After spending most of my 20-some years having a major fear of speaking in public, I feel like my ability to overcome this makes it the perfect topic choice. As a student who’d faint on occasion when brought to the front of the class to present something, I’ve now become the teacher who not only gets a message across, but has also become the entertainer that makes others want to listen. Or at least that what I’d like to think!

There are several ways I’ve managed to do this, and that I would recommend for others who wish to increase their confidence levels to try, especially in the classroom.

The first method to consider is what your needs are and what your students needs are, then find a satisfactory medium that combines the two so that everyone wins. In a win-win scenario both the teacher and the student are satisfied with their results and accomplishments.

One of the ways I’ve managed to push myself out of shyness is to picture myself as a confident person by thinking of all the people I admire, and consider what it is about them that I find admirable, charismatic and interesting. I try to adopt these qualities as my own and basically act like I have them too, imagining I am the other person sometimes just to get myself to speak up, then allowing the natural flow to take over. It’s difficult in the beginning, but once I take myself out of my self-conscious mind frame - it works, and the stage that is the classroom comes to life. To break the ice I relate current events and entertainment topics to the class whenever I can, which on one hand keeps my students interested and engaged, and on the other shows that I’m hip and up to date… crucial with youth I think.

Another tactic I use is to think negatively, because it comes so naturally, and think about all the worst-case scenarios possible and how I would solve them, which usually brings me to a turning point of positive thinking. Once the worst has been acknowledged and considered, now the only place I have to go is up!

Facing a class full of unknown people is quite intimidating. It’s especially intimidating when you, as a teacher and according to most students, are supposed to have all the answers and know how to magically insert useful information into the students brain. Unfortunately, we don’t have that capability. So in spending some time getting to know your students and finding out what their purpose for being in your class is, what their hobbies are, what their interests are, turns a classroom full of strangers into a classroom filled with potential friends. And with friends most people tend to be more comfortable speaking, which in turn makes delivering a class more comfortable for both the teacher and student.

While all these methods I’ve used for myself have helped, the best advice I would give is to just do it, just go out there and force yourself up in front of a class, be prepared, and aim to help others gain a better understanding of what you know. After the first few tries it only gets easier.

Lena Alazawi