Talking in front of the class and answering questions

[Droopy]

Did anyone else hate getting up and talking in front of the class? I hated it and still do. It's not the actual talking or answering questions that is the problem, it is the anxiety and uneasiness I get when the whole class has focused their attention and eye-contact on me... I feel like hiding. I also used to hate answering questions out loud when the teacher would randomly spring on people to see if everyone was paying attention. I would just sit their knowing that at any minute he/she could pick me to read a bit or answer a question.

 

[Nathan]

I actually talk a lot in class and feel fine. I don't remember getting nervous whenever I had to give an oral report in the past either.

 

[IContainMultitudes]

When I was in high school, I was always terrified of having to speak in front of the class or give a presentation. When I was in college, I got over it pretty quickly. To some extent, that may have been because I felt like I was in a friendlier environment most of the time.

 

[jaws]

I use to get real nervous, until I took a public speaking course in high school. The course did not really help...but a student once forgot his "give a demonstration" assignment...he quickly ran to the store and bought bread, peanut-butter, and plastic ware...and gave a top notch speech on making a sandwich. I learned then not to take it so seriously and that people are generally either more concerned with their lack of preparedness or are genuinely interested in the information...so I turned my aspie tendency for over explanation and giving information to people who don't care into an asset for class presentations. The down side to this, is I have been voted the group presenter in every presentation since 9th grade...I still don't like it, but I've gotten really good at it.

 

[CJinherPJs]

I just don't like to be the centre of attention tbh. I'm pretty good at winging it if I get stuck but that doesn't stop me from feeling awkward.

 

[Firnafth]

I used to dislike it a lot more - I regularly get "stuck" trying to remember a good word. I remember in Junior High I was giving a presentation with two other students and I got so stuck that I couldn't talk anymore. In class, I don't mind answering questions when it's just my opinion - but I'm afraid if I answer a factual question I will be wrong, so I often don't like doing that.

I became more outgoing in presentations when I realized that being shy was going to make me look bad. I tried to be loud and outgoing while giving presentations. I still felt really awkward though.

Things improved greatly after I gave the final presentations for my senior projects in college. I had those presentations memorized almost word-for-word and they went well. After that I felt like I could do OK giving presentations and felt a lot better about them.

I'm still probably going to be practically ill when I give my first talk at a scientific conference though:-O.

 

[zombiegirl]

It terrifies me to stand in front of the class and speak...but, I can contribute to a class discussion from my desk just fine as long as it is a topic that I know a lot about or have a strong opinion about.

 

[Bell]

That was one of my biggest fears. I was diagnosed with performance anxiety or public-speaking anxiety. To be honest, I think it's perfectly normal to feel uncomfortable and feel anxious with all these eyes on you. The odd-balls are the people who can remain calm in such situations. Here's an interesting quote:

"On an even more primitive level, we are hardwired to get nervous when someone - or something - is staring at us. Predators stare at their prey before devouring it. Staring matches are a way to establish hierarchies within social units, both human and primate. From this perspective, people who don't get freaked out when being eyeballed would seem to be the odd birds."

 

[LgndKllr24]

I was the same way in school. I liked when I could just listen and didn't have to worry about being randomly called on. I also hated it when there was a part of your grade that depended on class participation. I always felt if I had something really important to say, I would say it, I didn't like being forced to have to express it.

As far as doing presentations, they were terrible too. I used to get anxiety literally for days leading up to when I had to do something like that. It was like a huge weight off my shoulders when it was over.

 

[freddiedalladay]

I loath having to do presentations and answering questions - though it's a necessity on my course, it seems. Apparently I do the presentations quite well, I do my best not to show my anxiety by suppressing it, but afterwards I have to leave the room before I end up having an anxiety attack.

 

[ajoycew]

I've always hated speaking to a class or answering questions. Even when the answer is right there in front of me and I just have to read it. I get so nervous the words get caught in my throat. Once in English class at college it was my turn to read the next sentence and then tell where I would place the commas. I got the sentence out and then I said, "The condom would go..." I heard people sniggering and I wanted to melt into the floor. One girl commented after class that they all knew where my mind was. It really wasn't in the gutter at all. I was just so nervous I was having a really hard time speaking and the wrong word came out of nowhere. I don't think I'll ever get the hang of public speaking.

 

[katcha]

I don't feel anxious in such situations, but I do feel like the rest of the class are tresspassing.

 

[Aalo]

I was very anxious during my first seminars. And my presentation even were the very first of them all, at the first day of that series. I didn't know beforehand it'd be that bad so I hadn't been prepared, didn't took β-blockers or anything. Other professor didn't realize my state of being and just ranted on how terribly I managed cutting my act too short, missing some essential points and so on. I, out of my anxiety, had done lousy job, that I confess, but I didn't storm out in the middle of it. I consider myself as a winner. Other teacher was more forgiving, but it didn't help that much.
For my sake I've managed better after that. Specially if I happen to know that certain area of information really well, I'll shine. And due to that, little speeches and presentations were too easy at lower school levels.

 

[Kuribo]

I don't mind answering questions, but I deteste doing presentations.

 

[Jacki Cucinotta]

I've always loved to talk in class - that was, and always has been, something I've always had no problem with. Must say though, that what I often communicated was not what I meant to say (still do that to this day). In other words, I know what I want to say, but I can't get the correct terms out of my mouth or I can't think of what word I'm trying to say even though I know what something is.

 

[Kuribo]

Must say though, that what I often communicated was not what I meant to say (still do that to this day). In other words, I know what I want to say, but I can't get the correct terms out of my mouth or I can't think of what word I'm trying to say even though I know what something is.

I have this problem at times.

 

[avodateinu]

I have this problem at times.

Me too. One time in college students started laughing at the way I worded something. The instructor had to get involved because I just didn't understand why they were poking fun at me.

The worst thing about speaking in class for me was students giving feedback on my presentation or poem recital or what not. It felt more like they were trying to
show off for the teacher and hurting my feelings in the process. Particularly, when I didn't understand what I'd done wrong.

Surprisingly, I've never had a problem getting up in front of the class and speak. My brain blocked out all the students and pretended like I didn't know any of them. Presenting to an audience of strangers seemed to make it much easier.

 

[Intemporal_Reverie]

Being forced to speak is not fun. Especially when you are required to take classes entirely predicated upon "speaking" like Public Speaking classes. The first time I had to take such a class, I failed it because I just never showed up. Eventually, I took it again and passed it only because I could not exactly drag it out any longer.

What helped me was to find ways to discuss things that were of interest to me, even if it was not part of the type of speech required. (sometimes you have no choice on topic and subject matter) When this happened to me I would find a way to twist it and make it funny, or ridiculous, while still offering information relevant to the subject and topic expected to be delivered in speech. This can be tricky and even challenging to figure out how to do this, but it can be done, and it helped me.

 

[Flinty]

Completely by accident, I am a competent public speaker. Answering questions? Depends on the class (math good, history bad).

And, yes, it was completely by accident. It gets better each time you do it if you can focus on what you did right rather than what you did wrong.

 

[Jacki Cucinotta]

It gets better each time you do it if you can focus on what you did right rather than what you did wrong.

Totally agree with you on that notion Flinty! I tend to do well if I start focusing on the things I do well first and then focus on the things that need improvement.