How I overcame my fear of public speaking - UBC Business Tech Management Personal Profile

UBC Business Tech Management Personal Profile, Experiences in school or out

Tell us about an experience, in school or out, that taught you something about yourself and/or the world around you.

reading out loud in front of public

Since I was young, I have always been afraid of public speaking. The idea of talking in front of an audience scared me, because I was afraid of making a mistake. One day, the MC for my school's winter concert had to cancel. I offered to replace her since everyone was busy with preparations.

I began by recording myself and listened to the outcome. This allowed me to fix the pacing of words in certain areas if needed. When the time came for memorization, I worked for hours inside my room, repeating each sentence multiple of times. Afterwards, I started presenting in front of my parents, and later I moved on to a small group of friends.

That night, when I walked on stage, staring at me were over 500 people. As the lights shone, I realized that I was no longer nervous. The words flew out of my mouth and I was having a fantastic time on stage. At the end of the night, I felt different. I realized that there will always be a solution as long as I am dedicated to changing myself for the better.

@anxjso

Hi Karin,

I think you have covered the essay prompt. I have only minor correction to some of the words.

- The idea of talking in front of an audience people scared me,

- listened to the outcome my own voice

Hope it helps.

Karin, one of the major points that you have to make with this essay is why you felt the need to confront your fear of public speaking. It cannot be something as simple as "everyone else was busy so I volunteered". The way that you tell it, you would not have been the first person to volunteer for something that petrified you to do. The mere thought of it should have made you cringe. So what was it? What self realization did you come to that pushed to volunteer for the activity and actually apply yourself to it? If you can present a solid explanation regarding that, then the essay will be ready to use without any need to revise the other portions. The addition of this information will make the essay stronger because it will explain an obstacle that you managed to overcome and in the process, you managed to learn something about yourself.

@anxjos.
Is quite okay. But my little addition is that yiu should say you have always looked for an opportunity to overcome your fear of public speaking... And the absence of the MC presented a great opportunity for you to deal with your fears.

So instead of the MC you could say. I grabbed the opportunity to deal my fear a blow.