# Extremely nervous for university level oral presentation



## pineapples (Feb 1, 2013)

I'm supposed to give a 7 min oral presentation next week, which isn't that bad, but for someone like me who suffers with embarrassing involuntary shaking, it's a huge deal! At the peak of my anxiety, I have head twitching, mouth/jaw tremors and Parkinson-like hand shaking. I'm a total mess.

The thing I look least forward to is at the end of the presentation, people are expected to ask me interesting questions about my subject and I'm afraid that I won't know how to answer. I'll have look people in the eye, something that I am not comfortable with. I'm afraid I'll look and sound nervous.

I'm afraid people will notice my awkwardness and because of that, I couldn't show my face again and each time I would lay foot into this class, I would get a panic attack. I used to be pretty confident in my teen years but now that I am in university, I just feel that I am (academically speaking) the weakest student in my group. I'm afraid I won't sound educated enough.

I'm just counting down the days until my oral, I can't even concentrate on anything else. It feels like an operation due date, I dread it so much. I can't wait for this ticking bomb to be over.

I've been taking 10mg of Cipralex for 2 days now. Any tips on how to not make a fool of myself would be very appreciated!


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## mcw (Feb 1, 2013)

If I saw someone in my Uni class doing any of the things you mentioned during an oral, I wouldn't think anything of it. Except maybe "that's unusual", because it is, you've pointed that out yourself. But does it affect any of the information? That's all that's important in oral presentations. A large majority of people will be nervous, and tend to understand or not care if people stutter, shake or even have total mind blanks. I've seen it all, and think no less of these people and why should I?

As for looking people in the eye, I look at their foreheads. Eyes if I can, but if I'm nervous I think the forehead seems to work (unless their standing centimeters in front of you, staring at their forehead would be weird then).

Don't know how to answer questions? Just answer it to the best of your knowledge, or just say "I'm not completely sure, sorry". You can't be expected to know everything. But study all you can, it will make you more confident and less nervous too!

But honestly, it's highly unlikely anyone will judge you on an oral performance, the educator will focus on the information and it'll all be done in under 10 minutes which, as you say, is not a problem.


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## blueidealist26 (Dec 16, 2012)

What helped me was having a total "script" in front of me so I wouldn't blank and say something stupid. Anytime I've tried to talk in a presentation off the top of my head, I've ended up saying "um" and "ah" and "like" wayyy too much and sounding silly (IMO and probably in the opinions of a few other people who laughed!).


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