New to the forum

[SueW]

Hey everybody

I hope you are all well…

My name is Sue and I just thought I’d introduce myself.
I'm a 35year old single mum and I work in PR. The two loves in my life is my little angel, Sophie, she's 3 now and totally beautiful. The other is my Bernard Cornwell book collection (I just love drifiting off on adventure with Richard Sharpe, he's such a stud).

Anyway, I work in PR which I really enjoy. Its loads of fun and I meet lots of amazing people.
The downside is I am having to give lots of presentations. Which I HATE!
I get so scared I either end up spending the entire day hiding in the bathroom at work or I try and find some excuse not to do it. I really want to get over this so am very excited to find this forum I'm sure you’ll be hearing a lot from me over the next few weeks

Sue
P.s. The sun's shinning here, its an amazing evening and I think a glass of wine is in order to celebrate finding you guys.. I hope the weather is nice with all of you

[SoniaV]

Hi Sue,
One thing we share in common is 3 year old daughters. Aren't they just adorable, funny and bossy?
Saw your post about presentations and had to reply because it reminded me of me many years ago. I can totally relate to what you are saying. Public speaking like anything else can be learned. Fear is a function of not knowing the how to. Once you learn the process, you gain the confidence. Confidence comes from knowledge.

You might want to consider joining a ToastMasters club in your city Toastmasters International - Home It is a very non threatening way to develop your speaking skills and gives you a platform for regular practice. Now if finding time is a challenge for you like it is for me then here's another alternative.



Check out this online course Public Speaking | Public Speaking Guide

if you really want to sharpen your public speaking skills and get over the fear.



The course is by far one of the best as it has something for everyone, a beginner to an aspiring professional speaker and the best part is, it is fairly inexpensive! It has a combination of an ebook, audios and videos so you can be driving and listening at the same time! I like the presentation guide the best as it makes it so easy to come up with a speaking topic and give a good presentation.



I hope this helps.
All the best.

[Marshall Adler]

Sue,

Welcome to the forum!

I am new here myself, of course you and I are
in two completely different fields.

However I know how you feel about giving
presentations, it sucks!

I would however do what I did to build up
my courage and confront of the situation...

If interested in knowing a trick that could
help you grow more accustomed to it, let
me know.

Marshall

[SueW]

Hey Sonia,

Thank you so much for your recommendations they look really good and am going to enjoy reading through everything.
I tried Toastmasters as you suggested and had a really good time. I met lots of really nice people and can't wait to go again.

You're so right about 3 year olds being bossy, Sophie just told me off because she hasn't had any sweets for days!!! I could hardly stop myself from giggling, she is so cute.

I had to give a formal presentation the other day infront of some very important clients. I was totaly nervous but managed to do some breathing exercises that somebody at toastmaster told me about and it really worked! I was still scarred inside but I was able to focus so much more on what I was doing.

I hope you are all having a great weekend

Sue xx

[jamesdoran]

Welcome to the forums Sue!

Yeah I hate giving formal presentations, especially if there's a lot of pressure to perform well. You could also try watching some professional speakers to pick up some pointers on how they speak - such as their speed, their tone of voice, how they handle questions.. etc.

Best of luck

[kia kaha]

Hi Sue,

I'm new too and just saw your post.

I've created a site all about helping people with this very problem.

I hope it helps you.