Panic!
Luckily this hasn't happened to me. However, I still do get nervous when I'm speaking in public. I prepare thoroughly and tell myself I know the information, because I do, but the nerves get to me. Interestingly they tend to come after I'm done talking when I have time to reflect on my speech. Even though I know having some nerves aren't the end of the world I would feel better knowing they wouldn't be there after the speech. The only way I feel I could improve this is to practice more and more so I have no subconscious doubts that I know the material inside and out.
Ironically, one of my strengths is appearing prepared and confident during my presentations, especially in the way I hold myself. I know how to make it appear that I know what my material is about. I tend to listen more closely to people who come across as educated and confident during presentations; therefore, I would like to continue my strength as having a confident stance as to capture and keep the attention of my audience.
One thing I know I need a lot of work on is how my voice sounds while presenting. Often times, I can be very passionate about a topic but it just doesn't come across in my presentation. This is partly due to the fact that I don't like sharing my emotions with others. One way I may be able to make my passion for a subject shine through is by really emphasizing words or phrases. Often when I practice and people tell me I sound really good I think I over did it. Practicing out loud and remembering to go a bit farther than I normally would be comfortable with is key to making my points come across clearly and passionately.
Building on the past point, I know I have to work on not fading at the end of my sentences, which I tend to do in conversation and presentations. In order to help myself not fade at the end of the sentences I need to practice out loud and make a conscious effort not to do so. I know in the past when I have thought about it I have been able to fix this issue.
Finally, I'll end on another strength which is memorizing presentations. Ever since I had to memorize a 20 minute speech in 8th grade I knew I was able to memorize presentations. I would love to build on this strength for all presentations so I wouldn't have to be reliant on note cards. Something that holds me back from using this strength to its full ability is the fact that I wait to long to start memorizing. If I stop waiting till the last minute I feel like I could have very strong presentations without note cards, further playing on appearing confident.
I know exactly how it feels to have your nerves hit after the act. It's odd, but I think it's partly due to you being so focused in the moment and then after you're wondering what people thought of it. I think because you know your weaknesses and how to fix them it'll be easy for you! I do agree with the fact that starting early helps, I need to do that as well because I tend to start late as well. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteIf you are aiming to improve how you emphasize certain phrases, you could bold or italicize these words in your written speech, getting it stuck in your head that these phrases are important and should be communicated as such. If you practice off a script like this, you will remember what the important phrases are, even if you get nervous because they will stick out in your mind.
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