Speaking in class can be a hard thing to deal with, but you can overcome it with a few little tips that I use myself:

1. I practice speaking to myself before I get in front of a crowd because it helps me to prepare what I want to say.
2. When I am in front of a crowd, I also try to make eye contact with people, mostly my friends or people I know, because I feel comfortable talking to them.
3. Also, when it could determine my grade for the class, I focus on that; I don't worry about the people looking at me.

Try to use these three tips and you should okay! I hope you do well on your next presentation!

GOOD LUCK! :)

[back to top]
 

(2)
Dear Alice and Can't Speak in Class,

I used to get sick at the thought of speaking in front of people, but I've had to do it for school as well and have gotten much better. Here are my tips:

• Know your stuff! Know all the info about what you are presenting about inside and out. It gives you confidence and helps a lot if you lose the thread of your presentation.
• Practice! Have your presentation ready, know what you're going to say, and actually present it a few times to the mirror, to your posters, to your siblings/friends/roommates.
• Use cue cards! To keep you on track, just include main points, not paragraphs as those are hard to read.

[back to top]
 

(3)

To the reader:

I get nervous when speaking in front of class too! What I do, that really helps me,to help me relaxe is practice. I know it sounds weird but it really helps. I put my speech or presentation on a piece of paper or index cards and read over it to where I only look at it a few times. Then I stand in front of a mirror to work on facial expressions and looking up. Then I get a close friend or parent to listen to me read my speech or presentation. They can tell me what I do wrong and get my comfortable with talking to them. Then I increase the number I give my speech to. Once again with close friends and family. What it does is it gets me used to my speech or presentation, I feel confident with it, and I learn that it is not as bad talking in front of people as I thought it was. When it's time to give it in front of a class your ready and confident.