interviewed some people. My host mother is my first interviewee. She speaks in public about once a month. She likes everyone else, feels nervous and fidgety. Before she go on stage, she feels the body heat and face redden, so she is used to have a paper and pen in front of her and keeps writing some letters. She also has some ideas on the issue about how to deal with stage fright. When she is speaking, she doesn’t look at audience particular or stare at their eyes. It’s better to put eyes level focus on the back of the audience. And she likes starting her speech with a joke in order to create a comfortable atmosphere. She recommends that rehearsing the speech in front of an audience and then asking for honest feedback not only improves the speech but also makes us a more confident presenter. Note is necessary for a beginning speaker, not everyone can clearly remember all the content of speech when they are nervous. And thinking people is our family can make us feel more close to the audience. My host mother thinks she has changed with more experiences. Specially though her church activities, she has more chances to be able to speak more with others. At the same time, she also served as a volunteer, assisting people promotes her ability to communicate. Therefore, she becomes more confident rather than having stage fright.…
- 565 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
My whole life, public speaking has daunted me. When I am forced to present in front of a class, I do not feel nervous until I am at the podium facing thirty other students. Even though I am confident in what I am saying, my body and words prefer to shake. I have tried to improve my speaking abilities but have not had much success. It wasn’t until I decided to really challenge myself that I found…
- 783 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
It is hard to recall how I felt at the time, as I simply relaxed myself as much as possible and went with the flow, relying on my rhetorical skills and preparation. What I do remember clearly was the relief after finishing talking – and the first thought afterwards, “that wasn’t so bad”.…
- 293 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In the first three chapters of Michael Motley’s book Overcoming Your Fear of Public Speaking: A Proven Method, Motley goes over other people’s methods compared to his own, physical reactions spurred on by the anxiety, and also how to change ones style of speaking from “performance orientation” to “communication orientation” (Motley, 1997, p. 41) These three chapters hold several very strong points of interest for someone with any kind of anxiety about public speaking, which would be everyone, that could help him or her manage the symptoms of anxiety. In chapter one Motley starts out with giving the audience different scenarios that helps form a connection between him and the readers, by doing this Motley is able to create credibility with the readers. Credibility is important in any field, literature and public speaking in particular, because if the author/speaker doesn’t form this connection then he is just some random Joe off the street.…
- 1278 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
A week after my junior year of high school concluded I found myself giving a speech before 12,000 of my high school peers as I ran for national office at the Future Business Leaders of America’s National Leadership Conference in Atlanta, GA. Exactly two years ago I was at the same conference, but visibly shaking as I presented my case study to just three judges. Giving that campaign speech was a risk. Public speaking was my nemesis, just two years ago, I couldn’t speak to three people. Now, I stood in front of 12,000. It pushed me in ways in could have never imagine, and it transformed me in ways I could never have imagine.…
- 559 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
When the fear of public speaking is present, it is overall easy to overcome. The article How to Conquer Public Speaking Fear, written by Morton C. Orman, M.D. explains how practicing the ten principles with practice can help you overcome public speaking fear. Principle 1 states that public speaking is not inherently stressful, although thousands of human beings have learned to speak without stress, I disagree that I’ll ever have the feeling of having little to no stress when it comes to public speaking. Principle 2 states that you don’t have to be brilliant or perfect to succeed. I agree with this principle because at the end of the day people are looking for something of value from your speech. Principle 3 explains how you only need two or…
- 517 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
One fateful night at a Boy Scout meeting, when we were holding elections for the highest position within the troop, I stood in front of my fellow scouts and delivered my speech. I had practiced for hours, writing and rewriting my speech and meticulously perfecting every sentence I had written so that it would blow all others out of the water. I had let many people proofread it, each having very little to say on how to make it better, yet that night, I could not get over my nervousness. I was dreading the moment when I would be called upon, and when I was, I immediately thought, “Why am I doing this? There is no way I can do this, there is no way I can do this, there is no way…”…
- 833 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays