Public Speaking

hz80408 · June 2011

Do you like it? hate it? dread it?

I've never really like it or felt that I do well when presentating powerpoints....and I have one to give this afternoon. It's really informal, to twelve company interns about what I do in my job, what our department does and how I too was once an intern...but I have butterflies about doing it!!

Any secrets?

becca474 · June 2011

I hate it. I've read somewhere that people fear speaking publicy more than death. haha.

I had to take 2 speech classes in college, and while I hated them then I'm really glad I did it because it forced me to deal with the nervousness. I still hate it but I've learned to pretend I'm confident when I do it, though my hands shake like crazy and my voice shakes so sometimes its hard to hide. If I'm super nervous sometimes I'll just admit that I'm nervous.

The largest presentation I did was a few weeks ago, it was to my whole department (probably like 70 people?) because my position is new and they wanted me to explain what I do. It was super scary, haha.

Xan921 · June 2011

I actually enjoy public speaking; I even took a class for it in college that I didn't need to take just because I liked doing it...weird, I know lol. The only 'secret' I have is to just not care too much. 90% of people out there hate public speaking so if you are the one standing up there, they probably already give you props. Plus, the worst thing you do can is mess up, and even then just laugh it off and get back to it. Also any time you feel like you're going to say 'umm' or 'uhh' just pause, take a short breath, and then keep going. I find that umms and uhhs tend to make me nervous because they remind me that I'm 'messing' up so I fill that space with a short pause. In the class I took we actually got points deducted for every 'um'/''uh' we used. Good luck!

ead1975 · June 2011

Just take deep breaths and be prepared. Know the material backwards and forwards, and try not to read each slide verbatim. No one wants to be read to.

Good luck!

nfp147 · June 2011

I hate it, dread it and avoid it. Tongue Tied

hz80408 · June 2011

Thanks....I'm debating if it's better not to think ahead of time vertbatium of what I want to say and just kind of ad-lib it.

I'm SO bad at saying "ummm" and "uhh"....when I internted at John Deere at the end of the summer we had to give presentations to head quarters but it was divided into different groups of 20-40 people depending...rumor always was the JD's CEO would slip in and out of presentations; which I think made me more on edge!

christieep · June 2011

I do it everyday in front of my students and I am fine. When I have to present in front of other teachers though I get a little nervous. But I find confidence helps. I just remember that I know my stuff and I was chosen to make the presentation because I know my stuff. This makes presentations for other adults easier and less nervewracking for me.

chantico23 · June 2011

I actually don't mind it, though I do get a little nervous before hand. One thing that always helps me is to remember that your brain cannot differentiate the between nervousness and excitement. So when you feel nervous, determine that you are actually just excited! Also, to release some tension right before you start, press your middle finger and thumb together really hard for 10 seconds. That can help you to loosen up before you begin. Good luck!

hz80408 · June 2011

erindworley:
I actually don't mind it, though I do get a little nervous before hand. One thing that always helps me is to remember that your brain cannot differentiate the between nervousness and excitement. So when you feel nervous, determine that you are actually just excited! Also, to release some tension right before you start, press your middle finger and thumb together really hard for 10 seconds. That can help you to loosen up before you begin. Good luck!

Great advice!

cm10/10 · June 2011

becca474:
I hate it. I've read somewhere that people fear speaking publicy more than death. haha.

HA! I've heard a comedian before say that this means that most people would rather be in the coffin than standing next to it giving the eulogy. LOL.

driftingangel26 · June 2011

Xan921:
I actually enjoy public speaking; I even took a class for it in college that I didn't need to take just because I liked doing it...weird, I know lol. The only 'secret' I have is to just not care too much. 90% of people out there hate public speaking so if you are the one standing up there, they probably already give you props. Plus, the worst thing you do can is mess up, and even then just laugh it off and get back to it. Also any time you feel like you're going to say 'umm' or 'uhh' just pause, take a short breath, and then keep going. I find that umms and uhhs tend to make me nervous because they remind me that I'm 'messing' up so I fill that space with a short pause. In the class I took we actually got points deducted for every 'um'/''uh' we used. Good luck!

Haha I would have definitely failed that class! 90% of my speeches are ummmmm..In hs and college I was shy person, I'm a little bit better now but I loved english and part of our grade depended on this one speech that had to be 5 minutes long..I thought that was super long when I had to prep for it..I ended up not doing it. My teacher was really dissapointed in me since I was one of her top students.

MC22 · June 2011

cm10/10:
becca474:

I hate it. I've read somewhere that people fear speaking publicy more than death. haha.

HA! I've heard a comedian before say that this means that most people would rather be in the coffin than standing next to it giving the eulogy. LOL.

Jerry Seinfeld had a skit about this as well...

MC22 · June 2011

I hate public speaking but I've gotten used to it with work. I have to host huge reviews twice a year for each of my three accounts where senior management from my group at my company and senior management at the account attend. I also host monthly reviews for each account where twenty or so people attend.

I go really fast through everything, which I know I need to work on. But my manager often tells me how well run my meetings are, so I guess my nervousness doesn't show through, which is good.

When I took a business communications class in college, I always did extremely well, even though I could feel my face turning red and hear my voice shaking...I guess that doesn't come across as much as I think it does. I got A's on every presentation except one when I forgot to spit out my gum. And that was my professor's biggest pet peeve.

MC22 · June 2011

christieep:
But I find confidence helps. I just remember that I know my stuff and I was chosen to make the presentation because I know my stuff.

Christie - you are so right! Confidence is key!

hz80408 · June 2011

and here I go...my heart is beating so fast!! Ugh, I need to just cool it.

lavieboheme73 · June 2011

I'm not a public speaker by nature...I'm actually painfully shy, which is a fun fact that most people don't know about me, because I work so hard at being outgoing. I really, really hate speaking in public, although I'm told I'm pretty good at it.

Ron and I were just talking about this today, how funny it is that I can grab a mic and belt out a song in front of a room full of total strangers without a second thought...same with interpreting something in Sign Language, but if I'm expected to speak into the very same mic, to the very same group of people, I'm terrified. I wonder if I could get away with singing or Sign Interpreting all my presentations from now on?

hz80408 · June 2011

lavieboheme73:

I'm not a public speaker by nature...I'm actually painfully shy, which is a fun fact that most people don't know about me, because I work so hard at being outgoing. I really, really hate speaking in public, although I'm told I'm pretty good at it.

Ron and I were just talking about this today, how funny it is that I can grab a mic and belt out a song in front of a room full of total strangers without a second thought...same with interpreting something in Sign Language, but if I'm expected to speak into the very same mic, to the very same group of people, I'm terrified. I wonder if I could get away with singing or Sign Interpreting all my presentations from now on?

Ah, I could never do that!

I know they say the more you do it, the easier it gets...but I don't believe that. I consider myself really outgoing, at least I was in hs, but I had to take speech back then and it was mortifying.

Although, today's presentation is over and it went well/okay. It's silly how worked up I get over speakin, especially for this when it was 12 people who are within 5 yrs of my age. So it's over, but I do still hate public speaking. lol

MC22 · June 2011

hz80408:
lavieboheme73:

I'm not a public speaker by nature...I'm actually painfully shy, which is a fun fact that most people don't know about me, because I work so hard at being outgoing. I really, really hate speaking in public, although I'm told I'm pretty good at it.

Ron and I were just talking about this today, how funny it is that I can grab a mic and belt out a song in front of a room full of total strangers without a second thought...same with interpreting something in Sign Language, but if I'm expected to speak into the very same mic, to the very same group of people, I'm terrified. I wonder if I could get away with singing or Sign Interpreting all my presentations from now on?

Ah, I could never do that!

I know they say the more you do it, the easier it gets...but I don't believe that. I consider myself really outgoing, at least I was in hs, but I had to take speech back then and it was mortifying.

Although, today's presentation is over and it went well/okay. It's silly how worked up I get over speakin, especially for this when it was 12 people who are within 5 yrs of my age. So it's over, but I do still hate public speaking. lol

Glad it went well!

And sometimes I feel like doing it in front of people close to your own age is worse because they are more likely to judge you,,,or so goes my insecurity! I'd much rather speak in front of a room full of "real adults" - even executives (I work for a huge company, so by executives, I don't mean like the CEO...I will never present to or probably even meet him).

How silly is that???

hz80408 · June 2011

MC22:

Glad it went well!

And sometimes I feel like doing it in front of people close to your own age is worse because they are more likely to judge you,,,or so goes my insecurity! I'd much rather speak in front of a room full of "real adults" - even executives (I work for a huge company, so by executives, I don't mean like the CEO...I will never present to or probably even meet him).

How silly is that???

Thanks. Haha, although I can totally see your point, but I think it goes both ways. I tried to view it was, they're also young and probably don't have a lot of speaking experience so they know how it feels?

Best part is that I was invited to dinner and drinks with the interns tonight. Some of our HR staff is going to be there including a newer hire girl who I think we could really be friends but I haven't had the chance to interact with her much, so I hope this is good start grounds for a new friend!

alecat9 · June 2011

I'm glad it went well!

I have to say I'm in the "hate it" category. I actually hate giving presentations more than giving speeches. In my HS, all seniors had to give a 10-12 minute speech to graduate and I did okay on that, since everything was written out ahead of time and I was just able to practice until I knew it almost by heart so that it didn't appear that I was simply reading it off.

In college, in my costume design classes, though, we had to present our sketches, research boards, and ideas and my teacher always would give me notes on being more confident and less hesitant. It was sad that presenting to less than 13 people made me so nervous.

Finally one day, a bunch of us went out to lunch before class and had happy hour margaritas. That plus an extra shot of tequila made me super confident and made me forget about whether people would think my sketches were good enough, so I gave a kick ass presentation. My teacher actually asked me why I couldn't be like that everyday. I didn't tell her "because then I would be a lush," but I wanted too

hz80408 · June 2011

haha Allie- that is awesome!

As for HS, did you have to give a speech at graduation?!

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