ShmoopTube

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[Coop and Dino singing]

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If you tend to get stage fright, don’t worry. You’re not the only one. [Man stood on stage and pees pants]

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There’s like two or three dozen people out there with the same fear.

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Okay, we’re kidding. It’s actually extremely common – like, "billions of people in the

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same boat as you" common.

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Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to reduce your fear so you don’t capsize. [Captain with wet trousers]

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Get it? Capsize? Because the boat thing…? All right, moving on.

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First, be prepared.

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Make sure you’ve thoroughly researched your topic and make sure that you’ve practiced

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your speech a bunch of times. As they say, practice makes perfect. [Girl practicing speech in a mirror]

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And perfect makes… good grades. …Okay, that’s not a saying, but it’s true.

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Sometimes when we get nervous, we start thinking nasty, negative thoughts about ourselves.

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If this happens to you, try to replace those negative thoughts with positive ones.

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We know, it sounds cheesier than a big ol' pizza covered in Cheetos, but it’s good [Person holding pizza covered in cheeto's]

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to remember how awesome you are. And don’t forget, the people watching you give your

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talk are doing so because they want to hear what you have to say. [Journalist filming batman]

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Another good way to calm yourself down when you’re nervous is to take some nice, deep breaths.

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It might even be helpful to try a little meditation… [Girl meditating by a park]

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Or even some yoga.

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It’ll relax you and improve your flexibility. That’s a win/win if we’ve ever seen one.

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When we get nervous, we can sometimes speak way too fast. [Girl stood at the front of the class]

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That can cause you to stumble over your words, misspeak, or generally make it hard to be understood.

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Keep that in mind and try to throw some pauses into that speech.

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Remember, slow and steady wins the race.

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Okay, so that parable isn’t necessarily about presentations, but just bear with us, here. [Girl running in a race]

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You might have stage fright because you’re afraid of people judging you. But remember,

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most people are usually so worried about themselves that they don’t have time to judge you!

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Like we said, there are billions of people in that boat. Chances are, some of your shipmates

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are in the room with you, and are just as scared of their presentation. [Students gasping]

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It's kind of comforting to know you're not alone, right?

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And our last tip for ya? Try to take the focus off of yourself and connect with your audience.

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Work on connecting with them, rather than worrying about how you feel.

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That’s how you put the “we” in “pwesentation.” [Coop points to pwesentation]

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…Okay, yeah, that was a stretch.

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And, of course, if all else fails, there’s the old stand-by of picturing the audience

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in their underwear.

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Which might work if you’re giving an Oscar acceptance speech…but maybe not so much

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if you’re presenting in a retirement home… [Boy gives speech in retirement home for benefits of exercise]

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