Glossophobia: Fear of Public Speaking
When you walk into a new setting with new people, is an unmistakable, nearly indescribable feeling in the depths of your stomach- we all know the feeling. Everybody, it seems, has something they dread more than anything. For me, I had to face it in an English class my Freshman year of high school. Any kind of public speaking has never been my strong suit, but I always pushed myself to try. Sitting in a room full of peers who loved to hear themselves speak always made me feel inferior. I have never been a big talker. Sure, I would answer questions in class if the teacher pleaded with me to speak, but I would never willingly speak if I could possibly avoid it. For me, writing was the same way. When I was in kindergarten I wrote books that my mom would read and keep with work that my sister had written as well. Of course, it was simple, but my five year old self felt confident in it. Somehow I would manage to go on for ten whole pages about two people becoming friends, the …show more content…
As much as I hated the concept of someone reading through something that I had written it somewhat prepared me for what was about to come in high school. As a ninth grader, I enrolled in the Honors English Nine class that was offered. On the first day of class, we were given the course syllabus, and went over the class expectations. Much to my displeasure, one of the standards of the class was to be able to write a five minute speech and present it to the class. That day I went home to my mom and told her “I have to get out of this class! I will never make it through a five minute speech!” She gave me the advice you would expect a mother to give, “ It will be ok you’re just overreacting. You would be surprised what you’re capable of.” My mother’s words had very little effect on my panic because I had first hand knowledge of what I was capable of doing and that was what concerned