[Quiet Man Cometh]

I don't know if I ever had fears that were on par wit actual phobias, but I found that shows of support would often help, as kiddish as it sounds. I hated speaking publicly, or even in just pretending to do it, such as for giving or practicing presentations. I remember in elementary giving a speech on Paul Revere and being so terrified I was physically shaking, and my eyes blurred out to where I axed out chunks of the speech because I couldn't see the page and would just restart where I thought it seemed right. I was near hyperventilating at the end but the whole class clapped for me, and I was already relieved that it was over but I think the show from the class felt to me like they were aware of how much trouble I was having (stuttering as well as shaking) and were okay with it. Kind of a "you did it!" moment.

That stuck with me. In future presentations I just embraced that I was awkward and would state as much at the start of a presentations. It makes it a little less stressful for me because if I mess up I know I've warned them. I also tell people to put their hand up or something if I'm going too fast or saying something awkward and they would like me to be more clear.