I wasn't 100% sure that I had faced the fear of speaking in front of an audience until after my Presentation of Learning. I would have never thought that I'd actually find myself saying "I want to do it all over again". Every single part of the process made me grow in many different ways.
My self esteem with my speaking skills isn't the highest thing in the world, and this was one of the main reasons for this fear. I didn't feel confident speaking fluent English in front of people because I was sure that I would be making mistakes, but this is when I realized it all depended on PRACTICE. In order to speak a more fluent English what I needed was to speak more of it. I rehearsed a very adaptable script at least twice a day for a week, and it helped me make my presentation more fluent. I then got worried that it would be memorizing, but I saw a difference in class as well. Not only was I speaking my presentation in a more fluent and confident manner, but I also found myself speaking up in class with an improved English. |
PRACTICE makes PERFECT.
Something I also did that helped me face this fear was making sure that my visuals guided what I was speaking about in an effective manner so I'd feel confident speaking at all times. I would read through my outline and add any necessary visuals (not too overwhelming) to make my presentation more visually appealing, and so it would guide me better.
Thanks to the amount of effort I put into preparing and practicing my delivery of the message in the POL, I managed to present with an engaging tone and a clear voice, in which I actually felt proud. I thought that after finishing the presentation I would be relieved that I got it over with, but I actually sat down, thought about all that I did well and all that I didn't , and I wanted to do it all over again. I wanted to present again, taking all the feedback that my classmates gave me into consideration.