It’s the first day of class. After droning on for five to 30 minutes, your new and smiling professor hands out the syllabus. You quickly flip to the back, to the good part with the grading breakdown and, if you’re lucky, detailed “proposed” schedule. And that’s when you see it. The dreaded “oral presentation,” right there in between the essays and the exams. Suddenly, all of your excitement for this class turns into dread. You know you can’t drop the class, so you push that presentation to the back of your mind, to come up only in nightmares and panic attacks in the days leading up to the last possible presentation slot: yours.
If I didn’t already know it, my experiences in teaching ninth and 12th graders public speaking in the weeks after spring break have taught me people hate public speaking. Some students would rather do anything else than get behind that podium and speak to their classmates, people who they’ve been speaking to for their entire academic careers.
In a recent TED Ed lesson, Mikael Cho, founder of Crew Labs, explains there is a clear scientific reason public speaking is such a prominent fear. Stage fright, Cho says, is a physiological response that dates back to our caveman ancestors. Being in front of a large group of people triggers our flight-or-flight response. Muscles lock up, ready for running, while the digestive system shuts down to allow other systems to take the most energy. Blood pressure drops and pupils dilate, making seeing up close difficult and maximizing long-range vision. It’s a response as old as humans, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Cho said you can, in fact adapt to it. The number one way to combat stage fright, according to experts, is to practice. The more familiar you are with your speech, the easier it will be to calm yourself when you feel panic approaching. Another way you can trick your mind away from the fight-or-flight response is to practice relaxation exercises before going on-stage. Stand up straight with your hands above your head and breathe deep breaths. Imagine yourself into a relaxed state. All of these things, when practiced faithfully, can give you power over your fears and propel you to a great delivery.
On the subject of TED Talks, TED (a conference for leaders in many different fields, the speeches at which are posted on YouTube), is gaining notoriety worldwide. The style of public speaking found at TED, with an emphasis on story-telling and sparse use of powerful graphics, is becoming known across the world as the new American style of public speaking. TED is revolutionizing not just the way people think about conferences and learning, but also the way people think of public speaking in general. And these talks are being watched by people from all walks of life around the world.     
TED is a perfect example of the importance of public speaking and of the way being able to handle oneself in front of a crowd is getting to be more and more requisite for all professions. So the next time you get that syllabus and find you’ll be up in front of the class before long, look at it as an opportunity to practice a new global skill, one that it pays to know.