I Hate My Shaking Voice

public speaking

I couldn't remember how nervous I am the very first time I had to talk in front of a crowd which maybe it was years ago when I was in primary school, but I'm pretty sure that I was very nervous to the point that I peed myself. Or maybe I wasn't nervous at all but I talked nonsense playfully instead. 

Despite these speculations, I was among the top public speaker during my primary school days. I entered and won several storytelling competitions and I joined various groups such as choir and choral speaking. The same goes when I entered high school, I was a member of the school debate team and we won a few competitions. Being that good, I'm sure I entered such competitions with confidence, fluent in talking about my points and most importantly, my voice wasn't shaking one bit.

And then came the time I entered university life. As I mentioned before here, I wasn't an excellent student during my study days, I'm far from average. I remembered having very low self-esteem because of my lacking design skills compared to other students during a presentation and the fierce lecturers weren't helping at all. 

The worry that I might say something wrong or how the crowd, especially the lecturers, might condemn my presentation, my voice started shaking. The whole 4 years of my study days, I have shaking voice every time I did a presentation in front of a crowd and I felt awful when I ended the presentation because I knew I could do better. Since then, I think I have a problem, a fear of presenting in front of a crowd.

Then I started working life but I never had a problem with my voice during job interviews because it's only a Q&A session and there are only a few panels, the same goes when I had my MUET test. So everything was perfect, I thought I would never have to do presentations anymore. Little did I know, the moment I accepted the offer of my current job, I would have to face my fear again.

The was one time I had to replace my boss, presenting paperwork to the higher-ups. I knew the moment I hold the mic that my voice would shake. I started to tremble and there goes my shaking voice through the loud and clear mic. Fortunately, it wasn't long, maybe a few minutes and then my voice was back to normal. My colleague assured me that the higher-ups weren't disturbed by my shaking voice during the presentation and I felt relieved. 

From that moment, I was hoping that I would never do any presentations again but there goes my luck. This coming week, I had to replace my boss, again, presenting a module to students from a university who are coming to visit the company. The thing is, there would be a total of 4 lecturers and 66 students, the biggest crowd I ever had and the so-called conference would be held in a lecture hall. I started to tremble the moment I heard the news and I couldn't stop practising until today.

Wish me luck guys, and I would appreciate it if you guys have tips on how to control my shaking voice, just drop them in the comment below. Help me!

Till then,
Lya.

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24 Comments

  1. Hi, I always have voice shaking in doing presentation. Seriously, it is hard to control... I only have one tips, which is I always be well prepared and feel excited to present in front others. This the only one can control my voice shaking because you're really excited and feel you're ready to present in front others. And I always have the eye contact with the audience, through this you will feel confident in what you wanna talk about (at least focus on one person pun okay).

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    1. Nice tips! But it's hard to have eye contact with the audience, I would feel extremely nervous by then haha. Anyway, I'll try to do what you suggested. Thanks Beeha :)

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  2. Good luck! Can't give any additional tips because I'm worse than you. I'm always nervous whenever I'm presenting :/

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    1. Never mind, we're both just the same, would be very nervous every time presenting :'(
      Thank you for the goodluck wish though :)

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  3. to avoid shaking voice, i tend to speak louder than usual and it is works for me :D
    although i hate speaking in public T^T

    all the best yaaaaa, go girl! :3

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    1. I've read about speaking louder to avoid shaking voice but the thing is I'm going to do the presentation using a loud and clear mic and by speaking louder, I'm afraid it'll sounds like I'm shouting :(
      Thanks for tip anyway as I figured it's the best tip so far coz I've tried it and it works.
      Thanks for the good luck wish too, hopefully I'll do fine :)

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  4. I had presentation too as you know, I'm an introvert.. But each time I had to do presentation, I would tend to talk faster instead of shaking and to ease myself, I'd try to find a face whom could calm my nerve, and luckily, I always find a face that could help me.. haha

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    1. Well this is a new tip! I'll be sure to remember and try to find the face. I guess I should try to find a handsome one teehee

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    2. Well, that's the basic.. hahahahahaha.. But most importantly, he/she focuses on you and giving a caming gesture like nodding and stuff.. I had a prince charming whom would do so.. hahaha

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    3. That's nice for having the prince charming. I tried your tip and it worked but over time I got nervous instead, having eye contact for too long with a handsome boy lol

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  5. good luck..just be cool, relax and smile..

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  6. alaaaa lama lama pektis okay lah tuu. pasni kau suruh bos kau kasi kau je yg present. hahahahahahahaha

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    1. Hmm kalau lah boleh arahkan bos macam tuu hahahaha

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  7. Good luck!

    I'd recommend practising by recording a video using phone/pc. It works for me when I'm practising for my job interviews and mock teaching class.

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    1. I did practice in front of a mirror and stuff but never thought about recording it. I think this is brilliant as we could watch the recording and improve on anything that are lacking.
      Nice tip, thanks Rasya :)

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  8. Husniey pun jenis nervous kalau berdepan dengan ramai orang ~ hihi

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    1. Normal kan benda tu? But honestly, it's my biggest fear :(

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  9. You know, when I was always selected to do the extra works at office, I asked my boss in the jokes tone, "whyyyyy alwaysss meee?" And she replied, "you know why you are chosen? Because people trust you. They believe in your works..." That's how i gained more confident on myself. You are a lucky star to be spotted.

    Keep on rocking yeahh yehhh

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    1. Your words motivated me, thank you for the wish ;)

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  10. this is soooo relatable :( recently ada presentation jugak and i was stuttering so much and it was so obvious that i'm nervous bcs my voice is shaking :(

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    1. I think almost everyone could relate with this shaking voice thing. Let's hope we'll get better by time. Hee.

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    2. I think almost everyone could relate with this shaking voice thing. Let's hope we'll get better by time. Hee.

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