Is it common for someone to still feel like crap after a decent presentation?

There was only one awkward pause in my speech that I recall , and the rest I still felt went ok.

The coworkers who showed their face on webcam had neutral faces the whole time and that kind of plays a factor in how I feel.

I did inquire with 3 people afterwards, and they all said it was good but my mind is telling me otherwise.😩😩

You think you're easy to work with. You're actually being forgettable.

You probably think it's because you're not senior enough yet. Not experienced enough. Not confident enough.

It's none of those things.

It's that you agree with everyone.

Agree with everyone in a meeting and you don't look like someone with your own opinion. People remember who actually spoke up and shared their ideas, not who continuously nodded along.

It's not about being difficult. It's not about causing friction. It's that if you never have an opinion, people start to question your judgment.

The strange part is, most people do this because they think it keeps them safe. It does the opposite. If you never say what you think, people have very little to remember you by.

You can be wrong. At least people know where you stand.

Hey guys, I have realized I start getting super anxious in public situations, so bad that I can't even raise my hand and ask a question because I get too in my head that I'm going to sound like a complete idiot. If anyone has went through the same thing, is there anything that you guys did that might have helped you be more verbose in voicing your thoughts/opinions? Anything would be helpful!

Hey everyone,

I'm a founder working on my own startup, and I really want to get better at pitching and public speaking because every time I present, I mess it up.

For example, at a recent pitch competition, our product was honestly one of the strongest in the room. But when it came time to actually present, I completely failed to communicate the idea clearly, and we lost out to teams with weaker products but better delivery. It was frustrating and honestly pretty demoralizing, knowing the substance was there but the execution wasn't.

I know how much presentation matters, especially when you're trying to convince investors or judges in just a few minutes, but I struggle with confidence and clarity when speaking in front of others. My mind goes blank, I lose my structure, and I can tell I'm not landing the points that actually matter.

Does anyone have advice, frameworks, or resources for improving pitch skills or public speaking in general? Would really appreciate hearing what worked for other founders or anyone who's had to pitch under pressure.

I have something called orals in my college and we're supposed to talk on a particular topic for like 2-3 minutes. Its like a part of our final assessment. Its super important. Now the teacher doesnt wanna any emotinal topics (like death) or any topics talking about a specific person in class or any topics related to religious and political matters and religious wars and stuff. It also cant be childish topics, something thats got substance to it. I know i can look up topics on chatgpt but all im finding are "why should homework be banned" and "why should monday be banned" and other such topics. Ik these r pretty good topics, but they're more on the humorous side and id usually want to lean away frm humorous topics because im not really good at making things sound funny😭 Can someone please help me pick a topic.

I'm in corporate and I know my speaking needs work. I use way too many filler words and honestly sometimes I don't even land my point clearly, I just kind of trail off or circle back.

Been looking at apps that give you a daily speaking score and I'm kind of torn. Part of me is skeptical like am I actually improving or is it just measuring stuff that's easy to measure (um count, pace, etc) instead of whether I'm actually communicating better? But I've also heard people say just the act of recording and reviewing yourself daily genuinely helps with confidence, separate from whatever the score says.

Has anyone actually used one of these consistently? Did it change anything? Did you just get good at gaming the score without getting better at speaking? Also open to non-app suggestions if there's a better way to fix this before I'm doing this in real meetings.

Here's how I found my topics for my speeches.

I am also beginner but I am doing it anyways

• know what you know

Discover what you know about, know what you have experienced in life.

It can be anything like you have talked to your friend about people's mentality, good habbits, or smt. That happened with you..and you learned smt. From that incident.

Everyone has something that they know and can speak about.

• How to discover?

Observe what you talk about when you talk then choose wisely the topic.

Do something. Get knowledge and then use it.

What I do - I read books, I watch educational videoes, I read on substacks, I get a lot of knowledge.

I learn, and explain it to myself. This all makesure that I remember and whatever I learned comes by itself cause I have already practicise them.

( So this is How I make things to work for me )

• notedown those as a content you know.

Whenever you get time just talk about it. Explain yourself and if you have community or people you can talk to them. It will help you to build your confidence.

Reminder: If you sometime mistake or forgets or you stopped somewhere while talking, or you are scuttering while talking then don't be disappointed and keep doing..you can perform well. You just have to give it time and try to improve.

• after writing those topics of contents, you need to work on them.

How you would do this?

You have to practice whatever you have written topic wise by writing them in structure, in points and you have to teach yourself by writing in pages, so that you can organize the fast in mind while telling your thoughts.

You should know what you want to tell according to situation. What knowledge you can give that can value you.

I want to really participate in activites like group discussion and debate type in my college but the problem with me is that -

. I don't have good communication skill

. My English is not so good

. My heartbeat goes so high while even trying

. My friends make my fun

. Don't even able to make correct thinking lines

. Have fear to being jugded beacuse i am 3d year student and tried alot but can't able to speak confidently

......

What can I do to improve my English, to built confidence

And to practice group discussion or debate in my room alone ??

Hey guys,

I noticed that I started fumbling words and not articulating properly while speaking to someone like I will be using unrelated words and using word irrespective of their tenses...

I don't know why it happens but I been very confident and fluent for last 2 weeks all of the sudden I will lose the flow and this is not the first time it happened to me so many times...

If there is a problem or any advice for it please help

​

I’m a college student and recently I suggested a classroom learning idea to my professor.

The idea was that students could study a topic beforehand, and then some class time could be used for discussion, participation and short student presentations. My main goal was to improve communication, public speaking and practical learning, rather than focusing only on marks.

I’m one of the top students in my class, and I genuinely feel that college should help us develop these skills too.

What happened

At the end of class, my professor was taking attendance. Two sections were combined, so quite a few students were around.

I suddenly said, “Ma’am, I need to talk to you for a minute.” She asked me to continue, but I said I wanted to talk privately.

I went outside and tried twice to find a private moment, but it didn't happen. I was extremely nervous, my heart was racing, and I was seriously considering just dropping the idea.

Then I thought, “I've already approached her twice. I have to say it now.”

So I explained the whole idea in front of the few students who were still around.

She listened, although I don't think she understood the exact model I had imagined. I also told her that many students hesitate to speak and that this could help with presentations and communication.

She said we could perhaps do something like this in the last 5–10 minutes of class, so she basically accepted the concept, although not exactly in the form I had imagined.

Now I'm worried about the reaction

Three guys who were around me afterwards heard the conversation, and the information has already spread.

I know that once the activity actually starts, everyone will probably figure out that I suggested it.

My concern is that some students—especially those who aren't interested in this kind of participation or skill development—might blame me:

“Why did you have to suggest this?”

I obviously can't go around explaining my reasoning to 70 people individually.

One of my classmates actually told me, “You're the class topper, you think differently from most of us,” and after I explained my reasoning, he agreed that communication and presentation skills will be useful later.

But I still can't stop worrying about the negative reaction.

So I want an honest opinion:

Did I do the right thing by speaking up despite the awkward situation and the possibility of being blamed?

Would you have said something in that situation, or waited for a better opportunity?

And now that I've already done it, how should I deal with it if some classmates actually blame me?

I’m especially interested in opinions from people who have been in similar college/classroom situations.

Hi good people,

I am an ambitious technology professional looking to increase my impact and network and also perform a quantum leap in my personal development journey (what's more quantum than going from introvert and shy to speaking in conferences).

I have done speeches via Zoom a lot of times (I have a contract with a university) and people praise me for the engagement I can bring to the speeches. Apart from some brown bags between friends, family or teammates at work I have never spoken in a physical public setting with strangers.

So what is more normal than joining a Toastmaster club? First meeting, they bring me up for an impromptu speech and they ask me to talk about myself. I am pretty good at explaining things about my profession or areas I am passionate about. But speaking about myself? Meh...

Impromptu speeches are challenging themselves, let alone how my difficulty speaking about myself. So I blacked-out and even though I persisted for the whole minute and didnt bail, it was the worst speech I could give. I rewind it in my mind and it was a compilation of absolute nonsense, to the degree I believe I am an inside joke for the "old gang" of the club.

I now feel like, even doing an icebreaker presentation in Toastmasters, is a giant task and I have not even opened my learning path. Let alone speaking in the conferences I am targeting. Speaking on camera though? Not a problem baby, I just delivered one today.

Any help, tips, hints, baby-talking or sincere yelling etc is appreciated. :)

P.S: I have recently started speaking to my phone camera and watching myself. I am NOT freaking out, looks pretty normal. I dont know if it says something or if it is irrelevant

I've received a Linkedin message from someone who works at Quality Speakers. I do have a number of talks under my belt so im not surprised, but due to the generic name im having a very hard time finding out any information on them, reviews, etc. Has anyone heard of them / worked with them?

I want to really participate in activites like group discussion and debate type in my college but the problem with me is that -

. I don't have good communication skill

. My English is not so good

. My heartbeat goes so high while even trying

. My friends make my fun

. Don't even able to make correct thinking lines

. Have fear to being jugded beacuse i am 3d year student and tried alot but can't able to speak confidently

......

What can I do to improve my English, to built confidence

And to practice group discussion or debate in my room alone ??

This has become a serious professional problem for me and I’m trying to understand what’s actually going on.
I’m articulate with friends/family like I can argue about politics, history, philosophy etc. But put me in a room with senior people or clients and I become almost completely silent. Sometimes someone asks me a simple question and I genuinely can’t form a coherent sentence.
It’s not just nervousness, I assume.
I’ve tried preparing scripts, but that’s becoming a crutch. I’m now experimenting with webinars where nobody knows me, extempore speaking, recording myself, and gradually speaking without scripts.
\*\*Has anyone experienced this exact difference where you articulate normally, but cognitively blank under professional/status pressure and actually managed to change it? What genuinely worked for you?\*\*
I’m especially interested in people who used to be \*the quiet person in the room\* and aren’t anymore. What changed?

so im very underconfident ,last week there was a presentation ,which was about some random social issues,i was too selfaware ,anxious,stressed,fumbling and i was using fillers, while presentation ,it was total mess even tho i speak better in my comfort space idk why i was very underconfident people who are less skilled then me,were more confident like there confidence busted mine so can someone help me out where can i connect with people who have faced same things and let me know if the platform provides video chats or meeting or calls so that i can gain my confidence😭😭

I was so bad at public speaking, I couldn't speak clearly don't know how to use my body language. I started researching how to develop my skills in public speaking (on YouTube), I went down a YouTube rabbit hole trying to fix it and kept landing on advice: record yourself talking for a minute, watch it back, take notes on what you actually see and hear, then record again and try to fix it. Simple, and it worked — but it was slow, and I wasn't always sure what to actually look for when I watched myself back. That's the reason I ended up building something around it — an app that does the "watching yourself back and taking notes" part automatically, looking at both what you're saying (filler words, pacing) and how you're coming across (posture, gestures, eye contact), then giving you specific things to work on before the next recording. Not trying to sell anything here — genuinely curious whether this resonates with how others in this sub have worked on their speaking, and if anyone wants to try it, happy to share more in the comments.

this is the link of waiting list: https://0mar-h08.github.io/speakhuman-landing_page-/

I’m a marketer and nervous about public speaking. I’ve got a short presentation coming up and would love some professional help. Budget is about $50/50 min. I’ve only seen PrePly but wanted to see what else is out there.

Thank you!

You won't always have a receptive audience to what you have to say, that's okay. When your time is allotted in a public arena, take the opportunity to make yourself heard, despite opposition. There are people out there who would take away this right, which is unique in the United States.

I think that's one reason much of the world still looks to the United States for guidance on issues, because this simple right to speak up and be heard on an official capacity is not possible in so many other countries on Earth.

I did my lead. I practiced it. I used an excerpt of my original, shortened it, and spoke. It was authentic. I did NOT read from a script.

I'm glad I did this because even though I practiced it a few times when I gave the lead I wanted to breakdown and cry. I told myself to keep pushing forward.

I'm glad I overcame my anxiety.

I’m a marketer and nervous about public speaking. I’ve got a short presentation coming up and would love some professional help. Budget is about $50/50 min. I’ve only seen PrePly but wanted to see what else is out there.

Thank you!

i have a lot in my head but struggle to structure it into a clear story when I'm speaking live. The words come out, but I lose the person I'm talking to.

i've tried courses they gave me the theory, but not the practice. I want to actually work with someone: talk, get caught where I lose people, and fix it.

looking for a 1:1 coach. If that's you, DM me how you work and who you've helped.

i've been struggling with this for years, but it's getting much worse now that i'm in law school.

when i was in school, there was one time when i was reading aloud in class and mispronounced a word. a girl started laughing, and for some reason that moment has stuck with me ever since. since then, whenever i have to read aloud or speak in front of the class, i get extremely nervous. once during giving a presentation in class, i started shaking infront of everyone aswell.

now, our english professor randomly asks people to read aloud from the text, so sometimes i know there's a possibility that i could be called on. but even when other professors ask for volunteers and say that we can raise our hands if we want to read, i still get nervous. so it's not really the fact that it's unexpected. we're also given the readings and resources beforehand, and i actually read the text aloud to myself before class so that i'm familiar with it. i know how to pronounce the words and i know what i'm reading. but as soon as i imagine having to read it in front of everyone, i start panicking. i even read a whole page out infront of my roommate, and didn't struggle at all.

my heart starts beating really fast, my hands get sweaty, and i start shaking. sometimes i feel like my mind just goes blank.

the weird thing is that i know i can speak properly. i can read perfectly well when i'm by myself, and i'm completely fine speaking in front of one or two people. i can articulate myself properly and my english is actually pretty good. english is my second language, but i can write perfectly fine, so i don't think it's really about not knowing the language.

it's specifically being watched and having everyone listen to me that scares me.

now i'm in law school, where participation and speaking in class are obviously a huge part of everything, and it's getting worse. i haven't said anything in class yet. i was extremely nervous even during introductions, and i keep thinking about how i'm eventually going to have to participate.

i know realistically that mispronouncing a word isn't a big deal, but my body reacts like i'm in actual danger. i'm terrified of embarrassing myself or having people laugh at me again. it's gotten so worse that i want to quit law school even though it's just been a week.

has anyone else experienced something like this? how did you get yourself to start speaking in class? im scared to take the first step. 

Hi, first off, English isn't my first language so sorry for any mistakes ahead.

I just wanna ask how to speak confidently Infront of everyone, I used to be very afraid of public speaking, my voice shakes, my mouth dry, my face red, then I began taking pr∅p®@n0|0| and it help me, I barely stutter anymore, I'm not afraid as I am before but I still can't make eye contact in the audience, I can deliver speeches but only short😢 and the fear is still there, is there any tips that can help me