Question

This is your first experience with public speaking and you're very nervous. You're afraid you'll forget your speech and stumble. So you're wondering if it would be a good idea to alert your audience to your nervousness. If you decide to say something, what are some things you might say? Are there advantages and disadvantages to what you might say? What would you say? What good reasons can you give to say nothing?

Answer 1

One of the most important things about public speaking is to be confident of the content and the language through which the content would be delivered. This would mean that your audience would only know if you tell them that you are nervous because it’s the first time you are addressing an audience. This would mean it might be a better idea to inform the audience that it’s your first time which would help the understand your position and they might show more concern and attention. However, there are audience who do not respect new speakers and make fun of them or ridicule them which would impact the speakers’ morality. So, in my opinion, I would choose not to tell the audience about my nervousness but I would rather work on my preparation and deliver it as if there are no audience or as if they are all my friends. It’s always better to go ahead with whatever one knows but at the same time prepare answers for enough questions the audience would throw after the speech.

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