So…. (please ignore the random "n's" that may apear, no idea why its there)
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this is my 2nd blog… i've thought of making a blog a day to see how i progress in life this year, recording my ups and downs to share with you guys. So this was the day i was dreading, i had an English class at 9:00 am (First class of the day) which lasts for 1.5 hours. i was dreading this day because we had a speaking and listening to complete but i hadn't started on my presentation yet. alongside this presenation, we had our upcoming exam (first one im doing in college) so it was frustrating that i had the presentation to worry about (whch is seperate from my GCSE's) rather than focusing on my actual exam. i just wish teacher were more aware of Social Anxiety, because i grew up with the saying "Dont do anything you dont want to do" but when it comes to things like this, you cant really stand up and say "im not doing this" When i was younger, i always hated presentations, but at that time (up until the age of around 12-13) i never thought about having to give one unless i was told to… but now, even before i had to do any sort of public speaking, i was still anxious that the day will come… and it has. why do i feel this way? why am i always worried about public speaking before im being told to even do one? i remember having to do a presentation for a Business day, where we worked on doing a presentation to the class about some holiday package deal… and when it was my groups turn to speak, i remember getting up and when speaking… my hands started to shake and so was my voice, i was really quiet and was mumbling, i was hoping no one would of noticed (how couldn't they?) but two of my classmates came up to me a gave me a friendly joking type of hug.. and ever since that day,worrying about giving presentations is all i think about 🙁
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thanks for reading, basically an introduction to why i get really anxious when having to give a presentation
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have a great day 🙂
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-Seanh
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That is exactly what makes anxiety horrible, the anticipation sucks! I have social anxiety and I used to have a job where I had to do presentations in front of 20-30 people. When I first started the job, it was an absolutely terrifying experience! There were a couple of things that helped me though and I would like to share them with you.
1. If say, your teacher asks the class who would like to go first, you jump up and volunteer. While it sounds insane, it WORKS. It gives you a boost of confidence and it also means that you are not sitting and anticipating while your other classmates speak.
2. DARE your anxiety. I do this all the time and it does work. Anytime I feel an attack coming on, I tell it to come to me. I.e \”Come on anxiety, do it – give me a panic attack! I don\'t give a shit! Do it!\” I promise this can also help, because what you are anticipating becomes less of the actual presentation itself, you are anticipating the panic attack. If you dare it to fuck with you, what\'s it going to do? Not a damn thing.
3. \”Outwards thinking\”. This means that you are not focusing on your inward feelings or your breathing or your sweaty palms or your heart rate or shaking etc. You focus your attention to those around you. This really does work, I promise. What I used to do was look at the people that I was presenting to and analyze them, in my thoughts of course. I.e \”She has 80\'s hair, but its cool that she has the balls to wear it like that.\” or \”That woman has some really, uncomfortably long nails, how does she open a coke?!\”
I promise you, you can do this!! STOP doubting yourself, have confidence! Try the things I mentioned above. You will also find ways to start coping!!
Bonny