#class presentations

I don’t know about you, but I remember when my biggest fear was class presentations.

 Here is a class presentation story most of us have a variation of:

 When I was in eighth grade, I had to give a presentation in French class talking about my “family tree”. It was basically just the teacher making sure we knew all the French words for the various family members (mom, dad, sister, etc). And I remember being absolutely terrified as I waited to go to the front of the class, but of course, I did anyway when I was called. My face turned a violent shade of red as I stuttered out my spiel. At the end of class, the boys sang “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie at me until we reached our respective buses. I'm glad I did not live near any of those assholes, so I was able to cry in peace on the way home. 

 As I grew up, I was able to give a presentation without turning into tomato, but I was no stranger to sweaty palms or shaky knees. 

 And yet, I want to be a high-school English teacher. Giving presentations is part of the job. What changed? 

 I believe these are the main three reasons that are contributing to my newfound comfortability at the front of a classroom:

I am less insecure now

I am giving presentations about topics I am 100% confident in, can easily answer questions about, and have had plenty of time to practice

I do not give a fuck about how the class thinks I look or sound, I really only give a fuck about them listening to the presentation and learning the material

I do not have any tips about “How to Lessen Anxiety When Giving Class Presentations”. Giving presentations about topics that are not your major or passion, even for people who are not afraid inherently, is going to feel difficult and feel unnatural. All I can hope is that, as you come into what you want to do as a career, you find footing talking about your ideas in front of others with ease.

So I had a presentation in my Music Theory class. When I was a kid presentations were the worst things imaginable. Each one felt like my life had been leading up to it and that there was no after. Like my life would end the moment I had to stand in front of a class. It was the worst in high school. Freshmen year I ended up skipping class a few times to avoid it.

It was bad in college too but there was a brief period where I felt more confident until a day I forgot what I was going to say and just awkwardly stood there. I lost a lot of confidence after that. Even now I don’t look forward to them but I’ve definitely noticed an improvement over how I deal with them. Usually the week preceding a presentation, I’d be anxious and have trouble sleeping. 

Now I’m not even concerned about the presentation until the day off and even then I’m not as nervous as I use to be. The same was true in class yesterday. I felt sort of confident and ready to present. I intentionally made eye contact with the class. In the past I would avoid eye contact but I found actually looking at people makes it less scarier. It seems horrifying in your head imagining people looking at you but the reality is far different. 

When preparing to report: ..and this will bring us to the conclusion that wherever we go, theres always a hoe.

here’s some examples of my class presentation work