Published on 12, July, 2020
On reflection, I think this problem has defined much of my life since childhood. To the point where even now in my late 30s I struggle with interviews, shops or even speaking up infront of family members who often make fun of anything that might give rise to some poor excuse for humour.
Feeling this to such an extreme level, is this normal, does this happen to you? How do you cope with situations where the attention is directed and you, your work, or your life?
If you've had the foundations of your confidence knocked out from under you from an early age, it's not surprising that this causes you anxiety.
The content of the attention or conversation is paramount - if it's technical, there's no emotional content - it's just a data-transfer so it's easy - if you're speaking from an emotional basis, you are having to create the conversation in real-time so it's harder and more likely to make mistakes as you're producing data on the fly.
You could practice with friends talking about your pet subject - get the jaw lubricated and see how it goes.