# Success stories of being a poor public speaker in HS, then improving in college?



## insert name (Feb 29, 2012)

I've struggled with this my whole life. I'm about to graduate high school in like two days and I still suck at public speaking. I don't mean public speaking as in, memorize a speech and give it in front of the class.. I'm fine with those. But in class discussions I get nervous and if the teacher calls on me, I get distracted by the crowd, my mind goes blank, and I end up sounding really stupid. It's like, I can't think on the spot or improvise.. I need adequate prep time. But you can't always get prep time, sometimes you need to be a quick thinker. I just get really self conscious in front of a crowd and my brain freezes. 
Is it possible to go from sounding like a complete idiot when speaking in front of groups, to being able to articulate intelligently? Anybody have stories to share?


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## LynnNBoys (Jul 13, 2011)

I'm a horrible public speaker. Even in a group of friends (5-6 people) and I'm talking to one person (which is fine) then everyone in the group gets silent and focuses on me, I start to stammer from being the center of attention! :eek

I remember a speech in 8th grade which was just awful. When I get nervous, I get shaky but my nose starts to run for some reason, even if I don't have a cold. So I'm sniffling my nose so that snot doesn't run down and I'm all shaky. I'm sure I look like I'm about to cry, which I usually want to.

I had one class in college that I had to give a big speech for. I eventually learned to take a cold medicine tablet about an hour before my speech. That dried up my nose so I wouldn't sniffle. Then I tried to focus about an inch above everyone's heads in the audience. And I survived. The feedback I got from teacher was that I gave the appearance of being a news anchor on TV (he said it was a positive compliment). I spoke a little fast but not too too much. I'm never going to be the laid back one and crack jokes, but as long as I can get through the moment.

Good luck!


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## CowboyBebop (Jul 5, 2011)

It's the opposite for me. I get extremely anxious delivering a speech even if im prepared. I guess class discussions are easier to me because you dont have to be standing in front of a crowd, you dont have to project your voice as much as you'd have to in a speech and im pretty quick witted

I have no specific stories but in highschool whenever i was forced to speak in a class discussion i was misinterpreted a lot and i was too afraid to correct them. Ive found just trying to explain myself clearly without trying to be quick witted or think quickly to be a huge help.


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## Phoenix Rising (Jul 7, 2011)

Well I have certainly improved since high school. I have more friends even if they aren't as close and talk to acquaintances easier.


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## wxolue (Nov 26, 2008)

I was in a study done at Boston University that was testing a drug called D-cycloserine as an additive to CBT. The drug is supposed to improve your fear extinction learning rate, meaning that the exposure therapy works quicker. I found out I had the active drug (I wasn't a placebo) recently, but I didn't know this at the time of the study. This was the first and last (so far) structured CBT program I've ever done. Every week we would practice public speaking, and every week there would be conditions added to the exposure exercise to make it harder (i.e. the speech would be impromptu, you would have to take a controversial position you don't believe in, you would have to read off slides you've never seen and act like you know the stuff, etc.)

By the end of it, I was quite honestly shocked at how fast I became comfortable with public speaking. I think part of it has to do with the d-cycloserine, but it was absolutely amazing. At the beginning I could barely introduce myself to 5 other people (3 of which had SA). By the end, I was actually excited about speaking in front of 20 or so people I had never met before. It was terrific.

I didn't really get much practice after the study, so the benefits faded over time (my anxiety has improved in general though, so I'm still more capable than I was before the study). If you want to improve your public speaking, exposure is the way to go. I suggest you join a local Toastmasters Club. Fear of public speaking is incredibly widespread (about half of all Americans have it), and this club is designed to help people become more comfortable doing it. It's generally understood that new members are probably nervous about public speaking (hence the reason they joined), so the environment is extremely supportive. They do different exercises to help you get better at public speaking.


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## olesilentone (Jan 22, 2011)

Can't always to expect to have something substantial to offer always when called out of the blue - it's not the nature of true thinking (this is what annoys me at times with teachers calling out like that - can sometimes support an environment of bull**** being flung around for the sake of discussion.) 

However, I know I have started trying in seminar formats to contribute when I feel what I am saying is worthwhile, and then when I am called on I might feel a bit more free to think off the cuff or more at liberty to just flat out say that "I am not too sure", or what have you. If you have free time where you can use your voice then do that - belt out songs in your car or practice speaking in your room.

Somewhat aside but relevant - this is actually something I have come more to terms with in my experience with anxiety is not feeling compelled to always have something notable to say or feeling obligated to fill in space. If you got nothing to say and can't get your brain involved in the topic at hand then it's just how it is - straining it to make connections in social situations just might not work for you. That is one thing that used to turn me into a near-mute in many situations I was in. I still get like that, though not as much anymore, and when I do I just shrug it off.

If you fail to see the relevance of something in someway, then in a class setting you could be a real daredevil and raise the matter that it just isn't intriguing you for whichever reason - stuff like this can be discussion starters not only for yourself but for others. If you have a good teacher then they will know how to turn it into a point of discussion or explanation (provided that it's not just way off base and you actually seem to know what's going on but just can't genuinely get your brain running on the topic.) It's kind of like when friends talk and the one just says "well, who cares?" - can be a good starting point because it can turn into a discussion of the essence of the topic at hand.


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## ivankaramazov (Aug 22, 2009)

I bailed on any speaking situation in high school. I was pretty much wound up like a crackhead the entire time with anxiety and there was no way I was going to voluntarily put myself up there for display. Anxiety wasn't nearly as bad in college, but I still avoided every public speaking assignment until my final year when I started using Inderal. I couldn't believe what a difference it made the first time I used it. Now in my job, I frequently lead meetings, give presentations, etc. And now that I'm able to do these things after fearing them for so long, I get a high off of public speaking. I don't want to stop because I feel like I'm beating the crap out of the fear that plagued me for so long. Of course, take away the Inderal and there's a good chance I run and hide. I've phased it out a few times and been fine for a while, but always end up regressing back to it.


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