Public Speaking

I do surprisingly well for someone with anxiety, I'm nervous at first but when I start speaking it all just comes easily.

 

I have found that, in terms of public speaking, rehearsal is the first step towards preparedness, and there's no such thing as 'winging it'.

I don't have any nervousness issues when it comes to public speaking or anything like that, but my main issue stems from my mouth occasionally speaking too fast for my brain to catch up to. If I don't prepare my lines, I'll alternate between saying a lot of things in a short time frame, followed by saying nothing at all for the next few seconds while I try to catch myself up.

If I go into the situation rehearsing my lines and points, and knowing exactly what I'm going to say and when I'm going to say it, I have no problems. Otherwise, my performance will tend to suffer when I speak, so I have to go into the situation prepared. I also have a small habit of not being able to maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds at a time, but thankfully I've practised my remedy for that during speaking, by focusing a few seconds on each member of the audience.

 

I don't like speaking in public. I don't like speaking to peoole. I don't like people.

I get super nervous and all jittery, which is really strange because I love being on a stage in front of people as an actress. But I hate public speaking.

 

I somewhat disagree with you here. I think it can be a skill that can be cultivated and perfected, but that preparedness does help. Similar to something like martial arts, perhaps. If you're stepping into a ring with someone and have had time to get pumped and psyched up for the fight, then that helps. But you can become so good at it that you can still do well if you're jumped in an alley and have no preparation. Rehearsal and practice can still be helpful even at that confidence level, but you can become comfortable and acclimated enough that it's not quite necessary.

Every day at work at my job in over-the-phone tech support, I am being recorded and listened to by more than one person. You know when you call a hotline of any kind you hear that "you may be recorded for quality and training purposes" disclaimer? I know that any time I answer the phone, I'm not only speaking to the person on the other end of the phone, but I'm also potentially speaking for a group of people whose job it is to tear apart and criticize everything I say, looking for inconsistencies and holes and missed criteria. That or being illegally recorded for an entire youtube audience of an underwhelming prank call. For over ten hours straight I live with that awareness on my mind, and I've become cool with it. I could be walking around on campus my next school day and someone could come up to me with a microphone and/or camera and say "What do you think of this controversial topic?" or "Pokémon is lame, can you tell me why it's not?" or "you're dressed really well today, what's your fashion secret" or anything and I can easily hold court right there on the spot without a problem as long as I'm familiar with the subject, because I'm just that familiar with speaking to strangers who are hanging on my every word waiting for me to choke or say something wrong.

To wrap that up, I understand how speaking in front of groups can be terrifying and how the best way around it is preparation, but at certain levels of monotony or confidence, and can be overcome, and I think I've reached that level.

 

I do surprisingly well at public speaking. I'm a storyteller by nature: I tend to explain things thoroughly with a lot of metaphors, intonation and funny voices. I can't help that, that's how I am. I use those skills in public speaking in order to make my presentation go better.
There's just one thing I can't do though: prepare what I have to say before my presentation. If I do that, I start to memorize the text word by word, which just makes my presentation sound stuttery and robot-like. Somehow, I do much better when just improvising on the spot.

 

Public speaking for me is like a more nervous build-up to a normal one-sided conversation. I may not like them but I can carry them, and when I get going about something I'm fanatical about, I really get going. So often I make sure that I know the content to a fanatics degree so that I can carry a good public speech. I get enough practice talking to myself anyway haha

Not to say it's easy for me. The biggest fear is the sheer number of people in front of me and the worry I stumble or fail whilst talking. So more often than not I just have to kick my brain and take it like it is: should I trip up or stumble, I don't just give up, I carry on. We all make mistakes, so why should I get hung up over a speech mistake right? Not the easiest thing to do of course, but it works and more often than not ends in a pretty decent speech.

Also:

You'd be surprised at the amount of winging I've done beforehand. Why, just a couple months ago my group in our project management assignment had to present a powerpoint on our game idea. All we had was written on the slides, but we'd literally done no vocal prep, so we winged it and it turned out better than okay. And that's only one example...

I'm becoming too good at this last-minute winging thing, one day it'll bite me back XD

 

In those cases it seems to imply a very thorough or solid knowledge about the material you're discussing or talking about, and that's correct. Usually when I hear (or use) the term 'winging it', it means going into a speaking situation with very little knowledge or preparation whatsoever - and I do not hold 'winging it' to be synonymous with 'improvising'. With enough practise, public speaking on any subject can become relaxed or second nature; with enough knowledge, you can speak eloquently on something you're very familiar with even without much formal structure behind you.

Just clarifying my position there.

There are people who can spot BS at 100 paces. I know not if you've encountered one before, but on the day that last-minute winging ends up biting you back, it will be at the hands of one of those people.

 

Considering that I have knowledge as to what people think about me, I believe I am somewhat fine when it comes to speaking. However, the part where I falter is stuttering and the lack of respect my audience pays me.

First of all, I find it as if this is bad luck on my part that every time I speak to somebody, assuming there are people around, I will always be interrupted. It is unavoided, sadly, and this carries on to when I must say a speech in the class - people talk to each other during my speeches, and I will often be tricked into believing that they are bored with my speech, even when they just want to talk to each other.

I also have a stuttering problem, and thankfully I don't stutter with every word, but I will stutter commonly if I do not prepare. It is always a good thing to be prepared.

 

I hate public speaking. I dislike the all eyes set on you and the silence when you talk.
Though I have been growing better at it over the years.

I am just socially awkward and extremely shy.
Which I find irritable at best.

Anxiety also does not seem to make this better.

I was all right when I did a few poetry recitals.
Those got my public speaking confidence up a considerable amount.

 

I'm awful with public speaking. My volume is perfectly fine and I know what I'm talking about, but I get so nervous. I can't seem to look at the crowd and am constantly looking up. Once I can feel the ground below my feet again, my speech is over and I regret I didn't bring up something I missed. I think I just need to get a hold of my nerves to be a great public speaker.

 

I'm so bad at public speaking. I hate it, I stutter sometimes, and I'm not good at maintaining eye contact. Plus I speak quicker when I get nervous, which sucks if there's a time requirement.

I'm never 100% comfortable public speaking, but the level of comfort depends on my audience. I feel less nervous in front of a class I feel comfortable with, as opposed to one where there are people who I don't want to mess up in front of. It all depends.

 

I'm one of the many that are actually okay at public speaking. It's one of the few things that I'm actually good at
I usually have anxiety if I haven't practice, but right before I go on stage, I usually tell myself mentally, 'here goes nothing' and end up nailing it.

 

It kind of depends for me. Usually I'm not really invested about the things I'm presenting before groups, so I don't care too much. I'm pretty good at presenting information in speech naturally, so I simply wing it. If I really care or am trying to impress the group, I get too worked up and nervous and end up ruining things.

 

I DESPISE public speaking. I also head up the front of the classroom, thinking that I'm going to wing it, and I end up stuttering, sweating, etc. I can recall when I was on the verge of tears trying to present a presentation. Needless to say, I am horrible when it comes to public speaking. Anxiety always gets the best of me.

 

I am socially awkward so me speaking in public is a NIGHTMARE! I stutter and fumble over my words and I get confused on what I am supposed to be explaining

 

I don't mind public speaking, especially when you're a new student who has yet to gain somewhat of a reputation. In fact, I try my best to provide humor and confidence so my classmates would be impressed by a newbie. xp
The only problem is that I have a naturally soft voice. I'm not shy, though, so it bothers me and it does so even more that my teacher thinks I'm a shy person.

 

I'm afraid of public speaking it makes me very nervous when I have to talk in front of every one also I can be pretty shy that's also why I don't like doing it

 

I am a introvert, never was good at public speaking. I can't think of words in a interview, and mutter consistently in a speech. The worst thing is, I overheat and my head goes blank, blushing while my words are accelerating. I try to deliver the message regardless of the conditions, however I wish I was more confident in articulating.

 

I think its easier to speak as the center of attention, when addressing a crowd, than it is to speak in a public gathering like a party.

At the very least, I prefer it that way anyway. People talking over me is a little demotivating.