Public Speaking

[Cecily]

Between the alcohol and a few f-bombs to break the ice, you totally got this. Now get out of the men’s room, get out there, and finish your speech. These people have been waiting 12 hours and frankly at this point it’s getting ridiculous.

[bigjeff100]

Originally Posted by maskedmelon [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

lotta good posts here except loramin who didn't share anything about his public speaking ability or advice for others butt still managed to write the longest response.

Awww he provided some good moral support! Basically a "That sucks, shit happens, get back up on that horse and keep riding!". I can respect that response [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[loramin]

Originally Posted by maskedmelon [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

lotta good posts here except loramin who didn't share anything about his public speaking ability or advice for others butt still managed to write the longest response.

"Longest post = three sentences". I know brevity isn't always my strong suit, but really you're complaining about three sentences Melon?

Look, the guy had a brain fart, plain and simple. You have brain farts during presentations for two reasons: you don't know the material, or you don't have enough experience with public speaking (or option #3: the fat kid in the front row was making weird faces the whole time, but presumably the OP would have mentioned that).

Source: I'm no professional public speaker or anything, but I've given talks to industry trade groups, taught classes, and even won a debate tournament back in high school.

OP said he knew the material well, so all that leaves is needing more experience with presenting. I had no great wisdom about the art of public speaking to offer beyond that because there's no magic shortcut to avoid brain farts.

Still, I am glad to see that the old, cryptic Melon back, at least in some of your other recent posts.

[Cecily]

Isn’t cryptic just bad writing?

[misterbonkers]

Originally Posted by Cecily [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Isn’t cryptic just bad writing?

does an astronaut rock to fakie on a moon's crater or does he switch revert?

also loramin, buddy. stop taking the bait

[d3r14k]

Originally Posted by Cecily [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I find peppering every few words with expletives has soothing effect on the audience and makes you seem more trustworthy.

Somehow I think this would have made it worse.

Originally Posted by loramin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Honestly it sounds to me like you just need more practice at public speaking. Obviously more preparation might have helped too, but it sounds like you knew your shit for the first two times, and just had an embarrassing brain fart on the last one.

There's no real way to avoid "brain farts" when presenting except to present so much that they either don't happen, or that you learn to recover from them when they do.

Like I said, I'm usually fine at it, but tripping over something you're expected to test someone else on is not ideal.

Practice is definitely better. The frequency that I have to do this is pretty low.

[maskedmelon]

honestly Deriak, I would consider the possibility of mental fatigue. Might try 20mins of meditation between sessisions and/or invest some sugar/caffein after about 4hr or so if brain farts are the issue. Eating too much can dull your mind / attention too, so if your third session was after lunch, maybe next time have a light lunch like some fruits and then have your normal lunch after the last presentation.

[Schaduwridder]

Xanax if mild beta blockers if severe

90% of our population would have an issue with public speaking to that many people, perfectly normal

[Mead]

I’m horrible at it because of nerves, not lack of knowledge, but I take some low dose Inderal and I’m like Ari Fleischer up there. You’re welcome.

[Evia]

Oh man I'm sorry OP! I can relate to that unsettling experience! It sounds rough! Especially with your bosses present. On a somewhat related note, I used to really enjoy being a lead vocalist for post-hardcore/metal bands,and id suffer from extreme anxiety leading up to every performance. It honestly got to the point where the benefit and thrill of playing music was outweighed by the intensity of the anxiety that i just stopped all together.

It was something I battled with for years and I tried numerous things to try and make it a comfortable experience but to no avail. One thing that did help a little bit was right before I would go on stage id lock myself in a room completely alone and I would close my eyes and try to steady my breathing as i visualized in my head how I wanted the performance to go. It sounds kind of cheesy but it did bring a sense of calming focus and determination.