Hi guys

Not sure if this is the right place to post but i thought other people here might have had similar problems.

I work in finance in the UK and from time to time have to make presentations/speak out during group meetings. The problem is that this terrifies me! I make any excuse to get out of it, today I faked getting a mobile call to get out of speaking for like 30 secs. I just had to get out of there.

It hard to explain. I get incredibley anxious when a situation like this looks like occuring, heart rate increases, hands shake and sweat. It's completely irrational but it happens!

I dont know what to do. Ive looked online and there are various hypnotherepy CDs for sale, can anyone recommend anything? Or are these a waste of time?

Any tips, it's really starting to get me down.

Thanks in advance.

Confidence. If they are turning to you to speak, they want your knowledge. They aren't there to humiliate you and that is what you have to realize.

See my responses to your identical thread in Psychology:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/26...eaking-322087/

for my responses.

Pop some Xanax or Ativan.

Experiment with the dose before tho....

I believe Dale Carnegie wrote a good book about public speaking. That'll give you the theory, but, the real answer is to speak in public, as often as possible. You eventually get used to it, and it's no longer frightening.

As to the reason for the fear, it's based in our survival instinct. When you speak in public, there's a chance of alienating a large group of people in one fell swoop.

I also fear public speaking and always will. One thing that helps is to be prepared. Really really prepared. Plan out what you're going to say in advance by writing out in an outline every point you're planning on making. You can do this for a one minute update on your work or a sixty minute presentation.

Go on a public speaking nightclass and get some practise speaking in front of the group class. There will be one in your town in a technical college or adult education centre.

toastmasters uk on google came up with some information

Perfect...nothing like doing what you fear to kill the fear

Practice, practice. Remember this isn't grade school, they want to hear what you have to say.

Speak in a normal tone, and breath...

Do you feel vulnerable, like you're going to get asked something that you should know about and don't have a clue, or that you're going to say something and sound like an idiot?

Or do you feel confident, have a track record of not saying dumb things or getting caught with your pants down on a subject, but have this physical response anyway?

eastbay

You are nervous bc you havent done any preparation. When you havent planned things up you are more apt to say something stupid or look disorganized.

Plan what you are going to say in advance. Memorize it pat so you have room to make adjustments during the talk when say ppl ask questions and such.

Practice in front of say a few friends.

Back when I was more involved in academia, for lectures, my ratio of preparation time to presentation time was about 30:1 to sometimes even 100:1 for difficult topics. Not saying in yr work one would ever need to do that but you get the idea.
As you master the material, you edit it down and become more confident in it. At a certain point, I would present and know the **** so well, I would expect everyone to buy into what I was saying.

Drink a beer.

Be prepared and practice.

I had the same issue for years. Not surprisingly, the more prepared you are and the more comfortable you are with the topic, the easier and easier it gets.

Talk down to your audience. Most people are scared to look stupid, so if you act like you know everything and that they're all dumb, they'll just sit there instead of challenging you. The key to good public speaking is bullying, in my opinion.