Fearful of Public Speaking?

It is not easy to be the first person in the family to go to college! I remember when I first started taking classes I did not know anyone at the school. I was also the quiet one in all my classes, and if the teacher asked me something, I would just smile, even if I did not know what they were asking me. I simply could not imagine myself talking to someone in public, not to mention talking to my instructor in front of a class of 30 students.

One term, as I was lining up classes for graduation, I realized that I needed to take a class that I had been avoiding. Just the name of it petrified me: public speaking. However, I had heard positive comments about the instructor and his work, so I told myself that it was all going to be OK. Well, it was not; at least not when I started the class! The first talk I gave, I almost fainted out of fear and storming emotions. But the instructor, used to this, found a way to interject some of his ideas and suggestions regarding my slides, so I used that “break” to breathe and that totally helped.

After I was done with the presentation I went to my desk and waited for the instructor’s comments. To my surprise, he had liked my talk and had given me a very good grade. Feeling more comfortable now and knowing that my presentation was not as bad as I had thought, my other speeches received much better comments. That was it for me; I found out that the fear was all in my head, and I had no reason to panic while speaking publicly, in fact I came to love it. Thanks to that class, and to its great instructor, I have given hundreds of talks and presentations since then.

Do you still fear public speaking?