No need to worry

I had a post saying that making a speech is a nerve-wracking experience for me. I am referring to standing in front of an audience and speaking for 10 minutes or more. I remember reading a passage, I think in a Readers' Digest, about overcoming your fear when giving a speech.

Something like this ....

Of the people in the hall, say 800, probably only half were paying attention to you. The other half had their mind elsewhere. Of the half paying attention to you, probably only half noticed that you were nervous. Of these probably half couldn't care less. And probably half of those ...... and so on. Finally only a few remained and they would forget about it the next day. So what is there to worry about.

Helpful or not?

I think you can apply this psychology if you are speaking to students who are there because it is compulsory and not because they want to come to listen to you.

It is a consoling passage meant to comfort those with public-speaking fear.

I have a suggestion to reduce the fear - Do it more often.


I was about to walk up the stairs to Kreta Ayer People's Theatre and saw this foreign worker sleeping in this queer posture. Poor man, his lunch, the tiring job and the oppressive afternoon heat must have made him so drowsy.