I Just Couldn't Face My Classmates

Jennifer had avoided coming to class on the days she was assigned to give a class presentation. Her teacher asked her about the absences, and invited her to write an essay describing her thoughts. Read on to find out what Jennifer found out about herself.

As interactive education becomes increasingly popular and traditional, lecture-style methods are declining, and the issue of public speaking is beginning to wield much more importance in the minds of students everywhere. Starting in grade school with oral reports and book reviews, and ending in college with PowerPoint presentations and in-depth discussions and debates, public speaking is a key presence in education. It grows more frequent and intensive with each grade level. One does not have to explore the topic of public speaking in order to find that the vast majority of students experience fear and nervousness at addressing fellow classmates. However, at a second glance, an individual's personal fears concerning public speaking increase at a rate parallel to that which public speaking becomes more challenging and open. A student who never had a problem reading a book report in elementary school, may become nervous while making a prepared speech in high school. He or she may also find they are terrified at the idea of heading an open debate in college. Most people can relate to, or at least understand, that public speaking is much easier when one has substantial materials in front of him or her to draw upon, than when one is required to draw from his or her own personal knowledge of a subject. Whether or not the student is knowledgeable on the topic is not particularly relevant. The difference lies in the security of having material in front of you that you know is right. The lack of this security is what turns relative calm to nervousness, or mild nervousness to intense fear.

Another interesting aspect of why public speaking is intimidating, is the areas of one's personality that can cause the fear. It is easiest to assume that shy people will be more afraid to speak in front of others, and more extroverted and outgoing individuals will have less trouble doing so. There is much evidence to indicate that this is a common misconception. How many of us can recall the star quarterback/prom king giving an oral report in front of a high school class jumbling words, looking down, and trembling? How many of us can also recall the quiet, studious "nerd" who sat in the back and rarely spoke to anyone but the teacher, standing up and giving his report in a calm steady voice and maintaining eye contact with the class? Yet we cannot write off entirely the influence that personality has on one's fear of public speaking.

As someone who prides herself on understanding human behavior, and having significant experiences concerning varying degrees of fear of public speaking, I have noticed that those of us who experienced little or no fear earlier in our education and who now shudder at the idea of initiating an open debate do tend to share a personality trait. The trait is not shyness, but the desire to always appear right and informed on the topic at hand, joined with the fear of appearing wrong or misinformed. In contrast to the aforementioned misconception, these people are confident and are not afraid to challenge or ask questions. Furthermore, they pride themselves on this confidence which may explain why appearing unsure or unassertive about an issue may be a severe blow to their egos.

My first experience with fear of public speaking occurred late in my twelve-and-one-quarter-years education. I am not shy by nature, and had never experienced anything more serious than a mild case of nerves before speaking in front of a group of peers. Yet, the first time I was asked to conduct discussions and initiate debates, a wall rose up in front of me. Being an almost exact match to the personality traits outlined in the previous paragraph, I was more intimidated by these tasks than I ever would have expected. The fear I experienced was, or so I thought, very unlike me. My reaction not only disturbed me personally, but proved to be extremely detrimental to my grade. However, I am thankful that I was confronted with this problem. It has forced me to evaluate where it comes from, and is allowing me to take steps to overcome it so that it will not interfere with my learning again. In hindsight, I can say that I have leaned much about this unusual subject, and I suspect that other students, probably freshman like myself, face with the same fear. I only hope they will quickly realize that their only fault is perhaps a little excessive pride, and that all they have to do in order to drastically reduce this unique brand of fear is let their guards down once in while when addressing their classmates. Of course, this is easier said than done, because revealing intellectual vulnerabilities is less than appealing. But it does become easier once we realize that our peers are not one hundred percent right all of the time, nor do they expect us to be. Thus, there is no need to expect such a thing of ourselves.

Jennifer B., 19
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts

* Reprinted from Positive Teens Magazine Volume 1 Issue 1, Jan/Feb 1999

{ Back to Having Our Say }