too shy!

[Lauren]

Hi everyone. I'm a high school student and today was the first day of the new term. My health teacher said that in his class there will be a lot of discussions, oral presentations, etc im which everyone must participate. The thing is that I am too shy to do this. Today he made us talk about ourselves. We had to say our name and talk about our hobbies in front of class. I was so nervous, and I know that I was showing it. I'm sure that I looked really uncomfortable. Can you guys help me with this. I really need some advice and support. Thanks.

[mind]

I have the same problem. I've just started uni too, and i've been told theres presentations to do every year.

If you really are worried about the whole thing, i seriously suggest you let your teacher know. My teacher understood straight away and gave me the option of not having to give a presentation infront of the whole class. All the same i had to do the presentation on a one to one basis with him, and as a result i was given a slightly lower grade.

Thing is, im dredding next year. I may not be given the same option of being able to skip the ordeal. I kinda regret not taking the opportunity this term to build my confidence for future presentations where i may have to give a lengthier talk to a bigger class!

[max]

Preparation is key! Before giving a presentation, spend a TON of time creating the material and rehearsing. Rehearse, out loud, and do it frequently. Have the presentation created a couple weeks ahead of time and spent those two weeks rehearsing daily. If you KNOW that you have done a good job on your presentation and it's going to be impressive, if you know your speech by heart and KNOW you won't be fumbling trying to remember what to say, that takes a lot of the nervousness out.

I realize that might sound like a lot of work, but extreme circumstances require extreme measures

Doing impromptu speeches like you had to do .. that's hard. I doubt many people would be totally at ease in that situation. When you figure out how to do that, let me know.

[mind]

ooh ooh, and another good thing is to have props! If you have something to hand out to the class it takes their direct attention away from you for a bit. my presentation was on bioluminescence, and i handed out glow sticks for people to play with!

[Alecto]

ooh.. I love glow sticks.

I think thats pretty good advice, if I ever have to speak in front of people again I'll keep that in mind

[glenn miller]

i am the same. i am not in college any more. but i had a bit of presentations. was pretty hard for me.