anxiety attack during presentation

[GirlyGirlPink]

hey everyone! Im just looking for some encouragement, honestly. I feel so ashamed today. I had a presentation in school and I didnt do as well as i could have because i was had previously had multiple anxiety attacks, i was currently anxious, and i was exhausted of being anxious. Im so discouraged and embarrassed right now. I feel that my classmates think that i am incompetent and that i dont know what im doing and that i am dumb because of my anxiety. I feel that my anxiety reflects my character negatively. I worry a lot about what other people think of me. Most of my anxiety attacks come from worrying about “what if i have an anxiety attack and people think mean things about me?”

[CL3V3R-G1RL]

"Anxiety is a lying b****"

Seriously it is. You know you are not dumb. I'm pretty sure you're classmates don't even know what is going on.

You need to flip the script in your brain. When anxiety tells you "what if you have a panic attack during your presentation?" Say "Well gets me out of doing it lol"

"What would your classmates think?" Say "Who cares? I know most of their backgrounds and they have no leg to stand on to criticize me for having a panic attack."

Have a little fun telling anxiety to kick rocks.

You are very smart and you probably created a well thought-out presentation. Good number of people have trouble with public speaking. From famous actors/actresses to even authors. Some folks don't do well reading a piece of paper 📜 to a crowd. When I had to give a speech cause I was maid of honor. I memorized my speech and as a backup wrote up cue cards. Because I do better ad libbing.

So don't feel ashamed. Hold your head up. This is one tiny bump in the road. It gets better over time. Trust me.

I know right now you feel a little discouraged. But it won't be like this forever. Remember to flip the script on anxiety. Also ask yourself these questions; what if things go right? What if your classmates don't think bad about you? What if nobody noticed your little flub? What then?

You got this GGP! ❤️🫂

[012703060610]

Whether or not you are an anxious person, most people have a tough time public speaking without a TON of practice. I remember in college I had to give a speech on teaching something to someone. I decided I would try to demonstrate how to serve a tennis ball. Well guess what, not only did I whack the bottom of the chalkboard brining my racket back, the entire chalkboard fell off the wall. I remember how anxious I was to begin with and then couldn't believe this happened right as I got started. I asked if I could grab a sip of water and start over after picking up the chalkboard with other students. When I got to the bringing your racket back, I made a little joke and the entire mood of the room and myself changed for the better. No one is perfect at public speaking. Many people can display enough confidence for which you may feel you are not as good as the others.....but I guarantee each classmate is nervous as can be. It was about that time in life I was trying to figure out why my anxiety was so high. I think I may have been a sophomore in college. I actually started seeing a therapist. I have some issues with perfectionism. I'm not OCD, but I put a ton of pressure really just on myself and not anyone else (totally unneeded). I needed to learn over a long period of time how to give myself my own care. I always thought if I fought against the anxiety and just kept my plate full as can be it wouldn't come back. Never can we predict and episode or a time period where we can get anxious and/or depressed.

As CL3V3R suggests.....anxiety is a lying piece of steaming poo. I also suspect that others didn't feel the level of anxiety you experienced. In my 30s I went back to school to get my MBA. I had actually become a public speaker in my profession. It was a cool program for older people.....needed 10 years of work experience. I was actually one of the youngest. I flew through doing presentation after presentation until I got married and then got pregnant. Pregnancy must have included turning into a total puddle of forgetfulness. I stood up to give a presentation and just sat back down. I was dizzy, shaking, tired...honestly not sure what happened, but it was a full on panic attack. I was near the end of my pregnancy so I needed a stool to sit on too and stuttered and stammered through it. I got a crappy grade and just moved on. The school was ending soon and my whole class got upset with the teacher for giving me a hard time!

No matter what we will make mistakes and live and grow. I promise you, you are not alone here and if you weren't so great, you probably helped others know that they aren't alone too. Presentations and public speaking are VERY hard and it truly takes time and years. If it isn't something you do every day, of course you will be anxious. You don't ever need to be the best public speaker either.

Tips though: I used to write a full script of my speech and read to time it at a reasonable pace. I tend to speak quickly without practice. Then I would narrow it down to bullet points that I could have on hand if I needed it. Many people I know actually still read from a script but try to put in points of inflection to seem as if they aren't reading (can work). I have found that I do my best when not over preparing and rolling with it. Of course it would need to be content I knew stone cold though. I'll never forget the tennis racket incident as now I can look back and laugh and trust me the whole room was laughing too, in a good way.

[pragyaan]

But u still finished ur presentation and I think that must have been a great presentation of not the best

[AnxiousSilver]

"I feel so ashamed today. I had a presentation in school and I didnt do as well as i could have because i was had previously had multiple anxiety attacks, i was currently anxious, and i was exhausted of being anxious. Im so discouraged and embarrassed right now."

"Numbers" already beat me to it, but A LOT OF PEOPLE (you know those "normal people") don't enjoy public speaking either.

& I also have a gut feeling that what you are thinking about how you did is much worse than what others were probably thinking. (Kind of a little bit of what CL3V3R-G1RL said above)