Not all of these options will work on every teacher or professor, so it\u2019s good to learn them all.<\/p>\n
Regardless, at least one of these options will work in 99% of situations.<\/p>\n
Why Should You Know How to Get Out of a Presentation?<\/strong><\/h2>\nMake no mistake about it: This website is about beating anxiety and panic attacks<\/em>; <\/em>not avoiding them.<\/p>\nSo why am I dedicating an entire article to how to get out of a class presentation?<\/p>\n
The simple answer is: I\u2019ve been there.<\/p>\n
Anxiety, especially social anxiety, starts to rear its ugly head right around high school or college for most of us. This is a difficult, and often confusing, chapter of our lives. We\u2019re learning who we are and how our brain works while simultaneously juggling our social, romantic, and academic lives.<\/p>\n
Standing in front of the class stressed me out so much in high school and college, I spent more time avoiding presentations than I did studying. My daily anxiety was so bad, it’s surprising I didn\u2019t just drop out altogether. This kind of environment was simply non-conducive to learning for me.<\/p>\n
While I didn\u2019t always avoid presentations, I sure did skip a lot of them. Unfortunately, skipping presentations reflects poorly on your GPA, which doesn\u2019t always feel fair; After all, you\u2019re an anxious student, not an incompetent one!<\/p>\n
This article is for any student who is desperately nervous about a class presentation coming up. <\/strong>For anyone who doesn\u2019t want their GPA to suffer or to have to quit school due to social anxiety;<\/strong> anyone who just isn\u2019t ready to be pushed into facing a phobia before they\u2019re ready.<\/strong><\/p>\nOf course, ultimately, I want to see my readers conquer their fear of public speaking once and for all. Head over to this article if you\u2019re ready to overcome presentation anxiety and stage fright<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>for good.<\/p>\nFor everyone else, let\u2019s just focus on how to get out of a class presentation for now.<\/p>\n
Why am I Nervous About Speaking in Front of Class?<\/strong><\/h2>\nIf anxiety and panic attacks are new to you, they can be pretty overwhelming and confusing. Perhaps something simple, like giving a speech in class, is making you nervous when it never did in the past. This is totally normal and was my experience as well.<\/p>\n
Before my first few panic attacks, I would\u2019ve never understood the fear of public speaking. Sometime in early high school, I had a completely random panic attack while giving a speech. Thankfully, it largely went unnoticed, but it made me anxious about every class presentation to follow.<\/p>\n
A fear of public speaking can develop for a number of reasons. For many people, it\u2019s a genetic predisposition to social anxiety; at a certain age, we start to worry more about what people think. For others, we learn to associate a negative or traumatic experience with the situation and become anxious when we think about it. <\/strong><\/p>\nWhile it may not make sense for us to panic in such a harmless situation, there\u2019s an evolutionary explanation for this. Since our brains evolved to their current form many years ago, some systems once intended to assist us now simply cause us stress. Being surrounded by a crowd may be harmless today, but to our ancestors it may have posed a very real risk.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve got some time to kill, check out this piece on the evolutionary psychology behind anxiety<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\nHow to Get Out of a Presentation for Class: 6 Tricks<\/strong><\/h2>\n1. Check the Syllabus in Advance for Class Participation Requirements<\/strong><\/h3>\n*<\/strong>Note <\/strong>\u2013 This trick is specifically for college students and may not work in high school*<\/p>\nSomething I learned early on in college was that I simply learned better on my own. This was no disrespect to my professors of course, they were all great! But I was a psychology student who was genuinely fascinated by the course material.<\/p>\n
I was content to read the textbooks by myself from the comfort of my dorm room. Struggling to stay awake in a 9am lecture hall, or nervously shifting in my seat before a class presentation, did nothing to improve my understanding of psychology. I learned best on my own.<\/p>\n
Knowing this, I devised a system for how to avoid class presentations and class participation in general. I called this trick the \u201cTake 7, Drop 5\u201d method. Here\u2019s how it worked: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n- During class enrollment, I would sign up for 7 classes per semester (The standard course-load was 5). These could be any classes that would count toward my degree.<\/li>\n
- I’d wait for the first week of class to come and go (syllabus week).<\/li>\n
- I\u2019d skip syllabus week altogether (you better believe<\/em> my social anxiety didn\u2019t want to play icebreaker games).<\/li>\n
- Now I\u2019d look on the student portal to read the posted syllabus for each class. The syllabi are typically used as a loose contract to inform the student of how their grade will be determined.<\/li>\n
- If I saw a class where the grade was heavily dependent on participation (e.g., 40% of the grade coming from speaking in class, attendance, or group projects) I would drop it.<\/li>\n
- In general, I favored classes where the professors did not<\/em> assign projects, or even grade attendance. Classes where the daily lectures were posted online were ideal for me.<\/li>\n
- In the end, I would drop two out of seven classes I originally enrolled in. This came with no penalty since I would drop within the first few weeks. I\u2019d end with a standard course-load of 5 classes.<\/li>\n
- Repeating this process each semester, I managed to get great grades largely from the comfort of home. I would only really<\/em> have to go into most classes to take the tests.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Funny enough, I actually had a number of friends ask, \u201cI never see you in class, how are you passing?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nThe reality was, this is how I learned best; self-guided and from home. It\u2019s not a system that works for everybody, but it\u2019s an option for anyone wondering how to avoid class presentations and participation.<\/p>\n
2. Communicate to the Teacher and Request Alternative Assignments<\/strong><\/h3>\nI firmly believe that most teachers and professors really do want their students to succeed.<\/p>\n
As professional public speakers<\/em>, it can be easy for teachers and professors to forget that some students are socially anxious. Sometimes, they may want <\/em>to push students to face their fears and grow.<\/p>\nRegardless, no teacher can know what you\u2019re feeling unless you communicate with them.<\/p>\n
The absolute easiest way to get out of a class presentation is to talk to your teacher about it. Sure, this can feel like an embarrassing and difficult topic to bring up. Nonetheless, I promise you are not the first person your teacher has spoken to about a fear of public speaking. <\/strong><\/p>\nYou can pull your teacher aside for a private conversation, or even reach out to them via email. Let them know how hard it was for you to even come to them and open up about this issue. Explain to them that you are going through something difficult right now with your anxiety.<\/p>\n
Most teachers will be able to sympathize with your situation and perhaps propose an alternative assignment for you. Others, however, might insist that the best way to conquer this fear is to tackle it head-on (which isn\u2019t false). You can assure them that you plan to address the issue in your own way eventually; for now, you\u2019re just looking for some compassion.<\/p>\n
The important thing here is honesty and compromise.<\/strong><\/p>\nTeachers deal with a lot<\/em> of lazy students who come up with all kinds of excuses to get out of work. You want to make it clear to your teacher than this is not your intention.<\/p>\nSuggest a compromise.<\/p>\n
Perhaps, rather than giving a 5-minute presentation, you could write a 5-page essay?<\/p>\n
Make some ambitious suggestions and see if you can come to an agreement. After all, as long the work is getting done and you\u2019re learning, isn\u2019t that the most important thing?<\/p>\n
I made these kinds of compromises with professors on a number of occasions. I\u2019m not too proud to admit that one time, I even gave my presentation to the teacher privately in an empty room.<\/p>\n
Be honest, open, and willing to put in hard work, and most teachers will be willing to work with you.<\/p>\n
3. Keep a Valid Excuse Handy Just in Case<\/strong><\/h3>\nPerhaps the least ethical of my suggestions today, but this worked for me enough times to make the list.<\/p>\n
Ah yes, the age-old \u201cmy dog ate my homework\u201d<\/em> trick.<\/p>\nThe simple fact is, things do <\/em>come up in our lives that require us to take a day off from class.<\/p>\nFor Missing a Presentation or Class<\/h2>\nGood Excuses:<\/h3>\n\n- You\u2019ve come down with an illness<\/span><\/li>\n
- Your child, parent, or spouse has come down with an illness<\/span><\/li>\n
- There has been a pet emergency and you need to go to the vet<\/span><\/li>\n
- You are occupied with a family emergency<\/span><\/li>\n
- A canceled or delayed flight (check flight cancellations first!)<\/span><\/li>\n
- There has been an emergency with your home (fire, gas leak, pests, etc.)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Bad Excuses:<\/h3>\n\n- “I forgot.”<\/span><\/li>\n
- “I was tired and didn\u2019t feel like coming in today.”<\/span><\/li>\n
- “The alarm didn\u2019t go off.”<\/span><\/li>\n
- “My car broke down” (No longer a great excuse due to rideshare).<\/span><\/li>\n
- “My dog ate my homework” (You’re better than that)!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The key to a good excuse is that it’s out of your control and doesn’t reflect poorly upon your reliability. Ideally, it’s also something that cannot be disproved; if you use an excuse like a canceled flight, actually look up<\/em> flight cancelations from the night before.<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you\u2019re going to use one of these excuses, you should let your teacher or professor know immediately.<\/em> Waiting a week to give them your excuse takes away from your reliability and credibility. Inform them of your \u201csituation\u201d immediately, and ask for a chance to make up the assignment.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s unlikely your presentation would be rescheduled to cut into another day\u2019s lesson. More likely, your professor will ask you to email your project over or present it privately during office hours.<\/p>\n
Fun Fact: <\/strong>During my worst days with panic attacks and anxiety, I truly used some ridiculous excuses to avoid presenting. I\u2019m by no means proud of this (it\u2019s very embarrassing) \u2026 but one time, I went up to the professor with tissues pressed to my nose. I told her I had a nosebleed and had to go to the restroom. I handed her my speech and just never went back. Fortunately for me, she accepted and graded it.<\/p>\nLike I said, by no means do I think making excuses is the best long-term strategy. I\u2019d just rather give any extremely anxious<\/em> students an option beyond dropping out entirely. <\/strong><\/p>\n4. Offer to do More of the Work for Less of the Speaking<\/strong><\/h3>\nIf negotiations with your teacher or professor don\u2019t go so well, you can always talk to your peers.<\/p>\n
The good thing about public speaking in school is that most assignments are group presentations. If you can\u2019t figure out how to get out of a group presentation, you can at least talk to your groupmates about how you\u2019re feeling.<\/strong><\/p>\nIn today\u2019s day and age, people are much more open and understanding of mental health issues. Anxiety is no different, and most people are aware that other people experience a degree of stage fright. With any luck, someone in your group will have less of an issue with this.<\/p>\n
Something you might consider is asking to take a lesser role speaking in the presentation. If the other students are anxious as well, this may be a hard sell; but at least then you have some solidarity.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, you can offer to do more of the work researching or writing <\/em>the presentation in exchange for a lesser speaking role \u2013 a great deal for anyone who doesn\u2019t mind talking. If all else fails, you can always slip someone a twenty to read your lines (sorry for my loose moral compass).<\/p>\nNote<\/strong> \u2013 for group presentations, really make an effort to negotiate a fair arrangement. Be willing to work hard to make up for less speaking. Don\u2019t surprise the group and ditch; it\u2019s unfair to pass your stress over like a baton. Your teacher won\u2019t appreciate it either, and you\u2019ll probably fail.<\/p>\n5. Pre-Record Your Presentation or Use Other Presentation Tools<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis is my absolute favorite trick for how to get out of giving a presentation.<\/p>\n
With this method, you can create a high-quality presentation without<\/em> having to stand in front of the class and speak. In other words: Get the A+ without<\/em> the stage fright. <\/strong><\/p>\nThere are several ways to do this.<\/p>\n
The most basic method is simply a pre-recorded video of you speaking to the camera in a \u201ctalking head\u201d video. Depending on the quality you want, most people could do this for free by recording with a smartphone or webcam. For better results, use a quality camera and editing software.<\/p>\n
Better yet, you could drop the video (or just an audio recording) in the corner of a standard PowerPoint presentation. This way, it\u2019s as simple as hitting \u201cplay\u201d and stepping away from the stage. You get the same information across without having to actively speak in front of the class.<\/p>\n
The best results (in my opinion) would be to utilize some premium presentation software tools. Among my favorites are Doodly<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>and Toonly<\/strong><\/a>, which allow one to easily create high-quality animated videos (don\u2019t worry, they\u2019re extremely intuitive, drag-and-drop style). This is my favorite option because the result looks like you put in more work rather than less<\/em>.<\/p>\nCheck out this article on my favorite presentation software reviews<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>before you spend any money.<\/p>\n6. Consider Online Classes <\/strong><\/h3>\nNot everyone thrives in the traditional classroom setting; I know I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
For these people, online classes can be a good option.<\/p>\n
Now, more than ever before, we\u2019re realizing that colleges can just as effectively teach students online as in-person. Even better, self-paced learning allows the kind of flexibility necessary to receive an education while balancing work and family. It\u2019s often much more affordable as well.<\/p>\n
Since I already have an article discussing how online classes can help anxious students<\/strong><\/a>, I\u2019ll leave off here. If constantly figuring out how to get out of giving a presentation isn\u2019t your thing, consider online classes.<\/p>\nWhy Avoiding Presentations May Not be the Best Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\nWe\u2019ve talked a lot about how to get out a presentation in school.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s time for me to be responsible and tell you a hard truth.<\/p>\n
Avoiding our fears can be a massive relief, but ultimately, it\u2019s a terrible long-term strategy. To actually beat<\/em> our anxiety, we need to be willing to confront our phobias \u2013 even when this is uncomfortable.<\/p>\nMy favorite way to do this is through gradual habituation<\/strong><\/a>. Basically, exposing ourselves to our fears at a slow, if slightly uncomfortable pace. Through time and practice, our fears are lessened bit by bit. The trick is to step just outside out comfort zone<\/em> without necessarily \u201cjumping right into the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"comfort](\"https:\/\/dontpanicdothis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comfort-Zone-vs.-Growth-Zone-vs.-Panic-Zone.png\" "\\"Comfort")
![\"comfort](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20623%20326%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" "\\"Comfort")
![\"gradual](\"https:\/\/dontpanicdothis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Exposure-Hierarchy.png\" "\\"Exposure")
So why am I dedicating an entire article to how to get out of a class presentation?<\/p>\n
The simple answer is: I\u2019ve been there.<\/p>\n
Anxiety, especially social anxiety, starts to rear its ugly head right around high school or college for most of us. This is a difficult, and often confusing, chapter of our lives. We\u2019re learning who we are and how our brain works while simultaneously juggling our social, romantic, and academic lives.<\/p>\n
Standing in front of the class stressed me out so much in high school and college, I spent more time avoiding presentations than I did studying. My daily anxiety was so bad, it’s surprising I didn\u2019t just drop out altogether. This kind of environment was simply non-conducive to learning for me.<\/p>\n
While I didn\u2019t always avoid presentations, I sure did skip a lot of them. Unfortunately, skipping presentations reflects poorly on your GPA, which doesn\u2019t always feel fair; After all, you\u2019re an anxious student, not an incompetent one!<\/p>\n
This article is for any student who is desperately nervous about a class presentation coming up. <\/strong>For anyone who doesn\u2019t want their GPA to suffer or to have to quit school due to social anxiety;<\/strong> anyone who just isn\u2019t ready to be pushed into facing a phobia before they\u2019re ready.<\/strong><\/p>\n Of course, ultimately, I want to see my readers conquer their fear of public speaking once and for all. Head over to this article if you\u2019re ready to overcome presentation anxiety and stage fright<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>for good.<\/p>\n For everyone else, let\u2019s just focus on how to get out of a class presentation for now.<\/p>\n If anxiety and panic attacks are new to you, they can be pretty overwhelming and confusing. Perhaps something simple, like giving a speech in class, is making you nervous when it never did in the past. This is totally normal and was my experience as well.<\/p>\n Before my first few panic attacks, I would\u2019ve never understood the fear of public speaking. Sometime in early high school, I had a completely random panic attack while giving a speech. Thankfully, it largely went unnoticed, but it made me anxious about every class presentation to follow.<\/p>\n A fear of public speaking can develop for a number of reasons. For many people, it\u2019s a genetic predisposition to social anxiety; at a certain age, we start to worry more about what people think. For others, we learn to associate a negative or traumatic experience with the situation and become anxious when we think about it. <\/strong><\/p>\n While it may not make sense for us to panic in such a harmless situation, there\u2019s an evolutionary explanation for this. Since our brains evolved to their current form many years ago, some systems once intended to assist us now simply cause us stress. Being surrounded by a crowd may be harmless today, but to our ancestors it may have posed a very real risk.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got some time to kill, check out this piece on the evolutionary psychology behind anxiety<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n *<\/strong>Note <\/strong>\u2013 This trick is specifically for college students and may not work in high school*<\/p>\n Something I learned early on in college was that I simply learned better on my own. This was no disrespect to my professors of course, they were all great! But I was a psychology student who was genuinely fascinated by the course material.<\/p>\n I was content to read the textbooks by myself from the comfort of my dorm room. Struggling to stay awake in a 9am lecture hall, or nervously shifting in my seat before a class presentation, did nothing to improve my understanding of psychology. I learned best on my own.<\/p>\n Knowing this, I devised a system for how to avoid class presentations and class participation in general. I called this trick the \u201cTake 7, Drop 5\u201d method. Here\u2019s how it worked: <\/strong><\/p>\n Funny enough, I actually had a number of friends ask, \u201cI never see you in class, how are you passing?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n The reality was, this is how I learned best; self-guided and from home. It\u2019s not a system that works for everybody, but it\u2019s an option for anyone wondering how to avoid class presentations and participation.<\/p>\n I firmly believe that most teachers and professors really do want their students to succeed.<\/p>\n As professional public speakers<\/em>, it can be easy for teachers and professors to forget that some students are socially anxious. Sometimes, they may want <\/em>to push students to face their fears and grow.<\/p>\n Regardless, no teacher can know what you\u2019re feeling unless you communicate with them.<\/p>\n The absolute easiest way to get out of a class presentation is to talk to your teacher about it. Sure, this can feel like an embarrassing and difficult topic to bring up. Nonetheless, I promise you are not the first person your teacher has spoken to about a fear of public speaking. <\/strong><\/p>\n You can pull your teacher aside for a private conversation, or even reach out to them via email. Let them know how hard it was for you to even come to them and open up about this issue. Explain to them that you are going through something difficult right now with your anxiety.<\/p>\n Most teachers will be able to sympathize with your situation and perhaps propose an alternative assignment for you. Others, however, might insist that the best way to conquer this fear is to tackle it head-on (which isn\u2019t false). You can assure them that you plan to address the issue in your own way eventually; for now, you\u2019re just looking for some compassion.<\/p>\n The important thing here is honesty and compromise.<\/strong><\/p>\n Teachers deal with a lot<\/em> of lazy students who come up with all kinds of excuses to get out of work. You want to make it clear to your teacher than this is not your intention.<\/p>\n Suggest a compromise.<\/p>\n Perhaps, rather than giving a 5-minute presentation, you could write a 5-page essay?<\/p>\n Make some ambitious suggestions and see if you can come to an agreement. After all, as long the work is getting done and you\u2019re learning, isn\u2019t that the most important thing?<\/p>\n I made these kinds of compromises with professors on a number of occasions. I\u2019m not too proud to admit that one time, I even gave my presentation to the teacher privately in an empty room.<\/p>\n Be honest, open, and willing to put in hard work, and most teachers will be willing to work with you.<\/p>\n Perhaps the least ethical of my suggestions today, but this worked for me enough times to make the list.<\/p>\n Ah yes, the age-old \u201cmy dog ate my homework\u201d<\/em> trick.<\/p>\n The simple fact is, things do <\/em>come up in our lives that require us to take a day off from class.<\/p>\n The key to a good excuse is that it’s out of your control and doesn’t reflect poorly upon your reliability. Ideally, it’s also something that cannot be disproved; if you use an excuse like a canceled flight, actually look up<\/em> flight cancelations from the night before.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019re going to use one of these excuses, you should let your teacher or professor know immediately.<\/em> Waiting a week to give them your excuse takes away from your reliability and credibility. Inform them of your \u201csituation\u201d immediately, and ask for a chance to make up the assignment.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unlikely your presentation would be rescheduled to cut into another day\u2019s lesson. More likely, your professor will ask you to email your project over or present it privately during office hours.<\/p>\n Fun Fact: <\/strong>During my worst days with panic attacks and anxiety, I truly used some ridiculous excuses to avoid presenting. I\u2019m by no means proud of this (it\u2019s very embarrassing) \u2026 but one time, I went up to the professor with tissues pressed to my nose. I told her I had a nosebleed and had to go to the restroom. I handed her my speech and just never went back. Fortunately for me, she accepted and graded it.<\/p>\n Like I said, by no means do I think making excuses is the best long-term strategy. I\u2019d just rather give any extremely anxious<\/em> students an option beyond dropping out entirely. <\/strong><\/p>\n If negotiations with your teacher or professor don\u2019t go so well, you can always talk to your peers.<\/p>\n The good thing about public speaking in school is that most assignments are group presentations. If you can\u2019t figure out how to get out of a group presentation, you can at least talk to your groupmates about how you\u2019re feeling.<\/strong><\/p>\n In today\u2019s day and age, people are much more open and understanding of mental health issues. Anxiety is no different, and most people are aware that other people experience a degree of stage fright. With any luck, someone in your group will have less of an issue with this.<\/p>\n Something you might consider is asking to take a lesser role speaking in the presentation. If the other students are anxious as well, this may be a hard sell; but at least then you have some solidarity.<\/p>\n Otherwise, you can offer to do more of the work researching or writing <\/em>the presentation in exchange for a lesser speaking role \u2013 a great deal for anyone who doesn\u2019t mind talking. If all else fails, you can always slip someone a twenty to read your lines (sorry for my loose moral compass).<\/p>\n Note<\/strong> \u2013 for group presentations, really make an effort to negotiate a fair arrangement. Be willing to work hard to make up for less speaking. Don\u2019t surprise the group and ditch; it\u2019s unfair to pass your stress over like a baton. Your teacher won\u2019t appreciate it either, and you\u2019ll probably fail.<\/p>\n This is my absolute favorite trick for how to get out of giving a presentation.<\/p>\n With this method, you can create a high-quality presentation without<\/em> having to stand in front of the class and speak. In other words: Get the A+ without<\/em> the stage fright. <\/strong><\/p>\n There are several ways to do this.<\/p>\n The most basic method is simply a pre-recorded video of you speaking to the camera in a \u201ctalking head\u201d video. Depending on the quality you want, most people could do this for free by recording with a smartphone or webcam. For better results, use a quality camera and editing software.<\/p>\n Better yet, you could drop the video (or just an audio recording) in the corner of a standard PowerPoint presentation. This way, it\u2019s as simple as hitting \u201cplay\u201d and stepping away from the stage. You get the same information across without having to actively speak in front of the class.<\/p>\n The best results (in my opinion) would be to utilize some premium presentation software tools. Among my favorites are Doodly<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>and Toonly<\/strong><\/a>, which allow one to easily create high-quality animated videos (don\u2019t worry, they\u2019re extremely intuitive, drag-and-drop style). This is my favorite option because the result looks like you put in more work rather than less<\/em>.<\/p>\n Check out this article on my favorite presentation software reviews<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>before you spend any money.<\/p>\n Not everyone thrives in the traditional classroom setting; I know I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n For these people, online classes can be a good option.<\/p>\n Now, more than ever before, we\u2019re realizing that colleges can just as effectively teach students online as in-person. Even better, self-paced learning allows the kind of flexibility necessary to receive an education while balancing work and family. It\u2019s often much more affordable as well.<\/p>\n Since I already have an article discussing how online classes can help anxious students<\/strong><\/a>, I\u2019ll leave off here. If constantly figuring out how to get out of giving a presentation isn\u2019t your thing, consider online classes.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve talked a lot about how to get out a presentation in school.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s time for me to be responsible and tell you a hard truth.<\/p>\n Avoiding our fears can be a massive relief, but ultimately, it\u2019s a terrible long-term strategy. To actually beat<\/em> our anxiety, we need to be willing to confront our phobias \u2013 even when this is uncomfortable.<\/p>\n My favorite way to do this is through gradual habituation<\/strong><\/a>. Basically, exposing ourselves to our fears at a slow, if slightly uncomfortable pace. Through time and practice, our fears are lessened bit by bit. The trick is to step just outside out comfort zone<\/em> without necessarily \u201cjumping right into the fire.\u201d<\/p>\nWhy am I Nervous About Speaking in Front of Class?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How to Get Out of a Presentation for Class: 6 Tricks<\/strong><\/h2>\n
1. Check the Syllabus in Advance for Class Participation Requirements<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
2. Communicate to the Teacher and Request Alternative Assignments<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Keep a Valid Excuse Handy Just in Case<\/strong><\/h3>\n
For Missing a Presentation or Class<\/h2>\n
Good Excuses:<\/h3>\n
\n
Bad Excuses:<\/h3>\n
\n
4. Offer to do More of the Work for Less of the Speaking<\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. Pre-Record Your Presentation or Use Other Presentation Tools<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6. Consider Online Classes <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Why Avoiding Presentations May Not be the Best Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n