How to not be nervous for the IOP?

[Prashmaster]

My IOP presentations in one week, I have what I'm going to say written down and everything, but I get sooo NERVOUS when I present!! Like I'll feel confident right before a presentation, but as soon as I speak my voice gets all shaky and panicky. Is this something that only constant practice will solve? or is there anything else I could do? Any advice or suggestions would be gladly appreciated. Thanks!  

[Guest]

Everytime I go to present, I always say in my that "All I'm going to do is just share my ideas and talk to the class and they're going to ask questions because they like the topic and want to know more, it's no big deal, you just have to talk like its normal." 

[ShootingStar16]

My IOP presentations in one week, I have what I'm going to say written down and everything, but I get sooo NERVOUS when I present!! Like I'll feel confident right before a presentation, but as soon as I speak my voice gets all shaky and panicky. Is this something that only constant practice will solve? or is there anything else I could do? Any advice or suggestions would be gladly appreciated. Thanks!  

I know exactly how you feel. I get pretty nervous during presentations as well. What I suggest is to practice constantly, yes. Also, just try and pretend that there is nobody in the audience (don't ever try to pretend the audience is in their underwear because you will start laughing haha ). It's ok to be nervous and stutter a bit and your teacher should not judge you harshly on that since you should mostly be marked on your content and language. Just don't read off your cue cards too much. Treat this kind of like it is a discussion you are having with your friend. Rehearse enough so that you aren't always looking at your cue cards. 

[TheMountainGoat]

I think it is common for most people to be nervous when presenting, especially for something that goes to you final IB mark 

Your face may be this  but you can easily turn it into   or  .

Study your content well and when presenting don't make eye contact with anyone for too long, especially the teacher, and by that I don't mean pretend you are a bobble head, also holding a confident stance with your legs (one foot in front of the other), I assure you it will calm you down because it will make you feel confident (or at least it does for me). As ShootingStar said your teacher is marking you on your content and language, and if you know your content and language well then it also reduces some stress. I haven't done IOP yet but I enjoy public speaking so yeah....

 

Be prepared and you will feel prepared.

BTW Good luck!!

[redpanda_19]

Haha, I am exactly the same. I had my IOPs though and I did a good job, so here are some tips:

1. Practice in front of a mirror. Make sure you look at yourself and maintain eye contact with your reflection.
2. If you forget a word or phrase, stop and pause. Don't panic or flail, but rather relax give a thoughtful pause (it sounds smarter than a frantic 'um')
3. Practice with your friends or family - make them judge your body language, your volume. I always had a problem with speaking loud enough, so I would get my sister to stand at the back of a room while I stood at the front and talked, and later asked if she could hear me.
4. When you present, before you start talking take a deep breath and scan the audience. It helps to pause and smile. Remember that these are the classmates you've worked with. Remember that all of them have to present later. If one of them has presented already, think 'If X can do it so can I!' If you have a friend in the audience, glance at her/him during your presentations to give yourself confidence. Before our presentations my friend and I made an agreement to encourage each other during the course of our presentations by smiling and looking interested.

[azara]

First of all, some nervousness is good, because it means that you'll pressure yourself to do well.  Nervousness which makes your falter, however, is not good.

 

Don't think that you're giving a presentation, think that you're explaining your ideas to the class/teachers.  You've worked really hard for this (I presume) so you know what you're going to say is correct.  Obviously, practise it to death beforehand (by the time I did mine, I had the whole thing memorised.  It's really helpful to be able to keep talking, even if you freeze).  Put one foot slightly in front of the other when you speak so you don't sway while you're talking.  Hold something - your notes, palm cards, whatever - to stop yourself fiddling with your hands, which can be really distracting.  If you feel your voice going shaky, or you're running out of breath, get to the end of your sentence and then pause.  Take a moment to collect yourself.  You don't need to rush.  Speak slowly and clearly.  Use your introduction to get comfortable with speaking.  All of this will be a lot easier if you change your mindset from "I'm going to give a speech" to "I'm going to explain to everyone what I've done".

 

I would recommend that you don't look at your friends, unless you're really comfortable speaking, because they can be distracting, especially if they're smiling or nodding or making faces.  It's really a matter of personal preference as to whether or not you want to (sometimes it can make you feel a bit more comfortable, having someone familiar to look at) but the IOP is not the time to find out it throws you off!

 

Good luck!

[UncleChopChop]

If you have good rapport with your teacher, avoid the temptation to bury your face in your notes. They appreciate how nervous you will be and will probably notice it - I've noticed in many IB orals that a good teacher will be mindful to give encouraging looks and subtly reinforce your confidence with small gestures like nodding and smiling. They know how stressful it is, and they'll have a good crack at trying to put you at ease.

 

For what it's worth, I was incredibly nervous before my IOC (perhaps the most nervous I've ever been until November exams started) - but once I hit the flow I dropped the nerves and went fine. Speak to your teacher. Let them know what you're thinking beforehand and they will take it into account. It is in their interest to make sure you do well.

Edited November 4, 2015 by UncleChopChop

[graceezzz]

Just remember that your IOP is only worth 15% so it doesn't really affect your final mark that much. For every 5% that you lose on the IOP, you only need <1% on everything else to make it up. So do your best, but don't worry too much about it!

[Blackcurrant]

 It's easy.....GET YOUR AUDIENCE INVOLVED...  

 

 

Rather than standing there in the full glare of expectations,  get your classmates (and teacher) involved in exploring and debating your topic.  That takes the spotlight (and pressure) off you.   You effectively vanish   . Nobody's looking at you -- they are too busy.

 

This demands a different (and to my mind more creative) approach to the usual IOP ppt. presentation. But with imagination and organization it will work,. All you need are well-thought-out prompts (key quotes with discussion points, short passages with questions, statements from literary critics, pictures, etc), or paired/group activities (comparing one ending with another, manipulating POV and seeing the effects, rewriting a short passage and discovering the effect of the original....)

 

This will get people thinking about your topic and drawing some of the same conclusions as you. Or different ones, but still valid. At least, they will be active.

 

 

Anyway, nowhere does it say you have to do the usual presentation thing --which most people get really tired of, anyway. How many Ppts  have you already seen? How many more Slideshares or Prezis does anyone want to watch anyway?

 

 

Dare to be different. 

Edited November 8, 2015 by Blackcurrant