How to Build Your Students’ Confidence and Reduce Stage Fright

It’s the first day of class and you know your students are frightened… no, scared… no, terrified. You know they’re thinking “This class terrifies me. Please, don’t make me stand up to speak in public!”

A common early assignment in a public speaking course is a “personal introduction” or something like it – any simple exercise designed to break the ice and give students something to talk about. Yet even this can be terrifying to some students. 

Here’s a very simple pre-exercise that can help build your students’ confidence immediately.

Remind them that everyone has a few favorite stories they've told over and over again. They’ve heard them at family gatherings. They’ve told them at parties.

1. Ask your students to think of one or two of those stories and to give those stories a name that will help them remember the content.

For example: “Uncle Bob’s Thanksgiving speech,” “That weird night in Miami,” or “Born a woman, born a leader.” The names of their stories don’t need to make sense to anyone but themselves. The name is just a way to help them remember the core of the story - just a few key words will suffice.

You can help them remember some interesting stories by seeding questions like “What's something that you and your childhood best friend did that you never told your parents about” or “what’s the farthest place you’ve been from your hometown and what was the most interesting thing about that trip?”

Because students are all different, some will immediately think of interesting stories while others will be so anxious that their mind will freeze up. Be mindful of those differences and be ready to steer them toward more interesting and “personal” stories (because those are always the ones that are the easiest to remember – and the ones that feel least like they are “performing”).

2. Next, ask the students to pair up, introduce themselves to their partner and then tell one of their stories.

It’s best if they keep their stories short. Maybe 60 - 90 seconds. When they’re done, have them switch roles (so both tell a story).

3. If time permits, consider having them form small groups (3 - 5 people) and tell their stories to each other.

At this point they have all have done the thing they were most afraid of: They have all spoken in public!

Now they are now prepared and ready to deliver the same story when they are asked to give a personal introduction or to tell a story to the larger class.

Suggestion: as a warm up on the day you plan to ask them to introduce themselves to the class, have them pair up and take 5 minutes to tell their stories to each other. Or, have everyone stand up and turn so they’re not looking at anyone else and say their story out loud.

We do warmup exercises like this whenever we’re working with corporate leaders and managers and it always serves as a good ice breaker.

Please send us any similar tips and tricks you have used successfully in your classroom and we’ll share it with teachers here and around the world. We would have loved to have had a supportive community like this when we first started. We are all in this together!

Good luck to you! Stay healthy and safe everyone!