Presentation speak help? I just cannot. My voice will shake and I constantly swallow ;( what shall I do

[WolfLoverPro]

So I have presentation to do and here is what happened to me

 

im standing up in front of everyone and I swallow. My heart starts to beat fast and I start. 

 

First things that that happen is my voice shakes almost like when you have the shivers if it’s so cold. 

 

2. I constantly clear my throat and swallow so I legit CANNOT say words it’s ridiculous 

 

 

heres the thing. After a few slides in I’m fine. 

I would be happy to talk for hours. But I just CANT and don’t want to because of the first stages. 

 

What do do I expect you to say? 

 

 

Breath?

visulize me doing well or people naked 

 

It don’t WOOOOORK

 

i still just shiver and stuff

 

idk what to do 

 

[JoostinOnline]

It depends what this is for.  Is it a class?

[WolfLoverPro]

20 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

It depends what this is for.  Is it a class?

Yes just a class but even in any situation I will be like this if it’s purposely public speaking 

[Eschew]

Hey there.

 

For me, excess preparation helps -- I clam up when I'm told to improvise or to answer questions from the left field, but if I know what I'm talking about, that lends me the confidence I need to present well. I tend to write scripts and review them several times, a few minutes per day, each day leading up to the presentation date ("cramming" for presentations don't work as well as for exams, I find). When it comes time to present, I hold the script in my hand and only take glances every now and then if I blank out momentarily and need a prompt. Flash cards can work here, too -- the idea is to pay attention to and to present your audience, not to hide behind a sheet of paper and read a scripted story to them.

 

If the presentation is a casual one (for a class, versus for a panel), sprinkle in some topic-related puns or crack a joke. Comedy is a great way to liven up the stuffy academic atmosphere, and it might loosen up your nerves too, if the class likes your sense of humor?

 

Best of luck. If you can, try to have fun with the presentation. 

[TetraSky]

For a class, what I did was just stare above everyone's head, never once made eye contact or even looked at their faces. But still moved my head in a way that made it seems like I looked around the room once in a while.

Blurring your vision is another way if you know you text by heart. Just believe you're talking to a wall and there's nobody in front of you. The "people being naked" thing doesn't work, it's dumb and frankly should never be done because you might be aroused for some reason.

 

What truly helps though, is being very prepared and ready. Know your speech by heart, but don't just talk as if you were reading, improvise some parts if need be. Otherwise the smallest thing can put you off your jam and suddenly you're lost. Have extra info you can dish out if you get asked questions, think about possible questions you might be asked about your subject, etc...

[FakeNSA]

Long term: If you expect to do presentations moving forward, look into a speech club like toastmasters. I was exactly like you are going into it, but a year of baptism by fire and I'm now a pseudo-confident public speaker (still nervous as hell, I just don't show it anymore).

 

For this presentation: Something that helps me in that kind of situation is self-deprecating humor. Just clear your throat, and go for it: if you stumble, apologize for "having a reading problem", or something cheese along those lines, and just keep going.

 

In the end, you're just going to have to figure out what your tricks are to public speaking, and repeated exposure (without a grade on the line, if possible) is the best way to get that figured out. I'm sure you've got this though, good luck!

[WereCatf]

5 hours ago, WolfLoverPro said:

idk what to do

Sounds to me like you just need practice. One way I can think of is to start making Youtube-videos vlog-style: you're still presenting to an audience, so you're in pretty much the same situation, but at least you get to decide the topic and get used to talking to audiences. It doesn't even matter if no one likes your videos or watches them, since it's all about practice.

[JoostinOnline]

6 hours ago, WolfLoverPro said:

Yes just a class but even in any situation I will be like this if it’s purposely public speaking 

It helped me when a friend pointed out that nobody really cared what I was going to say. They weren't really listening.

[captain_to_fire]

• Take note of who your audience is as well as the topic to be discussed 
• rehearse, rehearse, rehearse 
• Display confidence by not reading your slides verbatim as it’ll make it boring 
• add simple slide transitions like a fade, no need for the exaggerated animations as it can cause delay when not timed properly 
• If you have important notes to say but don’t want your slides to be wordy, use presenter view and speaker notes. Also, this will reduce stuttering when delivering a presentation.
• Don’t make your slides wordy by putting everything on a single slide, follow the 7x7 rule (no more than 7 bullets per slide, and not more than 7 words per bullet)
• make sure your slides are readable even for audiences at the back by enlarging the font size, use a font color contrasting the background (e.g. white text in a black background or white text in a black background) 
• Do not use bright colors as font color like yellow, red, orange as these are the least readable imo.

I hope this helps