Stage fright while alone on zoom


You'd think that presenting alone and in my own room would make the whole process easier. I sure thought it would. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work like that for me. My journal club presentation had the same nervous verbal ticks my usual presentations do, and having to watch it myself has definitely kept me motivated to improve my public speaking.

A few hours before recording my presentation, I sat with my family and told them about the research paper I was presenting on. I explained it like a pro. The low stakes of a casual conversation meant I could focus on what was actually interesting to me. Recording the presentation... did not go as well. I got caught up in wording I had planned but deviated from, and my words didn't flow like they naturally do. Being aware of what was going on just made it worse. Moving forward, I want to try to treat my presentations more like conversations-- I think it might help me talk smoother and worry less.

I found the research paper itself very interesting, if a bit confusing as well. The researchers were able to use data collected from breast cancer samples to analyze genetic patterns that could be signs of breast cancer. I sometimes felt like they were just having fun playing around with the data and seeing what came out of it-- and a lot did! They found a previously unknown mechanism for what could be the most common cause of breast cancer in young black women. And this wasn't even the central take-home message! The paper had features such as a graph within a graph within a panel within a figure. (WHat??) Who let them do that!  I can see why I got comments on my data summary about better using white space. Having so much information made it hard for me to choose what to put into the story line of my journal club.

Overall, I'm happy to be done. I have two presentations for other classes next week where I'll be presenting in front of a live zoom audience. As I begin to practice, I'll be thinking about talking as if I'm in a conversation as opposed to obsessing over my words.

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