Nervousness
No matter how prepared I am with my lesson plans and knowledge I am still always a little nervous and feels that interferes with the way I deliver my lectures because I know students can probabely sense nerves. Any suggestions?
Hello Isiah,
I know that sometimes nerves get the best of us, but you must always remember that you are the teacher, the subject matter expert. Believe me; your students are as nervous if not more as you!
Sometimes it helps to do a little breathing exercise before you start class. That can help to reduce the amount of tension/stress for both you and the students. It only takes a minute and it’s kind of a good way to start the class everyday.
In time, you will feel more comfortable in front of your students and you will think back about these days and laugh!
I wish you the best of luck,
Lucy
Hi Michael,
Some instructors don't like to take the time to do introductions at the beginning of a new course since they feel it takes time from instruction. As you say introductions are great ways of getting to know students and why they are there. I to use introductions and some ice breakers to get my classes started. The results are the students get to know each other and I have started developing rapport with them. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I believe introductions are great. Students want to know who we are, they want confidence in knowing we have experience in what we are teaching them. They like to here we are human as well, and of course they like to share who they are....most of the time. It gives me an opportunity to find out right away who is enguaged or not.
Hi Calixto,
In spite of the nerves you are the instructor in charge and the students have paid to be in your class. You have been hired as a result of your experience in the field. Combining these two items, experience and leadership and you are in a great position to influence the lives of your students. As you gain experience as a teacher you will lose the nerves and grow in your abilities. Though I find that I have a bit of the nerves each time I start a new class since I am excited about meeting the new students and learning how they will react to me and the course content. This I think is a good thing since a bit of the nerves keeps us on our toes.
Gary
I am also new to the field of teaching, and get very nervous when it comes to public speaking. In my opinion though, I don't think that it is a good idea to joke about being nervous with your students. Remember, you are in a leadership position and you need to display confidence. Even if you don't feel very confident at first, it is important that they perceive you as being a confident, competent instructor.
Hi Duane,
A case of the nerves is OK when starting a new class since both you and the students are getting to know each other. Once you all get settled in then the class can move forward. By getting to know the students you get your nerves in check and concentrate on being the subject matter expert.
Gary
I find it nervous to start lecturing to classes for the first time. You don't know the students yet,so I try to break the ice by having them tell me something about themselves.
I also remember that they are there to learn from me and they look at me as the subject matter expert. This is very true, we are the subjet matter expert and we just have convey that to them.
Hi Fe,
Good ideas about how to get "settled" into a new class and reduce the nerves. Also, you make a good point about feeding off your audience. You students can be of real help to you if you use them as a part of what your doing through discussions and group activities.
Gary
I agree with this suggestion. The only thing that helped me get over nervousness is to begin with something I am passionate about. I like to feel driven to bring this information to them. I am then focused outside of myself instead of on my bodily sensations. I also find that if I can talk with them in conversational style, I can find something that can help lead into my topic. There is something you pick up from the audience that can guide you into approaching a topic from an area that they can understand.
Hi Robert,
Good way to get a jump on the nerves. For some new instructors just standing in front of the class is bad enough but to have to talk as well that is real cause for nerves. By standing up in front of the class and then walking around while they talk about themselves gives you chance to pause, reflect and then proceed. Thanks for sharing this strategy. Hope your succeeding lectures when a little less stressful.
Gary
I recently had my first lecture. I was very nervous. The thing that worked best for me was asking questions of the students about why are they taking these courses? What do the hope to acomplish etc... This helped because it allowed me to listen to them for a moment while I became comfortable.
Hi Nancy,
Good observation. Nerves to operate both ways when starting a new class. The instructor's in trying to learn about the students and getting the class started off well and the students in terms of trying to determine what is going to be required of them and how they will be treated by the instructor.
This is an opportunity to advantage of the nerves and help the students get settled in an focused on what is going to come.
Gary
I feel nerves are also experienced by the students and will not be as noticeable as you might think. Excitement may also appear as part of the nervousness and add energy to your presentation.
Dr. Meers,
I am new to the field of instructing students, but I have a good knowledge of the subject matter. I am very apprehensive about "public speaking". I know I am not alone in this and I know I will get over it. My question is, do you think joking with the students about being nervous is inappropriate? Thanks, Paul.
I think it is just a normal reaction to be nervous especially when presenting something you never have in the past. As your comfort level increases, the nervous feelings tend to vanish. When you are taken out of your comfort level then people tend to get worried about how they are performing in the classroom. The best thing to do is to give your best each day, and if something blows up, learn from it and try to do better the next day.
Dr. Meers,
When I will be presenting new material for the first couple of times I also am nervous and find myself spending time trying to come up with questions the students will ask to make sure I have all the bases covered. I will go thru the material and find the answer to questions that I might have after running thru the presentation or
Text material.
Hi Isiah,
It is normal to be bit nervous before delivering a lecture if it is the first time you have shared this information or it is a new class. My suggestion to overcome the nerves is start the lecture with something you are in complete command of and feed comfortable with. This will get the class off to a good start and you can get your nerves settled before you launch into new material for both you and your students. You will find that if you talk about something even if it is just for a few minutes you will start to get comfortable and you will do a good job with the lecture content.
Also, you might start the class with a small group activity and that will help settle the nerves as well then you can move onto the lecture.
Gary
