Shaking in my Boots

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It's safe to say I was terrified to give my journal club presentation. Of course I have given presentations in high school before, but it's not quite the same thing as when you're standing in front of a very small room full of 20 very intelligent students, your instructors, and the comm lab fellows. I had rehearsed and rehearsed my presentation and felt ok before I walked into the room, but as soon as I got up to present, my mind went blank. Thank goodness I had written speaker notes to help me because I think I would have stood in silence otherwise. I was surprised and relieved that once I started speaking, everything came back to me. There were definitely moments where I knew I was reading my speaker notes, but overall, I think I was able to give a decent presentation. I was more worried about the Q&A, but that was the part I think went best because I knew that I had a better understanding of my paper than anyone else, so I was able to answers the questions I was asked. I have no advice to calm nerves other than to just go sooner rather than later so the presentation is over with faster (:

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