What is one thing you feel like a proper adult should confidently know how to do, but you’re still figuring it out as you go? How do you usually handle it when it comes up? Has it ever led to a funny, stressful, or eye-opening experience?
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One thing I feel a proper adult should know how to do is public speaking, because without being able to address a crowd properly or convey information, you are barely noticed.
You should be able to walk into a room, approach someone, and communicate with some form of confidence that makes them find you intelligent.
In my case, it is something different; addressing a crowd is like squeezing me into shoes. I have heard it is called social anxiety. Meeting new people and talking to them is not much of a problem for me, but addressing a crowd is where I draw the line.
Growing up, I was known as someone who talked a lot and was classified as outspoken, and I was therefore expected to speak in public places, or to know how to do it properly. The result was not so; I froze each time I gave it a try.
I hated myself after leaving those situations, because I felt I should have done more and that I had let down the people who believed in me.
I always wondered why it was that way, and why I wasn't as bold as people expected when it came to speaking in public. I hoped that when I grew up, I would adjust and learn from watching people address others confidently. As I grew up, nothing changed. I found out I couldn't develop my confidence by watching others; I had to practice it, and I don't even have the balls to.
I always wondered why it was that way, and why I wasn't as bold as people expected when it came to speaking in public. I hoped that when I grew up, I would adjust and learn from watching people address others confidently. As I grew up, nothing changed. I found out I couldn't develop my confidence by watching others; I had to practice it, and I don't even have the balls to.
To make my story worse, I ventured into a field that requires not just meeting new people but also making public presentations about the cases you encounter. As a pharmacist, there are certain days set aside to present cases and listen to others' opinions on them.
At the university level, I usually ignored presentations and didn't care how many marks they would amount to; I knew I could cover up using other parameters. Now it is different. I had to face the devil; there was no choice, as missing those meetings leads to severe consequences.
I struggle to go through with it most weeks, and on others, when I am asked a question, I get sweaty and tense and lose interest before it ends.
Aside from public speaking, I also struggle with fluent public reading. I have to skim through the article to be presented and somehow have the words embedded in me before presenting them. If I am called upon to present a document I have never seen, it will be a massive problem, because I would be doomed. I read the words as if I don't know basic pronunciation, and without them making proper sense to the listeners or to me.
These are my daily struggles, and I don't know how to get through them no matter how I tell my brain it will be fine.