My vision becomes fuzzy, my heart races and my lungs feel empty when asked to speak at a first graduate job meeting. A simple task to read weekly social media stats triggered an inability to finish a presentation, producing tears and embarrassment. The first panic attack happened during a university class presentation, causing the speaker to rush through prepared material and feel mortified. Over a decade, avoiding public speaking led to missed opportunities such as radio interviews, panels and speeches at friends' birthdays. Surveys show about half of Britons fear public speaking and 63% of Gen Z would avoid it. A decision followed to try evidence-based methods to overcome the dread.
My vision is fuzzy, my heart is racing and my lungs are emptying of oxygen. I've just been asked to speak in a meeting at my first graduate job on a fashion magazine. My task is simple read out the week's social media stats but I can't make it through. I cut the presentation short. I sit down, murmuring an apology, my eyes stinging with tears.
This isn't the first time this has happened. I had my first panic attack during a university class presentation. As the room started to spin and my breath grew short, I ditched most of what I'd prepared just to reach the end of my speech as fast as possible. When I returned to my seat, the lecturer carried on as though nothing had happened, but I was mortified. It had blindsided me.
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