I used to tend to pepper my sentences with a constant barrage of 'um' and 'uhh' as I always lost my rhythm. When rehearsing speeches, I tried correcting myself whenever I 'um/uhh' with a deep breathe. It keeps the rhythm going a bit more, and it fits into a perfectly normal cadence — and that gave me a bit more confidence.
When I first started presentations, whenever I got too anxious at everybody staring at me, I slightly blurred my vision so I couldn't make out individual faces. It made it easier on my nerves.
I talked to my older sister who currently goes to Monash, who said that she's never seen anyone be scared of doing an oral and people generally find it fine. I'm worried I'm the only person who feels like this.
I have had group presentations with other people, and I can confirm that there are people at Monash who find oral presentations difficult
this rings true for high school, I recall it being a common issue. I work in a role that requires me to give a metric tonne of presentations to coworkers, bosses, and external bodies (think scary regulators), and I can confirm that even after doing this for nearly two years, I still feel funny about it on occasion. It happens, even if sometimes you don't see it
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Monash also provides free counselling to students, which could be useful for help coping with anxiety-related issues.
https://www.monash.edu/health/counselling
Just quickly seconding this!
Best of luck with future presentations!🐢