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Difficulty in presenting at work.

GreedyGreenGuy

Hello everyone,

My job requires me to present data and talk both informally and formally to my departmental colleagues and broader colleagues.

I struggle alot with any kind of informal talk, often saying things to fill the gaps (that may or may not actually be there...) and struggle even more when I have to react to an informal situation where the attention is on me. I would freeze and feel very uneasy and would want to run away and hide - obviously not an option so I end up looking very unprofessional to those that do not understand the reason behind my actions.

Though I struggle anyway with presenting, I feel more comfortable presenting informally using data and little to no informal talk. I am aware of the awkwardness this can cause to those others that are involved in the discussion which makes things a little harder too.

Does anyone else have to face this issue too? How have you dealt with it? Have you found any presenting classes helpful? I would be glad to hear your story.

Kristian.

Parents

  • I suffer very much from this.

    I am all right if I have a presentation in front of me, with pictures or slides that I have prepared, I know exactly what to say and feel I say it right.  But my ad lib skills are very poor.  I have to work from a script even if I have written the script myself.

    Without a prepared script, I bumble along, thinking I must say something and just add stuff that either makes no sense to other people or repeat myself or totally dry up.  I must sound terrible to others. I have a very bad stammer in these circumstances although this is not very apparent in my normal speech.   Wherever possible I have to write it down, exactly as I want to say it.  My reading skills have improved over the last forty years so I can read out my stuff without too much problem although it probably still sounds as if it is being read.

    But I find it well night impossible to get up  and 'say a few words' about something without preparation.  And if in a group of strangers (which I hate being anyway) and told to 'introduce ourselves round the table' I just wish that I wasn't there at all, I am so embarrassed and don't know what to say even though it is only my name and my position that is required.

    I believe this is caused by stress, but it is something that does not get any easier.

    Whether this is caused by my ASD I don't know.  But it certainly is exacerbated by it.  I think the old adage ' it is better to keep your mouth shut and have everyone think you are stupid than open it and remove all doubt' is very apt in my case!

Reply

  • I suffer very much from this.

    I am all right if I have a presentation in front of me, with pictures or slides that I have prepared, I know exactly what to say and feel I say it right.  But my ad lib skills are very poor.  I have to work from a script even if I have written the script myself.

    Without a prepared script, I bumble along, thinking I must say something and just add stuff that either makes no sense to other people or repeat myself or totally dry up.  I must sound terrible to others. I have a very bad stammer in these circumstances although this is not very apparent in my normal speech.   Wherever possible I have to write it down, exactly as I want to say it.  My reading skills have improved over the last forty years so I can read out my stuff without too much problem although it probably still sounds as if it is being read.

    But I find it well night impossible to get up  and 'say a few words' about something without preparation.  And if in a group of strangers (which I hate being anyway) and told to 'introduce ourselves round the table' I just wish that I wasn't there at all, I am so embarrassed and don't know what to say even though it is only my name and my position that is required.

    I believe this is caused by stress, but it is something that does not get any easier.

    Whether this is caused by my ASD I don't know.  But it certainly is exacerbated by it.  I think the old adage ' it is better to keep your mouth shut and have everyone think you are stupid than open it and remove all doubt' is very apt in my case!

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