First Year Teacher Tips - Dealing With (your Own) Stage Fright

No matter how well you did in public speaking class

, as a new teacher, you may be facing what is known as "stage fright" as you anticipate addressing an entire class of students that you have never met. This is a common fear among those who are embarking on their careers in education, so don't feel alone. Speaking to your audience and having them respond and interact well with you is important to all teachers, and presenting the material that you are teaching in a positive and fun way is the key to being the successful educator that you long to be. Let's look at how you can counter stage fright and become an effective speaker in your classroom.

Create an Environment that is Friendly

Although it is not your job to create a side show in order to entertain your students while you teach, it is important to create a friendly environment that exudes positive energy. First impressions are lasting impressions, so you want to appear confident, approachable and friendly from day one.

Face Your Students

During your own high school years, do you remember those moments when the teacher would keep their back to the students for a good part of the class period, writing on the board? That's not very conducive to being a great presenter, and it does not exude positive energy, or make you approachable. While it is necessary to have your back to students from time to time, do your best to create presentations that have you facing the class for most of the time you are teaching or presenting material. A visual aid is just what the name implies: an aid. It's not the sole methodology for you to rely on during presentations. Anyone can watch a slide or give a Power Point presentation; it's the delivery that makes the material stick.

Make Lots of Eye Contact

If you have taken any type of interpersonal communication course (as most teachers have) then you know that making eye contact is a crucial communication skill. Do your best during your presentations to make eye contact with each member of your audience and to avoid distractions, such as the clock on the wall or activity from a window. Choose a few members of the "audience" that seem to be very focused on what you are saying and make eye contact more frequently with them (this will make you more confident as you present because you will be looking out at people who seem to be interested in what you have to tell them). However, don't focus on these people too much; you may make them feel uncomfortable. Keep in mind that if you are continually looking at a distracting object, the listeners' eyes will follow your eyes, so avoid looking into the hallway or elsewhere that you don't want them to focus on.

Use Humor and Narratives

A dry presentation is just that - dry. Add some humor into your presentation to make it more memorable, or tell a narrative story that is related to what is being presented. Humor works to lighten the mood while a narrative story puts a "face" on the material that makes it more believable or understandable.

by: Jennifer Dobson

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