I walk into a classroom in a high school I had never been to. My heart trembled as I try to compose myself while standing before an unfamiliar face. After finally being able to calm myself down a bit, I deliver my speech. Two minutes and 40 seconds, relatively short for the event I was competing in. “Are you okay, sir?” another competitor asked me as I walked out of the building on the verge of a panic attack. “Yeah,” I responded, dodging eye contact with him.
That was my experience at my first ever speech tournament. I’ve had social anxiety for most of my life. Talking to strangers, and sometimes even my own friends, has always been a struggle. The thing my social anxiety has made me fear most is public speaking. In school, I used to skip multiple days of school to not have to do a presentation. Whenever I did present because inevitably I did have to give some, I would stutter, stumble all over the place and sway like crazy.
Despite this, during my sophomore year, one of my friends convinced me to join speech and debate. I was wary because, as the name suggests, I would have to speak in front of others. My friend reassured me that it wouldn’t be that bad.
It took me a while to understand what I was supposed to do in speech, but with help from my teammates and the coach, I finally got it. Speech was certainly a very new experience for me, and it got off to a rocky start. Fortunately, with enough practice, I was able to get comfortable with speaking in front of people.
As I developed in speech, I felt myself transforming. Of course, I still have social anxiety, but public speaking has helped me develop effective coping skills and learn how to communicate and socialize with others.
Ever since I first joined speech, I’ve been able to “break out of my shell,” as many of my friends and teachers have noted. Public speaking has made me feel like an entirely new person. I went from, both figuratively and literally, curling up into a ball at the thought of meeting a new person to being able to approach new people with pretty much no fear.
Thank you, public speaking, for transforming me.