CosmicLion said:

Again, after re-reading your post...

They are prescribed specifically to help with that heart-racing issue...

They REALLY help prevent that adrenaline response which can make a HUGE difference in that elevated heart rate.

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Mr.GuessWork said:

acting classes

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Mr.GuessWork said:

Can you pinpoint what exactly makes you afraid? Have you ever done any public performances or anything like that?

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Brian Jones said:

...

I did retain one physical symptom of anxiety. I frequently paced left and right in front of the class. You can't do that if you're giving a speech. It's harder to stand still, for me at least. I also had to have a can of pop for each 50 minute course. I had one class in 5 years without the can of pop, and it was a horrible cottonmouth experience

    ...

    The big thing is feeling comfortable with what you are speaking about. If you have to give a speech, practice it in your head, then practice it out loud several times. Learn to use brief basic notes. Then it will go OK.

    Everything becomes normal after you've done it a few times.

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I personally like to see some movement when people are speaking: maybe not nervous pacing, but walking around, using hand gestures for explanation, etc. That kind of stuff is all fair game unless you've got one of those stuffy professors who thinks you should move nothing but your lips while giving a speech. It's generally a good idea to use natural gestures and those kind of things. It gets people's attention and makes you seem like your comfortably trying to communicate rather than just trying to give a formal speech. In productive communication you want to be relaxed and you want your audience to be relaxed.

It's also a good idea to have a drink. Take a quick break while your speaking to stop and enjoy that drink. Maybe even make a yum sound after you have the drink, or make a comment on how tasty it was. Doing something so casual while your speaking will instill confidence in you and your audience.

Overpreparing is also a great idea. You want to know the subject matter cold. You should be able to talk about it spontaneously if it comes up in conversation. Make sure you know it well enough to respond to questions without feeling foolish. It's okay not to know how to answer some questions, but be sure that your comfortable with explaining that you don't know how to answer the question, and don't just blow the question off. Try your best to give a useful response to the question, something like " that's a great question. I'm not sure how to answer it, but it might be related to this ...(relate it to something). Is that helpful? ".

I would advise against memorizing a speech or rehearsing one word for word. Trying to do that is a great way to put yourself in a panic. The only speech I ever royally fucked up was one where I tried to recite a poem from memory. When you forget the words in one line, what do you do next? You panic, and then you panic hard. Instead of memorizing a speech, get a set of bullet points, and make sure you can talk about each of them at the level of detail you want. If you forget to make a point, and you remember it later, just say "Oops, I forgot to make this point earlier. It's important, so let me make it now.", and then relate that point to the other one you were making. You might also want to work out some transitions in your head beforehand, so you can go from point to point in a logical manner.

I basically think of a speech as a conversation where one guy does most of the talking, and I like it when the audience is engaged enough to participate in the talking. It's way more fun and easy going when people aren't just staring at you like a bunch of overwhelmed college freshmen (which is what your audience will most likely be if you take a class). Talking with people is easy, but talking at people feels just awful. When I look into an audience and see a bunch of blank stares, I stop and say something like " You guys look confused. Did I go too fast or skip something? Are there any questions? Come on, give me some feed back." I say that last sentence playfully and with a grin to encourage participation. It's okay to tease you audience a bit too if you can do it without being disrespectful. Also make sure that your don't rush when you're speaking. It's a common thing to do when are new to speaking and nervous. Talk at the pace that you would talk at  if you were talking to a friend, and slow down a bit and pause more often when you're going through something kind of complex since people need more time to think about what you're saying. Also, take a pause every so often to assess your audience.

There are several techniques you can use to overcome nervousness. Have you ever seen the comedian Louis Black? One way not to be intimidated by an audience is to be angry with them instead (not during the speech like Black does for comedic purposes, but during your preparations). If you get nervous while practicing, try yelling some ridiculous angry stuff at your imaginary audience, "You stupid fucks think you can intimidate me?! ME!!?". Watch some Lewis Black as part of your prep. You can also try laughing obnoxiously and dismissively at your imaginary audience. These kind of techniques help with the nervousness because they give you control over your emotions. They also let you know that you have some control over the audience's emotions as well, and fear of your lack of control over your audience's response is probably what's eating at you anyway. Fuck those bastards in the audience! Concern for their opinions is beneath you!!!!!
AHA HA HA HA!!!!    (<- That's supposed to be maniacal laughter. Audiences love it. )