It is the beginning of the semester, and this speech class has just begun. It is natural to be nervous about speaking in front of people you've never met before. Relax—your classmates will soon become new friends and will no longer seem like strangers. ‘This chapter is full of helpful suggestions for presentations. Believe it or not, you are already prepared to deliver many excellent speeches. Talking about yourself, your experiences, your opinions, and your concerns or fears is one of the best ways to do this. PRESENTATION ANXIETY. Does the thought of making a presentation in front of a group.of people make you nervous? Does it make your heart race? Do you feel nauseated or sick to your stomach? Do your muscles tense? Do you begin to sweat? Do you want to run away and hide? I you answered “yes" to any or all of these questions, you are in the majority. Researchers consistently report that most people fear public speaking even more than death or flying!Feeling nervous at the thought of public speaking is perfectly normal. You respond the same way you would to any stressful situation, Your body produces extra adrenaline. This is what makes your heart pound faster and your hands shake. This extra adrenaline also makes your knees feel weak and tenses your muscles. ‘The good news is that you can learn to control your nervousness and make it work in your favor HOW TO CONTROL PRESENTATION ANXIETY ‘Talk Yourself Out of Negative Thoughts The first step toward controlling your nervousness is to identify its causes. After you've analyzed your fears, you can do something about them. Step 1: Ke ntify Your Fears 1, Think of five reasons you have presentation anxiety. Use some of the following reasons if they apply, or come up with five of your own personal fears, (Your teacher will decide whether to ask you to do this in class or to assign it as homework.) © Fl forget what I want to say. © Tm afraid no one will be interested in my topic. © The audience is too large. © Tdon’t know anyone in the audience, © I don't speak well in public. © Everyone will see how nervous [ am, © Imight not be prepared enough, © Listeners won't understand me. © My English isn't very good. © The audience wor't like me; they will reject me. 2, Rank the reasons from 1 to 5, 1 being the reason that causes you the most anxiety, Write them in the following chart. Rank Fear 1 2. 3. 4 ie Step 2: Replace Your Fears with Positive Thoughts ‘Substitute at least two positive beliefs for each fear you identified. Use the form on the next page to record your positive thoughts.Example Fear Positive Beliefs ‘The audience is too large. The size of the group doesn't matter. People are listening one ata time, Everyone will see how nervous I am, ‘Nervousness is normal. Everyone feels the same way. Besides, I know Tdont look as nervous as I feel Step 3: Share Your Strategies In small groups, discuss your fears, 1, Share the positive thoughts you substituted for each negative one with your group members. 2. Then, meeting as a class, compare strategies. Check your strategies with the suggestions on page 264 in Appendix II. Take Advantage of Small Occasions to Speak Up In addition to identifying your fears, you can use several other strategies to reduce presentation anxiety, For instance, you can “speak up” in fun or nonthreatening situations. Try one or more of the following: ® Make yourself give the toast at a birthday party, © Give the order in a restaurant, © Ask a question when you are an audience member during another person's speech, Plan and Prepa Preparation is one of the best antidotes for presentation anxiety. With proper preparation, you will feel confident that you know your subject matter and have just the right amount of information for the allotted time. Developing Self-Confidence 34 Chapter 1 Use Audio and Visual Aids Audio and visual aids create a lot of interest. They will make you fee! less self-conscious as the attdience will focus some of their attention on your visuals. Practice! Rehearse your speech in front of family or friends, Ask them for feedback. This will help you to feel more comfortable when you face your “real” audience. Breathe Deeply and Slowly Breathing exercises are one of society's oldest techniques for relieving stress. When we exhale, we release carbon dioxide. This increases the oxygen in our brains, which helps us to relax. So, take a deep breath. Hold it. Let it out slowly. Do it ‘over and over until you feel calmer. For additional work on breathing, see Learn to Breathe Deeply and Slowly on page 264 in Appendix Il. Remember: Nervousness is normal. Talk yourself out of negative thoughts. Your listeners want you to succeed! When you are the listener, be sure to help the speaker to feel more comfortable. Suggestions for teners Give the Speaker Positive Reinforcement ‘Show speakers you are interested in them and in what they are saying, Give them encouragement. Look at the speakers, smile reassuringly, and nod your head from time to time while they are talking, This will help give them confidence and put them at ease, Ask Questions After the Speech IF a speaker invites questions from the audience after the speech, participate! Asking {questions of presenters after a speech compliments them. It shows speakers that you are interested in their topics and would like to know more, Its very discouraging when a presenter asks, “Does anyone have any questions?” and no one responds. SEAS Man ‘You will overcome your speech fears more quickly if you have an opportunity to speak about a very familiar topio—yourself. For this reason, all the speeches in this chapter focus on you as an individual. Depending on your background and culture, ‘you might be a bit reluctant to express your opinions and to describe personal ‘experiences or your feelings to the class. However, sharing your experiences and feelings is highly appropriate in the United States and will help make your speech interesting and relevant to your listeners. Its also a wonderful way to get to know your classmates, Your first assignment is to give a speech about yourself. Because the goal is to be very natural and spontaneous as you speak, instead of writing your speech beforehand, you will choose one of the following three methods to prepare and present your speech:18° Chapter 1 What is it? How old is it? Where is it from? When did you get it? | How did you get it? | Why did you get it? { What size is it? : - What shape isi? How much does it weigh? + What is it made of? What features does it have? Why does it have special meaning for you? Why do you feel strongly about it? Why do you want to share it with |__ the class? Everybody is afraid of something. Anyone who says “I'm not afraid of anything” is probably not telling the truth, Being able to talk about something you are afraid of and to share your feelings with the class is a good way to gain confidence when speaking before an audience. Also, you might be surprised to learn that others are afraid of the same thing as you! For example, many people are afraid of: flying in planes the dark public speaking going to a new country meeting new people _interviewing fora job snakes large dogs taking tests going to the hospitalYour assignment is to give a speech describing a fear. Your teacher will decide whether to ask you to present this to the class or to meet in small groups. @ eee ; all ©) Assignment: Give a speech about a specific fear. + Choose a specific fear that you have. . Using the Specific Fear Speech Preparation Worksheet on page 20, prepare notes for a speech about this fear. Be sure to include all the information that will help your audience understand your fear and the reasons for it. 3. Your teacher may use the form on page 249 of Appendix I to evaluate your speech, Look it over so you know exactly how you will be evaluated. | 4, Give a 3+ to 4-minute speech about your fear. | Example: Humberto’s Speech INTRODUCTION The earth was far below us. The weather was very bad. I looked at the instrument panel of the plane and saw a red warning tight flashing, The pilot was very nervous. At that moment, the engine of the plane became silent! Bopy This happened to me last year when I was flying from Cancin to Cozumel in Yucatén, Mexico, Iwill explain exactly what happened so you can understand why I now have a great fear of flying in small planes. (Humberto showed a picture of a small plane.) Right after we took off from the airport in Canctn, the weather turned very bad, There ‘was a lot of thunder and lightning. It was raining very hard. It was impossible for the pilot to see out the windows of the plane. I was the only person in the plane with the pilot. After being in the air for fifteen minutes, the plane started to shake and make strange noises. All of a sudden, the engine just stopped. When red wamning lights started flashing, I became vety afraid. I began to tremble and was soaked with sweat. I remember thinking that my life was about to end. I thought about how young I was and how T didn’t want to die, All ofa sudden, the engine started to work again. The pilot turned to me, smiled, and sad, “iNo te preocupes!" (That means “Don't worry!") My mother and father do not want me to fly in smal planes ever again, They say I should fly ‘on the big airines or take a boat, I promised myself, from now on, I will do what they tell me! CONCLUSION 1 don’t think I will ever fly in a small plane again. I get upset every time I think about it know that I will never be able to overcome this fear. Developing Self-Confidence 19Use the following worksheet to prepare notes for your specific fear speech. ‘Specific FEAR SPEECH ee WorksHeet "What isthe nature of the fear? Oo When di the fear develop? Where did it develop? Why did it develop? How do you react when faced with this fear? How do your friends and family react to your fear? t What have you done to try to. overcome this fear? ae SO A personal opinion speech expresses the speaker's attitude and feelings about a topic. The feelings could be positive, such as enthusiasm or excitement, or negative, such as anger or worry. The topic could be an issue, a policy, a situation, an attitude, or a behavior, Topics that people feel strongly about includ« cruelty to animals learning a second language child abuse world peace children their city dishonesty their school rudeness © In the introduction of a personal opinion speech, the speaker makes a clear statement. © In the body, the speaker explains the reasons for this opinion and gives at least one example. © In the conclusion, the speaker restates the opinion and offers ideas. | Note that in personal opinion speeches, its especially effective for speakers to use emotion so that the audience can empathize with their feelings. 20. Chapter 1