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sevire
18-01-17, 09:58
I've just found and registered on this site and am already feeling positive.

In my work I have to be able to speak in front of a group of people and often lead meetings and workshops. I have always struggled a bit with this but have managed to deal with it through deep breathing and other techniques and it hasn't been a big deal that I felt I couldn't manage.

In the last few months my problem has deteriorated to the point where I don't feel I am able to control it at the moment. I have had a few situations where I was speaking to a group (in a completely positive environment of people who were interested in what I had to say) where I just completely dried up and had to stop and even leave the room for a few minutes.

Once this had happened, it seems to have lodged in my head and so now I start to dread any situation where I have to speak in front of even a small number of people. This has even happened when having a drink with a couple of my best friends!

For me the symptoms (which I don't feel are unusual) are that when I start to speak, it's like there is a separate identify in my head observing me speaking and telling me (not literally) that I don't know what I am saying. I can't ignore this and just end up drying up, or in some cases, I carry on speaking but am not really sure what I am saying so it comes out as very disjointed without any intonation.

I am determined to beat this and am absolutely sure that what's happened here is negative reinforcement of a single bad experience which has caused it to expand and I am sure that with the appropriate positive reinforcement I will be able to crack it, and it is very helpful to have found a site like this where I can read others' experiences and tips and success stories.

Thanks for reading, if you have been!

Thomas

venusbluejeans
18-01-17, 10:05
Hiya sevire and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:

sevire
18-01-17, 12:12
Thanks for the reply. I have already read a couple of the articles and feel sure this is going to be a helpful site.

Thanks again.

Thomas.

SLA
18-01-17, 12:14
Interesting.

What were you talking about when you initially dried up? Was is something kind of spontaneous, like the answer to a question, or was it pre-planned?

Good to see you here btw!

Clydesdale Epona
18-01-17, 12:31
Hi Thomas and :welcome:
I used to get this a lot myself so i know where you're coming from and what you're struggling with, i hope this site deems helpful to you x