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Afraid of Public Speaking? Overcome It By Identifying Its Source
How I Overcame Teaching Anxiety
Presentation or public speaking anxiety is one of the most common fears in society today. You can overcome that fear by identifying its root cause.
If you fear public speaking, it’s likely because something is triggering the fear. Get curious about that and go deep with it. Once you identify the root cause of your anxiety, you can overcome your fear of public speaking.
Back in 2002, I made a career change. I left the world of association management and entered the field of education. I became a high school teacher at a private school in Northern Virginia.
Even though I enjoyed speaking in public, I was initially quite nervous when I faced a room full of teenage students for the first time. Most of these teenagers had interests different from what I was trying to teach them.
My nervousness wasn’t rooted in a fear of speaking per se. My nervousness was rooted in the following:
- I knew these teenagers would rather daydream, goof off, talk with their friends, or be anywhere else than sit in an uncomfortable chair listening to me lecture them on government, history, or geography.
- I lacked formal teacher credentials. Some of my colleagues…
