Social Anxiety Support

quietriverrunsdeep · 11-06-2009, 08:25 PM

In a few weeks I have to do a demonstrative speech in front of the class and everything I'm good at can't exactly be demonstrated (writing, video games, etc). Does anyone have any painless ideas for speeches? I want to stay away from cooking, I can picture myself spilling stuff all over due to my nervousness and my face turning bright red.

shyvr6 · 11-06-2009, 08:34 PM

Haha, I was in this exact situation a few weeks ago. Sadly, I didn't go through with it.

stewbert · 11-06-2009, 09:54 PM

I had to do a couple of these in a high school speech class. You're right to stay away from cooking. (For the first one, I tried making brownies and it was disastrous.) But for the second one, I did origami. I taught myself how to make one of those origami swans (it's really simple), and then went out and bought enough paper for everyone in the class. That way, they could make their own as I was demonstrating, and they'd all be concentrating on what they were doing rather than completely focused on me lol. It went really really well.

Good luck with whatever you decide on doing.

steelmyhead · 11-06-2009, 10:01 PM

I remember in high school one girl did cooking, but she kind of mimed putting ingredients & stirring things, with just the bowls & utensils & pans. This might require a certain degree of theatrics to pull off, though.

Prakas · 11-06-2009, 10:41 PM

Try practicing in front of a mirror everyday starting today. This should make you feel more comfortable and not have to wing it when the time comes.

Curb · 11-07-2009, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quietriverrunsdeep

In a few weeks I have to do a demonstrative speech in front of the class and everything I'm good at can't exactly be demonstrated (writing, video games, etc). Does anyone have any painless ideas for speeches? I want to stay away from cooking, I can picture myself spilling stuff all over due to my nervousness and my face turning bright red.

You have to actually do what you are demonstrating or can you just talk about it? If you don't need to actually do it, you could definitely talk about writing and video games. You could practically talk about anything...

quietriverrunsdeep · 11-07-2009, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curb

You have to actually do what you are demonstrating or can you just talk about it? If you don't need to actually do it, you could definitely talk about writing and video games. You could practically talk about anything...

It's a demonstrative speech so I have to demonstate what I'm talking about. I don't think I could lug my Wii to school easily and I don't know how to demonstate writing.

quietriverrunsdeep · 11-07-2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewbert

I had to do a couple of these in a high school speech class. You're right to stay away from cooking. (For the first one, I tried making brownies and it was disastrous.) But for the second one, I did origami. I taught myself how to make one of those origami swans (it's really simple), and then went out and bought enough paper for everyone in the class. That way, they could make their own as I was demonstrating, and they'd all be concentrating on what they were doing rather than completely focused on me lol. It went really really well.

Good luck with whatever you decide on doing.

I really like the origami idea! I'll keep that one in mind.

pixies · 11-07-2009, 09:01 AM

Seems like a bit of a weird idea. People who are in to tennis or horse riding or something, how do you demonstrate that?

Many people only have 1 hobby, so if you can't demonstrate that then you end up picking something that you aren't even that interested in.

If I was you I would probably go back to the video games idea and demonstrate it with slides of various video games. I'm not sure if you can use a projector or if you can pop in a video or DVD or something. Either way I would be tempted to show screenshots (or even mini videos) of games and talk people through what they are. I like games too, so I would explain that there are genres of game, like First Person Shooters and explain what they are and why it's called that, and what the attraction is. Then a Real Time Strategy game and again explain why it's called that, how you play it, and what the attraction is. Then do the same for Role Playing Game, Turn Based Strategy, platform game, arcade game, puzzle games, or whatever kinds of games you like and would want to talk about.

Could that work?

quietriverrunsdeep · 11-07-2009, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixies

Seems like a bit of a weird idea. People who are in to tennis or horse riding or something, how do you demonstrate that?

Many people only have 1 hobby, so if you can't demonstrate that then you end up picking something that you aren't even that interested in.

If I was you I would probably go back to the video games idea and demonstrate it with slides of various video games. I'm not sure if you can use a projector or if you can pop in a video or DVD or something. Either way I would be tempted to show screenshots (or even mini videos) of games and talk people through what they are. I like games too, so I would explain that there are genres of game, like First Person Shooters and explain what they are and why it's called that, and what the attraction is. Then a Real Time Strategy game and again explain why it's called that, how you play it, and what the attraction is. Then do the same for Role Playing Game, Turn Based Strategy, platform game, arcade game, puzzle games, or whatever kinds of games you like and would want to talk about.

Could that work?

I like the idea but I wouldn't really be demonstrating, it would be more of an informative speech. I think they want me to do more a "How to" and the only video game related thing I can think of that is a "Hot to" is a walkthrough and I can't do that with the time and lack of equipment. Plus, I'd probably mess up a lot since everyone would be watching me and a walkthrough would be kind of pointless if no one is playing the game.

quietriverrunsdeep · 11-10-2009, 01:44 PM

Just got the rubric and the demonstation pertains to makeing something using few materials so talking about video games and writing is now out of the question. Does anyone have more ideas. They would be greatly appreciated.

shyvr6 · 11-10-2009, 02:32 PM

http://www.speech-topics-help.com/de...ch-topics.html

quietriverrunsdeep · 11-11-2009, 06:47 PM

Thank you very much for all your help everyone. I have decided to do my speech on how to make a paper crane in honor of Sadako Sasaki who died of leaukemia from the radiation of the bombing of Hiroshima. She was told that there was a legend that if she made 1000 paper cranes, she would be cured. Unfortuately she was only able to make 644 before she died. I actually read the story in fourth grade but I thought the story was so touching that I wanted to incorperate that into my speech. Again, thank you for all the suggestions, everyone.

wolfgang23 · 11-12-2009, 01:37 PM

I would recommend making a powerpoint presentation. That way the class will be focused on the projected slides instead of you.

I had to teach an hour long class a few weeks ago. If you're pro-medication, ativan and a beta-blocker really helped me get through it without appearing nervous.

wineandcheese · 11-12-2009, 07:39 PM

Oh I used to dread speeches. I would wake up at 3am having an anxiety attack. I think for my demonstrative speech, I made ice cream. I can't remember for the life of me HOW I did it. But people got to eat samples of it, so it made other people happy at least.

11-06-2009, 08:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
quietriverrunsdeep Status: Living in her Own World Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: The Middle Of Nowhere Gender: Female Age: 15 Posts: 83	Demonstrative Speech In a few weeks I have to do a demonstrative speech in front of the class and everything I'm good at can't exactly be demonstrated (writing, video games, etc). Does anyone have any painless ideas for speeches? I want to stay away from cooking, I can picture myself spilling stuff all over due to my nervousness and my face turning bright red.

11-06-2009, 08:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
shyvr6 Status: Makin Waves Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Somewhere on a map. Gender: Male Posts: 9,645	Haha, I was in this exact situation a few weeks ago. Sadly, I didn't go through with it. __________________ Music

11-06-2009, 10:01 PM	#4 (permalink)
steelmyhead Status: mostly harmless Join Date: May 2009 Location: California Gender: Male Posts: 635	I remember in high school one girl did cooking, but she kind of mimed putting ingredients & stirring things, with just the bowls & utensils & pans. This might require a certain degree of theatrics to pull off, though. __________________ The trick is to experience, not anticipate.

11-06-2009, 10:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
Prakas Status: Failure - Life Sucks Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Delaware Gender: Male Age: 21 Posts: 434	Try practicing in front of a mirror everyday starting today. This should make you feel more comfortable and not have to wing it when the time comes. __________________ If life is so hard, then death must be easy. Creed-Six Feet From the Edge I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking... Maybe six feet ain't so far down...

11-10-2009, 02:32 PM	#12 (permalink)
shyvr6 Status: Makin Waves Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Somewhere on a map. Gender: Male Posts: 9,645	http://www.speech-topics-help.com/de...ch-topics.html __________________ Music

11-06-2009, 09:54 PM	#3 (permalink)
stewbert Status: SAS Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Memphis Gender: Female Age: 25 Posts: 71	I had to do a couple of these in a high school speech class. You're right to stay away from cooking. (For the first one, I tried making brownies and it was disastrous.) But for the second one, I did origami. I taught myself how to make one of those origami swans (it's really simple), and then went out and bought enough paper for everyone in the class. That way, they could make their own as I was demonstrating, and they'd all be concentrating on what they were doing rather than completely focused on me lol. It went really really well. Good luck with whatever you decide on doing.

11-07-2009, 09:01 AM	#9 (permalink)
pixies Status: SAS Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: England, UK Gender: Male Posts: 144	Seems like a bit of a weird idea. People who are in to tennis or horse riding or something, how do you demonstrate that? Many people only have 1 hobby, so if you can't demonstrate that then you end up picking something that you aren't even that interested in. If I was you I would probably go back to the video games idea and demonstrate it with slides of various video games. I'm not sure if you can use a projector or if you can pop in a video or DVD or something. Either way I would be tempted to show screenshots (or even mini videos) of games and talk people through what they are. I like games too, so I would explain that there are genres of game, like First Person Shooters and explain what they are and why it's called that, and what the attraction is. Then a Real Time Strategy game and again explain why it's called that, how you play it, and what the attraction is. Then do the same for Role Playing Game, Turn Based Strategy, platform game, arcade game, puzzle games, or whatever kinds of games you like and would want to talk about. Could that work?

11-10-2009, 01:44 PM	#11 (permalink)
quietriverrunsdeep Status: Living in her Own World Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: The Middle Of Nowhere Gender: Female Age: 15 Posts: 83	Just got the rubric and the demonstation pertains to makeing something using few materials so talking about video games and writing is now out of the question. Does anyone have more ideas. They would be greatly appreciated.

11-11-2009, 06:47 PM	#13 (permalink)
quietriverrunsdeep Status: Living in her Own World Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: The Middle Of Nowhere Gender: Female Age: 15 Posts: 83	Thank you very much for all your help everyone. I have decided to do my speech on how to make a paper crane in honor of Sadako Sasaki who died of leaukemia from the radiation of the bombing of Hiroshima. She was told that there was a legend that if she made 1000 paper cranes, she would be cured. Unfortuately she was only able to make 644 before she died. I actually read the story in fourth grade but I thought the story was so touching that I wanted to incorperate that into my speech. Again, thank you for all the suggestions, everyone.

11-12-2009, 01:37 PM	#14 (permalink)
wolfgang23 Status: SAS Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: California Gender: Female Posts: 13	I would recommend making a powerpoint presentation. That way the class will be focused on the projected slides instead of you. I had to teach an hour long class a few weeks ago. If you're pro-medication, ativan and a beta-blocker really helped me get through it without appearing nervous.

11-12-2009, 07:39 PM	#15 (permalink)
wineandcheese Status: SAS Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 69	Oh I used to dread speeches. I would wake up at 3am having an anxiety attack. I think for my demonstrative speech, I made ice cream. I can't remember for the life of me HOW I did it. But people got to eat samples of it, so it made other people happy at least.