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Originally Posted by Sweets79  Hi,
Does anyone else experience this?
I have always had an extremely difficult time speaking in front of groups of people. I find it doesn't really happen in social situations where I'm comfortable, but more in a school/work environment.
I just started school again and when I was in class the other day, the Professor said he was going to go around the room, ask everyone's name and questions about them. As soon as he said that I felt my heart start beating fast. It wound up that there wasn't enough time and he said he would do it next week. Right away I felt some relief, but I'm not really looking forward to doing it. He also said at the end of the course, we would have to stand up in front of the class and give a presentation, which PETRIFIES me. I have not been able to speak in front of a group of people since I was in Grade School and High School. I've always ran from it, but now it's time to face it.
Does anyone have any ideas or techniques they can suggest for this? I was thinking a Valium would help before the presentation. I have taken them before and they help when I get super anxious. The only problem with that I noticed most Doctors don't like to write out scripts for them. Also, I want to find a long term way to deal with this.
If anyone has any suggestions on this, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks  |
I would say stay away from benzos or any drug. Put it in perspective...we drink to feel that ease and comfort so as to deal with life. Well by using Valium isn't that essentially what you would be doing? Additionally when we justify "well I'll just use the Valium cause I don't want to feel anxious" we start to justify the use at other times. For me when I first got sober I was anxious all the time and thus this would justify using all the time haha. Additionally it is a downer just like alcohol, addictive and a whole other road to go down that you really don't want to.
In terms of speaking in front of others, I today see that I'm no longer that important to other people. They don't think about me as much as I think they think about me haha. They don't care what you say and quite frankly 10 minutes after I speak in class they aren't harping on what I said, they moved on. People generally don't care about if I sound good or what I'm wearing when I'm giving a presentation. I too was so scared of everything...I wouldn't raise my hand even if I was pretty sure I knew the answer because I didn't want to take the risk that I was possibly wrong. It is all fear of other people's opinions. Fear that I could not walk through and ran my life for years. Fear robs us of opportunities. I am able today to talk in front of a group if need be.
Another helpful thought would be to practice your presentation...maybe make a few friend in the class so as to be comfortable and speak with passion. Usually people who speak with a passion are able to capture the attention of an audience. You will be fine. Shying away will ultimately make a bigger mess than putting yourself out there. Hold your head up...you have nothing at all to be ashamed of. No need to walk on eggshells.
Hope this helped some!
- Ian