Fear of public speaking is something that almost everybody can relate to. As you get up to speak, the shaking of the hands, legs, and voice becomes a familiar feeling. As I was reading chapter 2 in the book Public Speaking the Evolving Art by Coopman, they listed two reasons why people may be afraid to speak in public. “Fear of public speaking stems from two sources: your temperament and how you’ve learned to respond to uncertainty.” (Coopman, 26) For me, my temperament is a problem when it comes to public speaking. I am the kind of person who is very shy in front of people and get very flustered when it comes to getting in front of a group of people and everything that I had prepared would come flying out of my head, my voice will start shaking, I will laugh nervously, look at the floor hoping that nobody is looking at me. This all started way back in elementary school when I would get teased about my appearance and it made me a little shy and more reserved. I was afraid that if I would try to speak in front of an audience, I would get laughed at or teased. I spent most of my time reading books and would speak only when it was necessary. In the past couple years my fear of speaking in front of an audience has improved because I decided that I need to start facing my fears to get over it. Hopefully, one day, I will get up in front of an audience in total confidence and be able to speak my part with only the minimal symptoms of fear.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
1. Fear of Public Speaking
Fear of public speaking is something that almost everybody can relate to. As you get up to speak, the shaking of the hands, legs, and voice becomes a familiar feeling. As I was reading chapter 2 in the book Public Speaking the Evolving Art by Coopman, they listed two reasons why people may be afraid to speak in public. “Fear of public speaking stems from two sources: your temperament and how you’ve learned to respond to uncertainty.” (Coopman, 26) For me, my temperament is a problem when it comes to public speaking. I am the kind of person who is very shy in front of people and get very flustered when it comes to getting in front of a group of people and everything that I had prepared would come flying out of my head, my voice will start shaking, I will laugh nervously, look at the floor hoping that nobody is looking at me. This all started way back in elementary school when I would get teased about my appearance and it made me a little shy and more reserved. I was afraid that if I would try to speak in front of an audience, I would get laughed at or teased. I spent most of my time reading books and would speak only when it was necessary. In the past couple years my fear of speaking in front of an audience has improved because I decided that I need to start facing my fears to get over it. Hopefully, one day, I will get up in front of an audience in total confidence and be able to speak my part with only the minimal symptoms of fear.
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I believe that you can do it! You sound like you must be a very easy-going person that makes everyone might want to tease you just because your fun to be around. Were all adults anyways not little kids anymore. I do understand where your coming form since I have my childhood experiences as well, but I think of them as all learning experiences and they will only help us become stronger and better people. I feel at ease when I know that I can trust the people in our class to critique us fairly and not just be meanies.
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