So I struggle a great deal with speaking on the fly, or just speaking in general. It’s like my mind is really slow with organising my thoughts into sentences that make sense. What ends up happening is, when I am explaining how each line of code works in a script works for example, I feel like I don’t know what I should be saying and on top of that, my grammar and vocabulary suffer a great deal, and it feels like I’m trying to explain something complex as a 5 year old all again. My grammar gets all jumbled up and my vocabulary might not make sense at all. And because of that, I would also panic and the idea of how I am wasting someone’s time, and that I should get my ideas out now floods my brain. Even when describing this issue on this post for example, I would struggle a ton and most likely will leave out details due to panic. While I’m typing behind a screen however, I am alright since I know I can take my time to get my ideas out and put them into sentences that make sense. In the past, I’ve basically survived live presentations by always having something to read off of one way or another, but that often makes my speech feel really robotic and unnatural. Well, I guess it’s nice at least I know I am capable of organising and communicating my thoughts, but just not while speaking in person.
Since I’m coming up to my final years of highschool and I will have to do oral based assessments, this will have to change. To solve this problem, do I have to just get out there and speak with people, and to get more exposure to this fear? Is there anything else I could do besides that? Thank you for reading.
2 comments
Exposure and practice are a big part of it. What you learn from experience matters a lot. If you feel embarrassed and ruminate a lot of interactions you dont like, then exposure may lead to worse outcomes. If you examine just how little those tough moments matter, you will fret less afterwards and during
You say you panic, which will send you into a mental storm that makes organization difficult. To get over anxiety, i would suggest integrating a meditation habit into your life
If you want to get better at this, join toastmasters. Attend regularly, speak as often as you can. You will get better. This is a skill like any other.