What's wrong with me?

rockytopva said:

“All great speakers were bad speakers at first.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Porpoise said:

Sometimes there are physical causes. It could be low blood sugar, dehydration, lack of sleep, etc.

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Melody Suttles said:

I found this in Forbes -

Nervous and anxious. All speakers deal with fear and nerves before they present. The way to overcome nerves and anxiety is through practice, preparation and working to a routine, like a professional athlete before a big game. I like the simple action of 'walking and talking' before a high-stakes presentation - it helps to reinforce my message and burn off excess energy.

Prone to mistakes. Experts stumble, make mistakes and mispronounce words. But they keep on rolling. They might joke about an error, but they never apologize. This is a simple approach that will help you better frame your message and audience. I was teaching a public speaking workshop to a small group and I made the mistake of apologizing that I forgot a monitor cord. I later learned that this made me seem disorganized and the only thing that alerted my audience to this mistake was when I called it out.

Audience-focused. Experts care more about the audience than themselves. Building empathy for your audience takes time, but once you try to understand what motivates them, your presentations will shine. There's no need to try and build yourself up as something you're not. Instead, be honest and transparent. If you're quirky or have a good sense of humor, let it show. Your audience will read this from you. Share ups and downs with a dash of personality, then watch people take notice.

Made, not born. Novice and world class public speakers start from the exact same point. Experts put in the hard work, present the same speech hundreds of times and are committed to being the best. Speaking is simply a skill and not a gift bestowed at birth. If you’re willing to work on improving your speaking skills, you can become world class too.

There are two solutions that will work hand in hand to help cure your fear of public speaking:

Preparation. Instead of feeling flustered or frustrated before you get started, you can be at ease because you've done the groundwork to prepare for a big speech. You don’t need to 'wing it' on the day. Prepare your speech well in advance, become familiar with the room and ease into your pre-speech routine.

Practice. The more frequently you speak in public, the sooner your fear factor will fade. When you start out, you will probably feel nervous during the entire presentation. For your second presentation, you will gradually become more comfortable with the microphone, the stage and your audience. By your tenth presentation, you’ll be so fired up to take the stage that you will give your audience everything you have and walk away exhausted, yet satisfied.

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