So you'd rather sit like a zombie and not have to speak? Life sucks. Get a helmet.

I have done a lot of public speaking. A lot. And I remember my first shot at it in 2nd grade. I was given a sheet of paper with The Gettysburg Address and told that I would be Abe Lincoln. I wasn't given any coaching. So I went home and memorized it. When it was show time, I got up in front of a full auditorium and rattled it off faster than a Bullet Train. My first audience reaction was,

"Huh?"

There's a bell I can't unring...

noooo! i do not do well in public speaking. i got very nervous. wanted to rush, talked too fast. and forgot things I wanted to say. would rather do something that would take more of my time than get up in front of a class.  some people are better at speaking than others. miserable few minutes if I had to do this.

One time or another, we will all have the moment when we have to speak in front of an audience, be it at home, in the workplace or a convention. Oral presentation in school is a great tool to develop and encourage public speaking and overcome the "stage fear".

I fine with public speaking now,mostly because I have done so much of it in college,and have got more use to it. But in upper school I was scared to death of it, I had a teacher that would video tape us once in front of class then,replay and ask our peers to critque and grade each other. I think forcing yourself to actually make eye contact with the audience when you first start speaking and knowing and believing what your talking about makes puplic speaking easier each time you do it.

I kinda like public speaking, since of course I talk too much, but all this group work crap is what I don't like. Quit dragging down my grades by giving me idiots to work with!

UPDATE: I've always gotten high marks for my oral skills, by the way... *sly laugh*

Picturing my fugly classmates naked doesn't work.

I'm not the biggest fan of public speaking. I always had an issue with this. It was never that I questioned my knowledge on the topic, I just always had some fear of rambling, I guess...which was made worse because of my fear. I even had to have my teacher finish reading an assignment because I had a panic attack and couldn't finish the presentation.

I Always doubled up on antiperspirent on these days. I sweat like you wouldn't beleieve when i am infront of crouds. I would always say um about a million times. And I was also a rocker I stil rock back and fourth on my feet when i am nervous.

I love oral presentations, but then I love attention so that probably has something to do with it. I also love preparing for oral presentations as well. I have a lot of natural projection in my voice and I'm pretty animated so I'm even kind of good at giving them.

I have always hated oral presentations. I guess I hate it because I have such a monotone voice that it makes the class fall asleep. I, like CanadaSucks, raise my hand first in the air so I can get it out of the way. Once I am finished the presentation, I grin a big sigh of relief!

No way. Easy points. Loved 'em. I was the prick that raised my hand in the air first to (1) get it out of the way and (2) shame my shy buddies.

This is where I really shined. I love to perform, so I turned the assignment into a little production. The only person I was trying to outperform was myself.

I was always on the shy side, so getting up in front of folks was rather daunting. But I realized that I was able to write, and thus knew the battle was half won.

I've always been a good speaker, so it's never been a particular problem. Most have problems getting up in front of a group of people to give an speech, but I always think that I'm just taking part in a conversation with any other individual. Taking that approach usually takes away any anxiety. If you still have issues, then I suggest taking a drink of water and stretch out a little before the big event. That'll relax you a bit, thus preventing forgetfulness.

I was (and, mostly, still am) rather shy in person. so oral presentations were absolute hell. Then, I realized that pretending to be brave and actually being brave is the same thing, if you pull it off. Plus, it's easier to speak to an audience if you HONESLTY believe in what you're talking about. If you made me get up and make a report on the symbolism in A Tale of Two Cities, I wouldn't feel comfortable. If you got me on the topic of, say, how inhumane it is to de-claw cats, then yeah, I can get up and speak without problems.

Luckily I inherited my mother's unnaturally loud voice and my father's penchant for passionate and rather unconventional opinions.

This caused trouble to some degree, with me being as shy as I was. In a way, however, oral reports may help some of the more bashful students so that they have experience in speaking in front of an audience. That's why I took a speech and debate class when I was a senior in high school. It certainly was a challenge for me -- but actually became quite enjoyable in the long run.