Someone told me once that more people are afraid of public speaking than are afraid of dying. Makes sense. I mean, if you die, you either go to Heaven, get reincarnated...whatever you believe happens. Doesn't sound so bad. But if someone asks you to speak in front of the class, well, potential arises for public humiliation, incoherent babbling, nausea and terror. Even hellfire and brimstone sound palatable by comparison.
But fear no more. (Well, you can still fear the brimstone, if you want. Who am I to judge?) Public speaking, on the other hand, is manageable. Even speaking in front of your classmates, whom you know and will continue to see for at least the rest of the semester, can be tamed. And I'm not going to tell you to imagine them in their underpants. I think you can get sued for that, anyway. No, there are many more techniques that will give the novice student the confidence to speak in front of the class. Techniques that actually work.
Let's start with the one thing you can do that reduces the scariness of most tasks in life: preparation. Fear of the unknown is one of that emotion's most powerful manifestations. Thankfully, in this situation, we can overcome that particular fear. Write down what you are going to say. Depending on the nature of the assignment, you will use either note cards or an actual paper script. If you are in a public-speaking class and are actually expected to give a speech, then you will most likely be writing this speech word-for-word. Don't be embarrassed. Even world leaders do it. If your speaking in front of the class takes the form of a report on the mating habits of indigenous jungle peoples, then you will most likely have note cards. This being the case, what you want to do is write on the cards the cues you think you will need.
Then - and whatever you do, do not forget this step - practice using them as you speak in front of a small group of friends, roommates or bewildered supermarket shoppers. Wherever your comfort zone is. The purpose of this step is to learn if you've written too much or too little. You have written too much if the audience primarily remembers the uneven part in your hair because you have been reading off your cards without looking at said audience. You have written too little if you are stammering through your speech, wondering if the cue words "time of year" means you are supposed to talk about mating season or the best month for a cannibal feast. Strike a balance between the two. If you know you need more on the cards, fine...but practice enough so that you are not constantly staring at them. Once you know you have all you need to get through the speech without confusion, then you know what will transpire when you are in the hot spot.
Now all you have to worry about is the response of your classmates. ("What do you mean, all I have to worry about?!?!?") No, really, it's not that bad. They want you to do well. And if they don't...well, don't you want to stick it to 'em and give the best speech in your school's history? The best way to manage this worry is to put yourself in their shoes. (Not literally. You can get sued for that, too.) But it's perfectly legal to ask yourself what you would be thinking if you were sitting in the class listening to a
speech. Which you probably have been. What do you want from the speaker? To not be bored, first of all. So you want a speaker who is enthusiastic, animated and interested in her subject. Good. Practice that, too. And you want a speaker who looks confident. Watching someone shuffle and bite their nails makes us horribly embarrassed for them. We feel much more at ease when the speaker looks so as well. Excellent. Practice that.
Are we seeing a pattern here? Yes, not getting sued. AND, practice. Practice until you know your material, and until you know you can communicate it confidently and with interest. Your classmates will either be proud of you or green with envy. Win-win situation.
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