The year was 2009.
It was the fall semester of my sophomore year in college back in Pakistan.
By the time of mid-semester, I was scheduled for the first time to give a presentation for a course called Pakistan Studies ...
Honestly, I don't know why this course was part of my professional engineering degree 🤔
... but that's a mystery for another day ;)
Anyways, it was supposed to be a simple presentation, but I can't tell you how many sleepless nights I had to suffer before this presentation.
Weeks before the presentation date, I practiced, practiced, and practiced ...
But it NEVER felt like enough.
I wouldn't be lying if I told you that I over-practiced ...
And yet I was worried sick that I would forget it all on stage in front of my classmates and they would make fun of me
... I'd lose respect in the eyes of my friends, and they might stop hanging out with me.
I thought there was something wrong with me and I was the only weird one with this fear and anxiety.
So, I came up with a plan ...
To put EVERY SINGLE WORD on slides as a backup
This plan seemed like a solid plan to save my self-respect and not get exposed on stage.
Fast forward to the presentation day ...
My turn was sometime in the middle so I'm not the first one.
But it was no relief as I had to listen to others' presentations and anticipate what would happen when it's my turn.
My heart was beating on another level ... running its own Olympics 100m sprint.
I was sweating to the point that I felt disgusted with myself... let's leave it to that level of detail 🫣.
When my name was called, all the anxiety symptoms got even worse.
When I started introducing myself, my voice got even softer
... I have been told that I'm a soft-spoken person, but it gets even worse when I'm under an anxiety attack in front of an audience.
My voice started trembling,
My hands were shaking,
And my legs started wobbling.
In short, it felt as if I'm exposed and naked in front of the entire class ...
I was a train wreck on stage in front of the entire class.
My ONLY GRACE was to stand behind the lectern to hide my wobbly legs and read word-for-word from slides ... and not make eye contact with anyone.
That's how I survived my first presentation in college ...
Not just the first presentation, but pretty much every presentation during my studies.
Therefore ...
To me, the BIGGEST REASON to rank overcoming my fear of public speaking above getting my PhD degree is ...
Not losing sleep weeks before a scheduled presentation and not feeling exposed and naked during the presentation.
A couple months ago, I presented at a conference in front of a technical audience (30-40 participants) in Chicago and believe me I haven't lost even a single second of my sleep before that presentation
... and it was all worth it.
Now Reader,
If you are curious, here are some more reasons to start working today towards overcoming your public speaking anxiety.
- Avoiding required presentations
- Career Limitations - difficulty with getting promoted at work
- Turning down job promotions - I've heard people turning down promotions because of this fear
- Limited advocacy - missed opportunities
- Increased heart rate
- Feeling blushed
- Sweating profusely (in my case, to the point of disgust)
- Voica trembling
- Shaky hands and wobbly legs
- Body tension (I used to get my jaws locked before a presentation)
- Intense worry, fear and panic attacks
- Not feeling good enough or competent enough
- Negative self-talk
- Impaired communication - social isolation
- Low self-confidence and self-esteem
- Stifled creativity and
- Impact on relationships
Did I miss anything?
​
Best,
Waqas - Founder & Speaking Anxiety Coach
P.S. Just a quick reminder ...
Only 24 hours left to snag Fifa’s "Speaker’s Guidebook" filled with practical strategies and insights that can help elevate your brand and book more speaking gigs.
|
​