Shy guys

Nursing Students Male Students

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Hey folks,

I'm 19 years old & I'm currently trying my best to finish my nursing pre-reqs to get it over & done with but I have this problem. I've always been shy. I'm a great conversationalist when it comes to one on one interaction but I'm such a chicken when public speaking or presentations come up. I get really tense, shaky, & my voice... my throat seems to tighten & my voice sounds feeble ugh I don't know. I'm really bad at it. I don't like to take those anxiety meds 'cause I'd like to follow the organic route. Does anyone else have this problem or am I a freakin weirdo? I feel like this will surely be a detriment to my overall nursing well-being.

I am a terrible conversationalist - and used to HATE speaking in public because when I get up there, nervous, I get RED SPLOTCHES all over my neck and face, it is AWFUL because I am blonde and light skinned - pale.

I discovered if I have a glass of wine before speaking I do FINE. Thirty minutes before I have to speak! I know it sounds like a crutch, but it honestly works for me.

I don't drink otherwise - well, only once in a while.

I used to drink a tall boy or two before my Speech class.......it helped a lot. Well, it made the class more fun.

i hated getting up and giving a presentation, i think its just natural to have that reaction. a way to combat that is the more you know about the subject your talking on the more comfortable you'll be

like most said, take a speech class. its required at our school that you take public speaking or professional speaking, so that everyone gets over that fear. you have to do like 5-6 speeches during the semeseter infront of the whole class so you'll get over your fear. Also take an antihistamine which reduces your anxiety but also makes you a bit sleepy.

Well, I've got two choices for the Communications area of my nursing pre-reqs. There's Communications 101: Public Speaking:uhoh3: :uhoh21: :crying2: :imbar and then there's Communications 103: Interpersonal communication.Sowhich class should I take? If I pick "interpersonal communication", what exactly is that?

Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
Well, I've got two choices for the Communications area of my nursing pre-reqs. There's Communications 101: Public Speaking:uhoh3: :uhoh21: :crying2: :imbar and then there's Communications 103: Interpersonal communication.Sowhich class should I take? If I pick "interpersonal communication", what exactly is that?

Well, find a course description of both, but sounds like to me you should select the Public Speaking course [101].

Your not alone. I can talk conversate with people individually easily, but freak out in front of alot of people.

huh? do they require a lot of speeches in nursing school? if so, when, why, and for what?

i dont consider myself shy, but my heart races and my voice gets shaky...uncontrollably shaky... when i have to do presentations. if the original poster is like me, the speech class wouldnt necessarily help. i did a public speaking class and nailed every single speech with confidence...no problems, no nerves, no shaky voice, nothing. but when i've had to speak in public outside that class, it's back to nervousness as usual.

so do they really require a lot of speeches in nursing school? please say no.

Most all nursing schools require speeches/presentations. It's good practice for when you get out and have to do teaching in the community, hospital, family, or just one patient. Nursing jobs may also give you a chance for department meeting presentations or presenting at conferences.

I believe that most of us have or have had anxiety over public speaking. I would definitely vote for you to take a public speaking speech class. I'm currently in my 2nd semester of nursing school. I took that speech class two years ago. That class was huge!!!!

A couple of things I learned from it. If I knew the subject material for the presentation really well, then my anxiety was reduced significantly. Also, I had this big fear of what people will think of me. I believe that most of us want people to like us. By taking the class, I had to look at that aspect in depth. I got real tired of thinking that my speech and my appearance represented who I was. To a degree, this is true. But, it is not a true representation of who I am. I am just a person with problems and picadillos just like every other person on the planet. Plus, I thought about how everyone else in the class. I believe they were stressin out just like me. The end result was that I didn't care about what other people thought about me and my speech. I was going to let myself come out and people could like me or they could not. And......that's ok. Interestingly, by being myself, most people liked that.

Know your subject material and believe in yourself. Speech is about trying and getting better. The more you do public speaking the easier it gets.

I find it interesting, in our society, a lot of people go directly to medicating the problem. Does a problem exist if you have very little experince in public speaking? No, it's just one of the things that you have yet to experience. You might look at it like an adventure. You are going to meet new people. People that have come from far away places with interesting stories.

Be yourself.....

From what little I've heard, you are a good person. Step out into a broader world.

Peace

Genhen

Specializes in ER/Trauma.

Here's an "offbeat" method to try:

1. Start with one friend.

2. A few days later - try it with a couple of friends.

Repeat.

A few weeks later, ask those friends of yours to bring a friend each.

Slowly build up your audience. Pretty soon, you'll notice that while you might or might not be doing great - you're atleast well past your original "fear". You're atleast speaking to a bunch of people.

The trick is getting over that first hurdle.

Personally, I used to be p*ss scared too - untill I discovered that the worst they could do was laugh at me!

Now I sometimes purposely stumble or throw a couple jokes in ... helps me ease up and the audience also relaxes. Then it becomes more of a "conversation" type thing rather than a "speech" type thing :)

im still a student, but i have had to give a few presentations in class. the way i rationalize the fear is that everyone there has to give the presentation too, and is just as scared.

you arent a weirdo and in my nursing experience, there really arent that many presentations.

Specializes in critical care transport.

Hey-

it's normal, your aren't wierd, and I can completely identify with you. I am 32 years old, and I did a lot of personal growing in my early twenties. By the time speech class came around, it wasn't so bad. I'd chalk some of it up to age. And I nearly passed out in the seventh grade having to do a speech that terrified me. I actually enjoyed my classes with presentations.

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