BUT HE KEEPS ON FORGETTING WHAT HE WROTE DOWN, THE WHOLE CROWD GOES SO LOUD

[Her]

HE OPENS HIS MOUTH
BUT THE WORDS WON'T COME OUT
HE'S CHOKING, HOW?
EVERYBODY'S JOKING NOW
THE CLOCKS RUN OUT
TIME'S UP, OVER, BLOAH​

When giving a public presentation of any sort, have you choked?
At any time, have you become so overwrought with nerves that you were just not able to speak?

 

[Overlord Drakow]

I've only ever messed up one presentation and that was during my first year of university. I stumbled and ended up swearing a few times, the class found it hilarious. Yeah, I got a really bad mark for that project but thankfully the first year doesn't count towards the final degree classification.

 

[Shining Raichu]

No, that's never happened to me. I have an intense fear of public speaking (like most people, I'd imagine) but it's never become SO intense that I choked. Usually I just read religious from the palm cards, looking up only when I'm sure I have a sentence I can finish from memory. I also shake a lot, haha.

 

[Ayselipera]

I used to love public speaking and then over the years I developed this horrible fear of it. Although it's better than it was before. I have never choked, but I do tend to slur my words, get really hot, start shaking, and a lot of fidgeting. I probably would of choked in the past if I actually gave myself the chance to get up there, but most of the time I bailed and just took a crap grade for it.

 

[Aquacorde]

I've never choked when doing that sort of thing. But that's only cause I've never actually done that sort of thing. I flat-out refused to speak in class for most of my school years and only did it when it was basically me reading from a screen with my friends (group project) to my friends (rest of the class). And that only in my last few years of high school.

So if I did it I assume I would choke, throw up or faint. None of these options are appealing so I believe I shall just continue to opt out.

 

[Sir Codin]

I hate having to do them, but when it my turn to speak comes around, I manage to breeze through it no problem.

Seems my anxiety stems from the tension that builds before the event. I actually feel better giving the speech than I do while waiting to give it.

 

[CarefulWetPaint]

When I was younger I use to get really nervous but I would never choke or anything just talk really fast and/or get flustered and read completely from the palm cards.

As I got older I stopped caring and with that all my nerves disappeared and I became a great public speaker (To an extent.) Since then I rarely use palm cards or and just have fun, cause lets face it, Im awesome.

 

[Madam Cheezy]

I would mentally flail about right before I had to speak, but, as I would aproach the podium/microphone/whatever, my brain would hit re-set, and I would be ok. Like, I'd be so worked up, that I would get calm again.

Like Ritalin. Lol.

 

[Captain Fabio]

Nope, I never have.

I have been nervous before hand, as I am sure everyone is, but I handle pressure very well in front of a crowd and such and I can easily speak to a small or large group of people.​

​

 

[curiousnathan]

I hate having to do them, but when it my turn to speak comes around, I manage to breeze through it no problem.

Seems my anxiety stems from the tension that builds before the event. I actually feel better giving the speech than I do while waiting to give it.

Much like this. I often get more nervous and anxious beforehand than while actually presenting a speech. I think I always imagine things to work out in the worst possible ways and due to this when I do actually present, it no were near compares to my before-thoughts--being a huge relief.

In general though while I do get nervous, while I'm presenting I do quite well I can safely say. I do look at my palm cards to pick up important points I must touch on, but I don't directly read off them for most of my presentation.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

In front of a crowd, as long as I have rehearsed in some sort of fashion, I'm usually OK. Speeches/acting/presentations are normally no sweat off my back as long as I have something to work with. Improv, on the other hand, would be an absolute disaster for me, and I really admire people who can do stuff on the fly with what seems like ease.

The one time that I did completely freeze up was when there was only one other person in the room: my French teacher. It was when I was 15 and doing my French GCSE Speaking exam. Everyone had to prepare a 5 minute monologue about their most recent holiday. The tape recorder goes on, my French teacher says some administrative stuff, then asks me to start.

"L'année dernière je suis allé au Floride..."

TEN SECOND SILENCE!!! The most uncomfortabel ten seconds of my life up until that point. I honestly thought I'd screwed up the exam, but then...

"avec ma famille. Nous avons..."

No idea how I remembered to keep on going, but I'm so glad that I did.

 

[mew42003]

Definitely haha. When I was 12 I had to perform a monologue in front of my 7th grade class & their parents... Afterwards I cried from embarrassment for forgetting the lines. Public speaking is not for everyone.

 

[Cherrim]

I don't really choke on words or anything in public presentations--honestly, I don't even think I fumble and stumble through them or anything. I speak quickly but that's about the only thing you'd be able to notice from just listening to me.

Buuut I will sweat and turn bright red if I have to do any public speaking and I'm not totally comfortable with it. I'm kind of dreading later this week because I have to do a skit with a group in Japanese class. I'm hoping the fact that I am probably the best in class for speaking it/pronunciation will help me stay less worried about it but I imagine I will still look like a nervous wreck while we do it even if I won't necessarily feel like one. D:

 

[Taemin]

I love that song @ title of thread


Ahahaha, public presentations...

Lets just say that in high school, and even middle school when we had 'em, I'd take sick days rather than give presentations. Literally, I would stay home, and some of the time I was seriously feeling sick because that's how freaked out I'd get. I imagine I'd still be that way. I mean, I'm working now and not in college, but I figure it would still be the same. I avoid public speaking like the plague, and I'm not even ashamed to say that outright. XD; I will literally go up to a teacher and say "Hey, I would rather skip class than present this, and I will, SO what are my opinions?"

 

[Oryx]

BLOAH?

Yeah I'm not the type to choke. For some reason if I'm speaking in a crowd to large groups of people, I'm fine, even though I'm super shy in smaller groups hahah. I usually keep bullet points so I know what I'm trying to say, but I don't need anything other than that. I do speak a bit faster but that's all.

 

[Treecko]

I've choked on my words numerous time. Honestly, I'm not the best public speaker. I don't spend as much time memorizing speeches/talks and so I usually end up saying something wrong and then correcting myself. There's only been one or two times where I've given a perfect speech.

There's one time where I choked that I remember the most. At the youth group I went to the teens gave talks on a topic of choice to the group on Wednesdays. My first time giving a talk I did it on music and movies. Right in the middle of the talk I froze and didn't say anything for about 20-30 seconds. I was too scared to go on and even said I really didn't want to do it. Though they encouraged me to move on and I made through the rest of it pretty well.
Probably one of the most nerve racking talks of my life. I tend to do that sometimes with speeches where I give up and not want to continue but then end up having the guts to go on.

 

[Cosmotone8]

I never choke XD Partially because I'm weird and actually like public speaking. I feel so comfortable when I'm presenting like that, and I usually get in some kind of zone or something. Now if you single me out, on the other hand, then it gets a little interesting. XD

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

I didn't quite choke, but at a seminar I was giving at a college residence life conference, I found myself constantly stuttering, having to refer to my notes or my PowerPoint slides on the wall, and I was pretty flustered... so much I forgot some of what I wanted to say and rushed through my presentation in about half the time that was allotted for me, resulting in the all-too dreadful awkward silence afterward.