6_VoC

Dear Professor Kim,

With our classroom presentation coming up soon, I always find it difficult to calm my stage fright concerns. Almost all the time when it comes to classroom presentations, I face the common challenges of dealing with talking with confidence. Another weakness I often struggle with is becoming too nervous before actually going up in front of the class and presenting. When it is my turn to present in front of the classroom, I encounter even more problems. Problems that include: not talking loud enough when it is time to discuss my part, lacking eye contacting with the classroom to capture their interest, and perhaps glancing at the presentation slides for too long. As for more physical difficulties, when I am up in front of all my peers, I tend to often turn red, talk to fast, and I never know what to do with my hands as a reaction to me being anxious and uncomfortable. These problems make it hard for me to maintain the right and appropriate composure while presenting.

After learning from my peers about the solutions to my weaknesses in presentation, I can now work on handling each difficulty. By standing tall and speaking louder, I can talk with more confidence and grab the audiences’ attention. Using minor hand gestures when it is my turn to talk will help me keep focused and keep my hands occupied rather than at my sides the entire time. By engaging eye contacts with the audience as I present, I will seem less nervous and it will help me speak more confidently. To prevent myself from looking at the presentation slides, I plan to memorize and rehearse what I will say prior to speaking. I can also try note cards, in which I can only limit myself looking at them for a second before looking up and making eye contact. Drinking water and breathing are the common solutions to my physical challenges, which are my face turning red and talking to fast. By practicing my speeches and rehearsing with talking at an appropriate pace and using hand gestures, it will help reduce my nervousness when I present in front of my peers.

By learning about these solutions to help with my weaknesses, I am confident that I will not be as nervous during our classroom presentation. These tips prove to be a great advantage for me as I approach a career in business. I would like to thank you for taking the time to educate my peers as well as myself in public speaking for business environments.

Best regards,

Cedes Vo