seacat said 10 years ago:

I am preparing to give a class speech in a few days, and due to my anxiety and depression, I don’t think I can handle going to class, much less write and deliver a speech right now.

Even worse, the teacher is going to be filming our classes’ speeches and putting them on youtube (on a private account, but still)!

Basically I just don’t know how I’m going to survive this without having a severe meltdown and I really don’t want that meltdown to happen on camera in front of my classmates.

Any advice/support would be appreciated.

Cayladoo_1 said 10 years ago:

Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. You can do it if you believe you can. Just pretend the teachers not filming. You won’t have a meltdown. You’ll present, and you will be like “what was I worrying about”. Then it’ll be done no biggy. Maybe after the speech you realize you want to give speeches all the time! You never know but you’ll do perfectly fine.

seacat said 10 years ago:

Thank you so much, you’re very kind. I don’t have many people in my life to support me though these things so this comment means a lot to me. Have a nice day friend.

IdolizedMusic said 10 years ago:

You will do awesome. Just practice, practice, practice. If you over prepare it will be so easy and you’ll breeze through it. Whenever it’s over you’re going to wonder why you were scared. Don’t worry!

Deleted User said 10 years ago:

Everyone gets nervous when presenting. The trick is to practice enough so that even if you are nervous, saying the speech is just automatic. Make sure your cue cards (if you can have them) are good, make sure you are practiced and ready. Don’t forget to breathe.
I used to get so nervous and it helped so much when i was sure i was ready. Just knowing that i knew my speech back to front was very reassuring. Once you have done a speech without getting too nervous you can build from there.

baby steps. Good luck :)

Rob! said 10 years ago:

Prepare, but try not to over think it!
Over thinking leads to doubt and all you need to do well is be yourself and embrace that.
Let us know how it goes!

Anna said 10 years ago:

You have two options here. Option one: miss the day your class does the speeches. This option will fail yourself, as well as your grade. So I’m not a fan of option one. Option two: endure it love. You will get up there, and you will tremble like crazy, and you will stutter, and maybe you’ll loose your train of thought. But it’s okay, because you are going to get through something that scares the living hell out of you I assume. The steps to option two are always more complicated because it involves you changing yourself, and even though it’s for the better we all know how the process of change can be. Some advice is to always prepare, practice your speech day after day in front of the mirror, then maybe to a close friend. Overthinking this whole this will add more fear in your mind, so don’t do that. This is just a small moment in your life. Breath before and after you get up there and rock your speech. And if your teacher is filming, who cares! That camera shouldn’t exist in your mind. Think of how good you’re can feel after you get this over with. It’s baby steps, but this will help you with your anxiety as well. Best of luck, and I may not know you… But I know you can do it.

Viscaria said 10 years ago:

People may not agree with this but I don’t think you should push yourself. Maybe not do the speech, miss class, even miss the school day if you have to. Unless you are confident and comfortable enough I personally don’t think you should be pushed into anything.

[.jessica|acissej.] said 10 years ago:

When I was in high school I would always work hard on presentations, know that they were well done and informative but chicken out the day of due to being terrified of speaking in front of everyone. Needless to say, I failed them all. Sometimes I feel that it wouldn’t have been the case if only I’d made an effort to explain how I felt to my teachers. Their first reaction is usually “You’ll be fine, it’s a learning experience, it won’t be so bad.” That’s easy for them to say since they do it every day and aren’t standing there being worried about if they’ll throw up, if their face is going red, if they can’t get the words out.

If you can communicate how strongly you feel about it and help them to understand your anxiety, they may be willing to let you do a private presentation for them maybe on a lunch hour or after school. As far as the video taping goes, in my opinion at least, your teacher should have issued some kind of waiver asking everyone’s permission to be filmed. It doesn’t matter if it’s for private use or not. Just because you’re a student doesn’t mean you can’t speak up for yourself about whether or not you are comfortable with being taped.

I guess what I’m saying is address the issue with your teacher and see if any compromise can be made. It’s not fair that students have to settle for a failing mark due to something beyond their control. It’d be better to see if something can be negotiated rather than just accepting a fail.

Hope that helps and good luck to you!

cmtrent said 9 years, 10 months ago:

When I gave my speech for school I had my worst panic attack at school (I’ve had worst. My turn was next and I was shaking, cold, sweating,tearing up, and turned pale. My best friend noticed something wrong. The teacher called my name and I flipped out. I started screaming dropped my paper and ran out. People talked about me for months saying things from I’m a druggie to I’m nuts. The teacher asked if I wanted to do a 1 on 1 in the morning still couldn’t do it. I. FELT. LIKE. AN. IDIOT. Thanks anxiety :)