When I was younger I was very shy and had a hard time talking in front of others. While my classmates seemed confident and happy to share their thoughts or work, I often felt nervous and scared. Speaking in front of groups made my heart race and would make me crack my fingers. I struggled to express myself clearly, especially during school presentations. However, as I faced my fears little by little I learned how to speak in public and discovered the strength of my own voice.

One of the most memorable times I faced my speaking trouble was in 8th grade. Our teacher told us that we had to give a presentation about our favorite book. I spent a lot of time preparing for this moment. I practiced my speech at home, hoping it would help me feel more confident. But when it was finally my turn, I froze in front of my classmates. My cheeks turned red and I was stuttering my words. I felt embarrassed and disappointed in myself. That day made me realize how much I wanted to overcome my fear of speaking in front of others.

After that experience I decided to try and overcome my fear, I understood that avoiding speaking would only make my fear worse. So in 9th grade one of my teachers gave us an opportunity to share our essay and I went ahead and tried to share mine. I was very nervous at first, I know that some of my classmates were in the same situation as me so I felt a little better and my teacher was encouraging me every step. I learned how to plan my speeches and connect with people. So everytime we had to share in that class I was slowly building my confidence, and I slowly am starting to get better at talking to others.

As I practiced more, I discovered that telling stories made my speeches more interesting. I began to share my own shyness and thoughts to others when they want to listen so they know it's okay if you're shy. I also practiced speaking in front of my family and friends who offered support and encouragement. This practice helped me see that public speaking is just like having a conversion to just one person.

My biggest challenge came when I was in the 10th grade and I had to present to a group of kids and adults from another school. At first I was very worried that I would mess up my speech or that they would make fun of me. But before they came to our class our teacher let us practice what we wanted to say and would help us through it. As I shared my script about our history class, I started to feel comfortable and just started to go off my script telling them how much we learned in our history class. When we were done, they started clapping for our class and our teacher was very proud of us. When the adults came up to us and were telling us that they really liked our presentation it made me realize how far I had come. I had found my voice and learned that it was okay to be scared sometimes and that it will take some time to overcome fears. Now, I sometimes get scared of talking to certain people but I would embrace my voice whenever I have to talk to others, knowing that my words matter and that people actually want to talk to me.

© Te’ani . All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.