I'm 21 and I'm in college. I lack self confidence, especially in class. Ive had this problem ever since I was in high school. I always get nervous when It comes to oral recitations. Even when I prepare for it, during the actual recitation I get mental blocked. Either I am unable to answer or wrong words come out of my mouth. This worsened when a clasmate and a friend of mine, who is a happy-go-lucky type mostly gets higher points in orals and essays than me. Huhuhu... :( Would anyone please help me? It's really deppresing... :(

Have you tried talking to your teacher and tell him that you will present it to just him and not the whole class... if it's a nice teacher they will understand

I had to do oral's at college too. I was always so nervous.
Have a talk with your teacher and let her know how you feel about it. The reason they make students do oral recitations to keep them involved(like when the teacher reads, students fall asleep lol) and also build up the students confidence.
You could also try attending confidence building classes in your area. That way you can build up your confidence. :)

Absolutely talk to the teacher. He/she can help you out with the oral reports, maybe let you give it in private, or maybe let you come in and practice so that you get a better score.

When you are giving the oral report, make sure to use eye contact with everyone. Speak slowly and don't rush through because you are nervous. Just pretend that you are practicing at home. Lots of people get nervous about this; I bet even some of the people who seem really confident have been nervous sometimes.

See if you can practice with a group of friends. Ask them to give you pointers. Once you have it down, ask your teacher if you can practice it and have him/her give you advice. Then you will know how the teacher gives grades for the reports too. My teacher used to grade us on information/report structure and presentation. Presentation was broken down into eye contact, posture, voice volume, enunciation, and hand gestures. ( This was a class just for speech/oral reports though. We all had to take it at high school).

Hope this helps!

I used to get awful stage fright, throwing up, trembling feeling faint, I would basically go to pieces. What I found helped me was to pretend I was someone else. I would just get totally involved in my extrovert character. Fake it until you make it.

I don't think asking for provite orals is a good idea in the long run, these days oral presentation skills are asked for in many employment situations including some job interviews.

Have you thought about seeing a confidence coach, or a singing coach. They can give you techniques to improve your confidence in front of people. Also try joining a group which can help you gain confidence such as an arts and drama or music society. Yes you'll probably hate it at first but you will find it does become easier.

Here is a good game you can play with friends to help your speaking skills. Get a group of friends together you need to pick a subject, say ping pong balls. The person who's it has to stand up and talk for a minute about ping pong balls, they are not allowed to repeat themselves, stop talking or say um. It's quiet a funny game once it gets going. I like it for parties. There is usually an um forfeit.

In the end it's down to practice, practice, practice! Don't give up yet.

Good luck

You are reciting poems or reading prose in the classroom in college? You get fearful of public speaking and make errors?

It sounds like a panic reaction to self-consciousness to me; tell your teacher/professor privately about your situation. Ask him why he thinks you should do.

If you want to get over this fear if you are going to speak before people in your job(s) later in life, then you might want to take a course in public speaking and figure out ways to increase your self-confidence like increasing the number of activities you are proficient in...


Best wishes in 2008.