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In Education: Fear not public speaking

Being comfortable speaking in stressful settings is not uniquely applicable to career advancement.
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Bronte Miner.

One of the most vital skills that humans have is the ability to communicate, yet nearly everyone experiences a degree of nervousness when they are asked to present in front of a group.

In a recent survey commissioned by Prezi, an online presentation platform, 60 per cent of those interviewed admitted to being generally nervous before presentations.

This same study found that approximately 20 per cent of workers would be willing to call in sick in order to avoid presenting.

When asked how public speaking makes her feel, Emily, a Grade 8 student at Maple Ridge secondary, summed up the reason for her fear: “I don’t like having so many people looking at me … if you make a mistake and they all see it, what if they all just remember … and all of a sudden you’re just that one person who messed up badly on your speech.”

The fear of public speaking, although irrational, is one of the most prevalent fears in Canada.

As part of the Canadian Cancer Society’s fundraising initiative the Fearless Challenge, it conducted a survey of 1,500 Canadians over the age of 18 to find out what Canadians fear most.

Public speaking ranked as the third greatest phobia among men, just behind snakes and heights.

Twenty-eight per cent of Canadian men found the thought of public speaking more frightening than spiders, tight spaces and natural disasters.

Women, on the other hand, found public speaking equally as scary as heights, tying at 37 per cent for the fourth most common fear among Canadian women.

Emily recognized this fear, saying: “It shouldn’t be so much pressure, but it sort of feels like it sometimes.”

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, most people recognize that their fears are irrational, but have resigned themselves to being unable to control them.

Getting past fears is not about eliminating them but instead learning how to manage them so that they do not negatively influence your life.

Phobias can hinder relationships, education, career opportunities, and daily lives.

Grade 12 Maple Ridge secondary student Kalina de la Courte conceded that public speaking is unavoidable.

“You can’t go through life without talking to anyone, even though I might prefer that.”

Similar to other fears, those who are wary of public speaking will experience possible setbacks in many aspects of their lives.

An Australian survey of employees from various businesses found that 70 per cent of their workers said presentation skills were critical to their career success. This fact can be applied to the majority of the jobs on the market.

Many have an overt link with public speaking skills, such as the professions of teacher, lawyer and politician. Even jobs that do not seem to be as dependant on presentations still require a proficient understanding of the necessary skills.

Engineers and scientists, for example, must be able to explain the concepts they developed to those who have the authority to fund their work. The employment market is geared towards those with superior public speaking skills and most jobs will require a face-to-face interview as part of the selection process.

Being comfortable speaking in stressful settings is not uniquely applicable to career advancement, but can also give you a sense of confidence in social settings.

According to the Australian survey, if you are an effective presenter, you are in the minority. You have only the first five minutes to set the tone for your presentation, otherwise your audience will disengage completely.

Once you have made that first impression, it is much harder to alter than it would have been if you started off with a better introduction.

The Prezi study showed that 75 per cent of people want to improve their public speaking skills and 62 per ent of Canadians have taken concrete steps to confronting the fears that restrain them. When trying to improve public speaking and presentation skills, the more you put yourself through the stress of public speaking the less susceptible you will be to your nerves.

Your experiences, mistakes or successes, will help you to realize that a stutter or stumble will not result in death only light to mild mortification.

So despite the fear of failure and embarrassment we must continue to try because our ideas have no value unless we can express them.

Bronte Miner is a

senior student at Maple Ridge

secondary.