Today. I will be giving my 10th presentation of the year at the EDUCOMM conference in Orlando, Florida. Even though I have been giving a lot of presentations, I still have that nervous feeling that goes along with giving a speech.
Getting up in front of the podium is not an easy thing for me. I look across the sea of people and wonder what are all of these people thinking? I also hear the silence in the room while my voice is throwing out information. And I am sure many of you feel the same when giving presentations.
Several years ago, I had a fellow classmate save my public speaking career. See what I use to do is write everything down and read it. Yes, it was boring but that was the only way I could get through it. My classmate said you are not going to go up there at the podium and read your presentation to us - are you? I said yes this is how I give presentations. And she said if you go up there and read your presentation, I am going to embarrass you up there. She said just speak from your heart on what you know and it will be fine. I was frightened and now even more scared because I was going to have to do something I had never done before. Trust the fact that I know the information and not read it.
Well that was the best advice I was ever given by a classmate. Thanks to her now I know even though I get scared when I present, I go up there giving a solid presentation without reading it.
To continue to combat my fears of public speaking, I started attending a few Toastmasters meetings in College Park. Toastmasters is a great organization that helps people overcome their fears of public speaking and I fully recommend it. So you never know when you are in a classroom with your fellow classmates what a profound effect you can or might have on someone else's life.
Mount Royal Masters Toastmasters Club
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) Main Bldg.
Room 110
Contact Name: Betty Enselein
Phone: 410-225-2363
Contact E-mail: benselei@ubalt.edu
3 comments:
Thanks for the post, Julie! This is a great story--so many of us have a fear of public speaking, including myself. It's definitely a skill that needs to be honed, and this is a great way to do it.
I'd be interested in hearing what you will be speaking on at Educomm (you're probably there now - so best of luck). We've sent folks in the past and find it to be a valuable conference. Maybe we could get you to do an encore performfamce here at UB.
-Paul Walsh, OTS
Paul,
Thankfully the presentation is over and I think it went pretty well. The presentation was on "Demonstrating Innovative Instructional Learning through Exploring UMB’s Virtual Dental School." I would be happy to do encore performance at UB. Take care - Julie
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