Just Picture the Crowd in Their Underwear

Public speaking did not used to be a big deal for me, until it became this formal thing that everyone seemed to be afraid of.  In the past, I did not mind addressing my classes and clubs of thirty or more people, but as soon as it became time to give a formal speech or presentation, one day I just started to get extremely nervous.  My hands would shake, my voice would crack, and I seemed to lose my breath with every word I spoke.

That being said, I think I have gotten a little better at controlling my nerves.  This comes partially from preparation and knowing the material I am discussing.  I believe one of my strengths is actually writing the speech, as I am generally more confident in writing the material for a speech than delivering it.  I think I succeed in using what I have written to communicate to the audience the message of my speech.  I also feel comfortable with the physicality involved in giving speeches, as I try to use hand gestures to add to the delivery and generally do not feel awkward standing in front of a group of people.  However, I will admit that sometimes I may get overzealous in my hand gestures, as I try to measure the audience's reactions to see if they are getting what I am trying to say.

There are many areas in which my public speaking can be improved, many of which are related to nerves.  As I get nervous, I struggle to make eye contact with the audience and seem to find myself looking all around the room, almost like my eyes are as jittery as my body feels.  I also resort to my notecards too much in order to convince myself that I am saying the right thing, which contributes to my wandering eyes bobbing up and down.  Another weakness I would like to improve is in the vocal deliverance of my speeches.  Sometimes I feel like I am talking too fast, or pause for too long, and I am definitely guilty of resorting to verbal fillers when I lose track of where I am.  The best way to improve these areas is to practice, practice, practice.  The more I practice a speech, the more comfortable I will be, eliminating some of the nerves.  This includes not only practicing what I want to say, but doing so in front of an audience, and learning what I want to do with my body, or when I want to look at different members of the audience to improve eye contact.