# Have you ever gotten out of a presentation?



## polythene

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## solasum

Yes! I did this just last year in my Senior year of high school. I loathed that class because my teacher was obsessed with group work and peer review and sitting in a circle for discussions. That was also the only class where I truly had no friends - and most of my classmates where jerks (around 30, I think). He said that we would all have to be class leaders for 30 minutes at least once (which got him out of teaching, in my opinion). We could have partners, and there was absolutely no one who could have been my partner. It gave me a lot of distress at the time, but I decided that the embarrassment over talking to him was less than a solo 30 min presentation, so I shot him an e-mail. Then I went in to talk the next morning, where he seemed worried about me. You see, he'd already made up the time spots for everyone to present - and, no joke, I was supposed to be the first one to go in two weeks. He said that there would be pres.s in college, and that I'd have to get used to it (I almost cried talking to him). *Long story short:* He said that if I promised that I'd see a psychologist, he would work something out where I'd go at the end of the year, or at the least, present this solely in front of him. I said I would. I did, but I never spoke to him about presenting ever again. He become really busy at the end of the year with Senior field trips and whatnot, so I think he completely forgot (though I'll never know).

By the way, I ended up getting my oral commun. class out of the way last semester. It wasn't that bad, actually. I think what made it less scary was that there were other really shy people in the class, which made me oddly more confident. There were three people who didn't show up to do their presentations (no kidding - they must have just e-mailed the teacher their essays). Even _I_ showed up. Anyway, I'm sure that if you choose not to do your pres, your teacher will understand. You're not the only one who hates presentations. If not, well... I guess just come back to this forum. :teeth


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## SadRosesAreBeautiful

_*Unfortunately not. I just take Xanax or Klonopin and deprive myself of sleep before the presentation so I don't pass out. This semester I have 3 presentations that are a huge chunk of my grade, so I'm pretty much stuck doing them.*_


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## chrisb3428

Got out of it twice. First time was freshman year I emailed the teacher and long story short she told me I should've emailed her sooner to save myself the stress of worrying about it. Second time was sophomore year, supposed to make a quick informal presentation, went to see my teacher in his office b/c he liked to call on people @ random in class and I wasnt comfortable at all w/ that either. He said I wouldn't have to present and eventually he made it so nobody had to present. This year I've only been to two of my classes so far and in one of them there's 3 presentations. I'm planning on seeing the teacher and if I absolutely have to present I'm just going to drop the class. 

The second teacher I basically told I had SA. It was tough and my eyes were watering(so I think he thought I was crying?) but to me it was more worth it than living w/ the stress of knowing I've got a presentation.


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## Hoppipolla

If you're in HS, yo could probably talk to your teacher and she'he might help. A girl in my classroom survived that way in HS. I would just tremble and blush through the whole thing....

If you're already in college you're going to have to go through with it. Xanax or Klonopin like sadroses said would be the best you could do. I've never tried it for such things, so I really don't know if they work.


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## luminary_pustule

I've gotten out of one before but still did okay in the class. I just found out you have to do a presentation for an elective I picked this semester and I'll probably be 'sick' for that one too, there's just no way I'm doing it. It's a shame because I was looking forward to actually doing the project and thought I'd do well, now I'm just worrying about loosing marks because they insist on including public speaking in everything...


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## CopadoMexicano

feel the fear and do it anyway


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## studentlife

I just posted something about presentations in the [Being forced to discuss in class...How do you cope with it??] thread.

Take a look!

Enrolling in the disabled student's program at the college I'm attending has helped me quite a bit.


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## Noca

I never got out of a presentation but I was able to do the presentation alone with just me and my professor and I managed to do well and got perfect on every one.


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## bezoomny

In high school, yes. Often.

In college, I haven't even tried. I know it wouldn't work. I don't have a special accommodations note (my ADD is manageable with medication, and I really don't want every teacher to know that I have SAD), so there'd be no reason.

If I get along well with the teacher, I can usually get out of being in a group. I'd much rather go through the one-time anxiety of presenting alone than the constant anxiety of working with a group. Of course, the only reason this is almost always allowed is because it results in much more work for me comparatively.


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## engima

pop an email to your teacher explaining your situation, see the response


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## SyN

Once. It was in English and everyone had to read a poem they wrote aloud in class. It wasn't really the public speaking that made me anxious - it was what people would think of my poem. Thankfully someone else didn't do it either. We both took hits to our grade because we didn't speak up.


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## een1234

I wish I could get out of presentations! I am a social work major in college, but I wouldn't be if I had known that literally every one of my major courses requires some sort of presentation- either in a group or by myself(both are equally as bad for me) I have done every one so far- fire engine bright red, trembling, eyes watering, almost passing out, etc. I even tend to speak very loudly (almost yelling) and I don't notice it myself- people point it out to me, which embarasses me even worse!
Having to give presentations is what put my SA at the worst it has ever been...I get worried just thinking about it:cry


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## tutliputli

Yes, I just cannot do presentations! I was meant to give a talk in front of my tutor group of 6 people, plus our tutor, in a tiny room where everyone had to sit round a table in a circle. I didn't tell my tutor I wasn't going to do it, I just didn't turn up. He e-mailed me to ask why I hadn't been there and I told him I had SA. He actually replied saying he thought that might've been the case. Good to know it wasn't obvious :s


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## solasum

I think it's hard to know whether or not a class will require presentations. What I do is go to the first day of classes and as soon as we get our syllabi, I go through it to see if there's a presentation. Usually they'll tell you how many you have to have, and so on. Last semester, I had to do several pres.s, but none this semester. I have to take a class called "Advanced Communication Skills" for my major. Help me.


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## Kwtrader

yes i did, twice in college in a freshman class, the teacher was really laid back and i still got a good grade, but i suggest not to do it, the two groups that i skipped out on were pretty angry.


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## SAgirl

No, I have to present tomorrow to my teacher and next week in front of the class. No way of getting out of this.


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## Braxietel

By a stroke of luck I got out of one today. I was doing a video presentation and our room hadn't any blinds so no one could see what was on the projector. Now I've a few more days until I have to do it.


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## midnight77

your school should have a office of disability services. go there with a letter from your doctor stating your condition. the disability counselor will send out confidential letters to all your professors. you can get out of any presentation which will cause you problems and they have to accommodate something else for you.


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## naturalgeek

I did many presentations in college. So many classes require them. And an hour before every single one, I'd pop my anti-anxiety pill and all my physical symptoms disappeared. Nobody knew that inside I felt nervous. On the outside, I was calm and confident. I think it looks bad to ask the teacher if you can get out of it. There are pills out there that will control your physical symptoms and no one will know you actually have SA.


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## SoclAnxty

midnight77 said:


> your school should have a office of disability services. go there with a letter from your doctor stating your condition. the disability counselor will send out confidential letters to all your professors. you can get out of any presentation which will cause you problems and they have to accommodate something else for you.


Wish I would have known about this back in HS. :|


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## huh

If it seemed to me that the professor was always assigning presentations and giving group work, I'd usually drop the class. I just cannot stand doing that all the time. If it's just one presentation I would usually just do it.

I never really tried to explain the situation to the professor. I know I shouldn't be reinforcing my avoidant behaviors anyways.


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## millenniumman75

I would still do it. There are only 10 people, so it will not be like a seminar or anything. Since it is a small room, you can make it feel like you are having a small get together in your room or something. 

The next thing would be to overprepare. That's right....overprepare. The more you work, the more confident you will be.


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## Riggs

My brother has SA also, and several years ago he was determined to get through a Public Speaking college course we had avoided like the black plague (we both tried 3 times and failed to get through it). Anyway, on the first day of class, as an orientation, the instructor wanted everyone to pick up an inanimate object (pen, paper clip, whatever) and make up a funny story about it and tell it in front of the class. I wasn't enrolled in the course but was at home thinking about how he was doing and was proud of him for his determination. 30 minutes later he walked in the door. I asked what happened and he said he went to restroom before his story and never came back. We both laughed about it - we finally finished the course a semester later though, so it all came out good in the end.


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## mypasswordneverworks

In high school I did. But, in college public speaking was required and then all my other classes required at least one--so I got used to it. It's a lot easier to cope & get better when you do them over & over rather than asking to get out of them. imo


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## Rhydian

i can deal with public speaking never had a problem with it besides anxiety about having to do it and i guess i sweat abit. But i can complete a presentation i just act like im making eye contact with the audience when im not actually. Its nice to have a script my main problem is saying something for myself i can act someone does the words for me.


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## OrangeBlossom

I've had to do them a couple of times, but not for years, and I won't have to do any again. My uni are letting me get a higher percentage of my mark for other assignments this year - don't know about next year or the one after that. I don't think I actually could do them at this point, and I don't think that after uni I will ever need to, so I don't see the point in stressing myself unnecessary and risking fainting in front of everyone.


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## hyacinth_dragon

no, never got out of them. sometimes i could get other people to talk more though. or some classes let me do a paper instead of a presentation.


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## ncislover

never ever have i gotten out of one. :mum


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## hopelesslyshy

Before I started doing school online I used to get out of them. Well, not fully.. because I'd still have to present them privately in front of the teacher, but that's a lot better than in front of a class.


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## Rune

I haven't yet, but I will probably be able to work something out with my Capstone project presentation due during finals week. The professor already knows about my SA and is sympathetic, so I think I could do something else once the paperwork for the office of disability is all figured out, so it's "official". I don't like the idea of presenting to the whole department, I failed miserably the last time I had to and went and hid in the bathroom crying immediately after. I want to avoid a repeat of that situation. :/


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## solasum

Now I'm scared about that "Senior Capstone" class I'll have to take.


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## michellejl

Actually, I did this semester! But only because my sociology instructor forgot about it because I wasn't in class the day I had to give it. It wasn't worth marks or anything. She just likes that method of teaching, probably so we can teach each other instead of her doing it. lol 

I think I might have a couple of times in high school, when it wasn't a requirement to pass the class. I just didn't show up for a while or something. In college there is no way I'd have gotten out of it even though my instructor knows I have SA. I am just now entering into a profession that requires a lot of presenting to our clients and we talk in front of groups all day long. So it was important to me that I get as much practice in as I can before I'm out in the real world. So I just saw it as a challenge for personal growth. I decided that it didn't matter what anyone else in the class thought of it, as long as I was reaching my goals for myself. (improving)

I was by far the worst public speaker in the class at the beginning. The last one I had to give a couple of weeks ago was an hour long in-service (for the class though) and even though I relied on my notes too much for the power point (nerves) everyone that I did a good job, and looked relaxed and confident. That is a lot different from teh feedback I got before! 

If at all possible, just do it!!!

That scenerio with the inanimate object would have probably caused me to leave and not come back in the beginning too though! lol Good thing it didn't.

If you practice lots before you present, it will make you sound more confident and you will feel more confident too, even if you are still really nervous. And meds could help too. Whatever you have to do to get through it!


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## scaredtolive

I've considered talking to my instructors about it but I think I'll just do it. I don't really want them to know my situation. And then everyone will wonder why I didn't have to do it. I've got two coming up and I'm already pissing myself. God help me please.


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## panicattheeverywhere

*yep*

I just got out of one yesterday. They were going in alphabetical order, and I was only 3 people away, and I started having a panic attack. I tried to get out before I started crying, but the teacher saw me. She pulled me aside and she said I could present to only her the next day before school. About to leave to go do that in 15 minutes, wish me luck!


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## komorikun

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com...-an-oral-presentation-1893329/#post1087371865


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