| How to Reduce Your Speech Anxiety Posted: 27 Oct 2016 05:00 PM PDT Most people have a case of the nerves a little bit before presenting a speech. When you don't handle these nerves properly, they can negatively affect your speech by making you seem unsure about what you are saying. It may be difficult to get rid of these nerves entirely. But you can learn how to reduce your speech anxiety by understanding your anxiety, preparing for and practicing your speech, and taking care of yourself. EditHandling Your Anxiety - Write down reasons why you're anxious. Having a clear understanding of your anxiety will help you reduce it. Jot down a few reasons why you feel nervous about your speech. Try to dig into specific reasons.
- For example, if you write down that you're worried that you'll look stupid in front of a crowd, think about why you think you'll look stupid. Is it because you worry that your information is wrong? Once you know this, you can spend more time researching and learning your topic.[1]
- Quiet your inner critic. When you think negative thoughts about yourself and your performance, your anxiety will grow. If you don't have confidence in yourself, you may think, how will your audience have confidence in you? When you catch yourself thinking negatively, stop yourself. Replace it with a positive thought.
- For example, you might think, "I'll forget my entire speech. I don't know what I'm doing." Stop this thought and replace it with, "I know my topic. I've done lots of research. Plus, I will have my speech written down and I can look at it when I need to. And if I stumble over a few places, that's okay."[2]
- Know that you're not alone. The fear of public speaking is known as glossophobia. About 80% of the population gets anxious about speaking in public.[3] This group feels nervous, has clammy hands, has a racing heartbeat, and feels jittery. Know that it's perfectly normal to feel this way before a speech.
- While it can be an uncomfortable experience, know that you will get through it. And each time you give a speech, you'll get more accustomed to the experience.
EditPreparing Your Speech - Find out the guidelines for your speech. We tend to fear things that are out of our control. Though you cannot control every aspect of your presentation, you can reduce speech anxiety by controlling the situation as much as possible. If you are asked to give a speech, find out the expectations of the organizer.
- For example, are you giving a speech on a particular topic, or do you get to choose your topic? How long is the speech supposed to last? How long do you have to prepare the speech?
- Knowing these elements from the very beginning will help reduce your anxiety.
- Get to know your topic. The more you know your topic, the less nervous you will feel when you talk about it in front of others.[4]
- Choose something about which you are passionate to address in your speech. If you do not get to choose the topic, at least try to find an angle that interests you and which you know something about.
- Research more than you think you should. Not everything you learn will end up in your speech, but it builds your confidence in the subject matter.
- Get to know your audience beforehand. Be sure to know who your audience is. This is key because you will tailor your speech to this audience. For example, you will give a different speech to experts than the speech you'd give to novices.
- Write a speech that suits you. Use language in your speech that fits your speaking style. Try not to adopt a way of speaking that isn't natural or comfortable, as your discomfort in the style of the speech will likely come across in your delivery.
- Have a well-prepared speech. The more prepared you are, the less anxiety you will feel. Have the entire speech written out beforehand. Find appropriate illustrations and examples for your audience. Create effective and professional-looking presentation aids to accompany your speech.
- Have a back-up plan. Consider what you will do if your presentation aids do not work due to equipment malfunction or power outage. For example, print out a copy of your slides to refer to should your slide show not work. Decide how you will fill the time if your video does not work.
EditFiguring Out the Logistics of Your Speech - Get familiar with your presentation venue. When you know where your presentation will take place, you can envision yourself giving your speech. Check out the room where you're be presenting. Get a feel for the size of the audience. Know where the restrooms and water fountains are.
- Ask about your presentation time slot. Figure out when you're giving your speech. Will you be the only speaker, or will there be several speakers? Are you going first, last, or in the middle?
- If you are given a choice, determine what time of day you'd prefer your speech. Do you tend to operate better in the morning or in the late afternoon?
- Figure out your tech needs. If you're planning to use audio or visual aids in your presentation, find out if the venue can accommodate them.
- Communicate presentation preferences to the organization. For example, if you prefer using a hand-held microphone over a headset, tell them. Other things to consider are using a stool, having a podium or table, and having your slides show up on a small monitor for you to use so you do not have to read off the big screen. Work these details out with the organization, instructor, or other representative before the day of your speech.
- Test audio and visual aids beforehand. If your presentation aid doesn't work during your actual presentation, you will feel heightened anxiety. Try to prevent this by testing your aids in advance.
EditPracticing Your Speech - Rehearse your speech on your own. We tend to be nervous about things that are unfamiliar to us. Take the time to practice. You do not need to memorize your speech word for word, [5] but you do need to familiarize yourself with your main points, introduction, transitions, conclusion, and examples. At first, practice alone. This will give you a chance to iron out any uneven spots in your speech. Read it out loud. Get used to hearing yourself. Test the wording and make sure you are comfortable with it.
- Then practice in front of the mirror or videotape yourself so you can see your gestures and facial expressions.
- Focus on the introduction. If you start your speech off well, your speech anxiety will drop considerably. Then you will likely feel more comfortable throughout the rest of your presentation.
- Although you don't need to memorize the speech, be very familiar with how your speech begins. This will allow you to start the speech confidently and with authority.
- Practice in front of others. Find friends, colleagues, or family members who are willing to listen to your speech. Ask them to provide suggestions. This will give you the chance to become more familiar with speaking in front of an audience. Consider it a test run for speech day.
- Practice in your speech venue. If it's possible, practice in the room where you will actually present your speech. Take note of how the room is set up. Find out what the acoustics sound like as you speak. Stand at the podium or front of the room and get comfortable here. This is, after all, where you'll be presenting from.
EditTaking Care of Yourself Before the Speech - Get a good night's sleep. Having a full night's rest before you present your speech will ensure that you are clear-minded and not tired when you present. Get 7-8 hours of sleep to ensure you are well-rested.
- Eat well. Eat a healthy breakfast to give you energy for your speech. You may not be able to eat much if you are nervous, but you should try to eat something. A banana, yogurt or granola bar is good for a nervous stomach.
- Dress appropriately for the presentation. When you are giving a presentation, you should dress for the occasion. Typically, you should dress nicely for a formal presentation.
- Wear something that makes you feel confident yet comfortable. If you are too uncomfortable, you might spend too much of your attention on how your feet hurt or your neck is itchy.
- If you're unsure of the dress code, ask the organizers. Shoot for more formal over less formal clothing.
- Take deep breaths. Breathing deeply can help calm your mind, slow your heart rate, and relax your muscles.[6]
- Try the 4-7-8 method: Inhale through your nose for a count of 4. Then hold your breath for a count of 7. Exhale out your mouth for a count of 8.[7]
- Try meditation. Meditation is a great way to slow down your mind and be present in the moment. This will help reduce your anxiety over your speech by bringing you away from your anxious anticipation. You will instead focus on what is happening in this precise moment. Try this simple method of meditation:
- Find a comfortable seat or bed in a quiet spot where you won't be disturbed.
- Relax your body and close your eyes.
- Start breathing deeply, inhaling for a count of four and exhaling for a count of four. Focus your mind on your breath.
- When your mind begins to wander, acknowledge the thought and let it go. Return your focus to your breath. Breathe in. Breathe out.
- Try this meditation for 10 minutes every day to reduce overall anxiety. Make sure to meditate the morning of your speech.
- Use visualization exercises. Visualizing that you are a successful public speaker will help you when you are actually doing it. Run through your speech and imagine how the audience might react at different points. Think about different reactions, such as anger, laughter, awe, applause. Take deep breaths as you imagine each of these reactions.[8]
- Go for a walk before your speech. Get your blood and oxygen pumping a little bit by taking a short walk or getting other exercise the morning of your speech. You will burn off some of your stress with the exercise. It will also give your mind a chance to focus on something else for a bit.
- Stay away from caffeine. Caffeine can contribute to jittery feelings, exacerbating your anxiety. Your usual cup of coffee in the morning might not make a big difference. But when you're already feeling anxious, coffee or caffeinated soda can add fuel to the fire.[9]
- Instead, try a calming herbal tea, such as chamomile or peppermint.
EditStarting Your Speech - Read your anxiety as excitement. Instead of thinking how nervous you are, think of these feelings as excitement. You are excited about giving this speech and having the opportunity to share your thoughts and expertise on a topic.[10]
- During your speech, use your nerves to energize your gestures and body movement. Try to keep it natural, however. Don't pace around, but it's okay to walk a bit if you feel comfortable doing so.
- Speak confidently. Fear of public speaking is one of the most common phobias, but many of these people hide their nerves well enough that the audience isn't aware of their anxieties. Don't tell the audience that you're nervous or anxious. If the audience perceives you as confident and positive, you will feel more confident and positive.[11]
- Find friendly faces in the audience. Though many people think making eye contact will make their anxiety worse, it can actually reduce it. Simply find some friendly faces in the crowd and imagine that you are having a conversation with them. Allow their smiles to encourage you throughout the speech.[12]
- Let go of mistakes. Do not get hung up on mistakes. You may mispronounce something or stumble over some words, but do not let that bother you. Most people in the audience will not even notice. Set realistic expectations for yourself. Don't beat yourself up if you make a mistake.[13]
- Join a Toastmasters group in your area. Toastmasters is an organization that helps its members improve communication and public speaking skills.
- If you need to regularly speak in public and you feel extremely anxious about it, consider seeing a mental health professional.
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| How to Photograph the Moon Posted: 27 Oct 2016 09:00 AM PDT Evocative moon photos are a real talking point when done well. Unfortunately, it's not a case of simply pointing your camera moon-ward and shooting; doing that might be tempting but the end photo won't be worth viewing let alone sharing with others. Instead, once you're aware of what you need by way of a lens and how to tweak the aperture and shutter speed, you'll be able to get great shots of the moon. With a little photo-taking know-how, the moon might just become one of your favorite photo subjects. - Choose a suitable lens, which is 200mm or larger. The moon will look tiny in your photo if taken with your normal 50mm lens. After all, there is a lot of sky and the moon is just a little ball from where you're standing. Choosing a good lens will improve the whole appearance of your photo. A telephoto lens is the best lens for moon photography. The minimum to ensure good detail is 300mm,[1] but better still is a lens with a focal length close to 500mm. This latter lens will give you the image of a full moon approximately equal to 5mm in diameter on your film or digital sensor.
- Be aware of what makes the moon so brilliant. It's sunlight! We see the moon because of the light of the sun reflected from the surface of the moon. Moon is, therefore, your subject in sunlight. As such, setting your camera to nighttime exposure is not going to work as well because you'll probably need daytime settings to counter the bright light. There are several photography "rules" you can try, although it still pays to experiment because your local conditions may cause the rules to not work in your case, while something else might work better for you. Consider trying the following:
- Try the "sunny f/16" rule: Shoot at f/16 with a shutter speed of 1/200 second if your film or sensor sensitivity is ISO 200.
- Owing to the atmospheric haze and dust, and so forth, you might need to shoot at f/5.6 using a shutter speed of 1/250 second.
- Try the "loony 11" rule: Shoot at f/11 at 1/ISO.[2]
- Try Antonio Marques' suggestion: Aperture at f/11, ISO 100, 1/125 to 1/250.[3]
- Find a suitable resting place for the camera. It is important to keep the camera as still as possible for a moon shot. A tripod is ideal, especially with the long focal length of the lens. However, if you're out walking at night and haven't managed to take along a tripod, rest on a rock, fence, car, etc. for stability.
- Another great piece of equipment is a shutter release cable. Rather than having to physically touch the camera (and therefore potentially wobble it), a shutter release cable allows you to take the shot without touching the camera again once it's set up. If you don't have one though, use the shutter delay set to 3-10 seconds, enough time to get your hands off the camera.[4]
- Focus the moon within your frame and set the exposure. Exposure time should be short and it's usually best to photograph the full moon. After carefully focusing the moon (and turning off your auto-focus) and setting your camera to one of the settings suggested above, activate the self-timer and take one picture. Activating the self-timer is important in order to avoid camera shake. The image of the moon here was made using a telescope.
- Take test photos. You need to get used to your camera's capacity for taking photos from different angles and at different speeds. If the initial speed isn't working for you, play around until you find the one that produces the best shots. The important features of the moon should be clearly seen on your photo (craters, the Man in the Moon, etc.).
- Antonio Marques suggests that if your camera enables you to take sequential shots with different EV values, that you bracket the EV 1 or 2 units.[5]
- Take more photos. Take two more pictures with exposure settings of 1/125 sec. and 1/500 sec. at f/5.6. And perhaps experiment with a few other settings. You will get at least one perfect picture of the moon with good details showing in it.
- Review if possible. If you have a digital camera with a clear screen of each shot, try to see which ones have worked best after you take them. When you think you know which ones are working well, take a few more using that setting.
- Go through your photos on the computer at the earliest possible opportunity. Select those that produced the best photos and study them closely. What is it about those photos that appeals to you and how can you recreate that effect each time?
- Play around with the moon photos on Photoshop or any other photo altering program you own. You might like to sharpen the angles, brighten it, bring out some features with more clarity, etc. Consider highlighting some colors and textures more, if needed.
- Also try black and white, sepia, and varied color settings to see which provide the best appearance for each moon shot you've taken.
- Be creative. Good moon photography isn't just about the settings. It's also about focusing on the angles, the different times of night, or incorporating landscape features. Think about how you might need to take into account these other elements for your moon photography hobby.
- Make notes in a photo journal to remind yourself next time of the settings, times, temperature, etc., that make for the best shots with your camera.
- Get adventurous. Once you're feeling comfortable with full moon shots, try a sequence that shows all the phases of the moon. Also consider taking moon shots during different seasons and different times of the night. The varying light and shadows on the moon will change depending on the time of night and year, so it's worth experimenting more if moon photography gives you a buzz. Make a few photo collages on your photo program, to highlight the beautiful variances in the moon.
- While you don't have to use a self-timer, it is one way to avoid camera shake, resulting in noise in your image.
- There aren't specific best times to photograph the moon. Although, you will want to be aware of the times the moon rises and sets in your time zone. This will help you capture the moon when it is lower and closer to the horizon.
- Make sure you don't use IS or VR on your digital lens or camera. Those will cause your camera and lens to vibrate and result in an image with noise.
- Look for natural reference points to include in your photographs, trees, the moon's reflection in water.
- The moon is often up during the day. You can get interesting images, especially early morning and late afternoon. It helps in capturing near by clouds which can add an interesting element. Play around when editing. You can simulate a darker time than when the photo was taken.
EditThings You'll Need - Camera, digital or otherwise
- Appropriate lens, either 200mm or larger with a minimum F4-5.6
- A cable to remotely release the shutter
- A sturdy tripod
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| How to Understand Medical Terminology Posted: 27 Oct 2016 01:00 AM PDT If you're a student of the medical or health sciences field, you'll be introduced to the world of medical language. At first glance, the jargon that medical professionals use to describe body parts and organs, procedures, and conditions can seem a bit daunting and intimidating, but is easy to pick up and master over time. See Step 1 to learn the basics of linguistics and understand medical terminology. - Obtain and use a medical dictionary. This step is optional, but highly recommended for breaking down medical jargon that many people are initially unfamiliar of. These dictionaries give the meanings to the word parts and can translate medical-language-to-English and vice versa.
- Get to know the basic word parts. The first part of deciphering a medical term is to know the different components of a term.
- Root: the essential meaning of the word.
- Combining form: a root with a vowel attached to it, most commonly the letter O. This vowel is known as the combining vowel because it combines the root with the rest of the term. When writing the combining form itself, a slash ( / ) is used to separate the root and combining vowel. As long as the combining vowel links the parts together, a word can have multiple roots.
- Suffix: the end of the term that gives part of the word's meaning.
- Prefix: appears at the beginning of some words to modify its meaning.
- Example 1: CARDIOLOGY means study of the heart. cardi/o is the combining form (cardi + o), and -logy is the suffix.
- Example 2: POLYNEUROPATHY means disease of many nerves. poly- is the prefix, neur/o is the combining form (neur + o), and -pathy is the suffix.
- Understand the rules that govern the use of combining vowels.
- If a suffix starts with a vowel, drop the combining vowel.
- Example 1: NEURAL means pertaining to the nerves. neur/o is the combining form and -al is the suffix. Because the suffix starts with a vowel, the combining vowel is dropped.
- When using multiple roots, keep the combining vowels even if the second root begins with a vowel.
- Example 2: GASTROENTEROLOGIST means a doctor specializing in the stomach and intestines. gastr/o is the first combining form, enter/o is the second, and -logist is the suffix. Note that both combining vowels are present.
- To get the meaning of a word, read it from the suffix to the beginning and then across. In other words, read the suffix first, then the prefix if there is one, and finally the root.
- Example 1: HEMATOLOGY, -logy (study of) + hemat/o (blood) = study of the blood
- Example 2: HEPATITIS, -itis (inflammation of) + hepat/o (liver) = inflammation of the liver
- Example 3: INTRAVENOUS, -ous (pertaining to) + intra- (within) + ven/o (vein) = pertaining to within a vein
- Example 4: TACHYCARDIA, -ia (condition of) + tachy- (fast) + cardi/o (heart) = condition of a fast heartbeat
- To make a word, infer the meanings of various word parts and combine them to make a term.
- Example 1: Removal of the uterus = HYSTERECTOMY, -ectomy (removal, excision) + hyster/o (uterus)
- Example 2: Pertaining to within a muscle = INTRAMUSCULAR, -ar (pertaining to) + intra- (within) + muscul/o (muscle)
- Example 3: Cancerous tumour = CARCINOMA, -oma (tumour) + carcin/o (cancerous)
- Example 4: Condition of an overactive thyroid gland = HYPERTHYROIDISM, -ism (condition, process) + thyroid/o (thyroid gland) + hyper- (higher-than-normal)
- Practice proper pronunciation. In the medical world, correct pronunciation is not only important for maintaining your professionalism, but it also helps to prevent misinterpretation and confusion caused by differing pronunciations. There are many words that have unique pronunciations. You may find that how you read a word in your mind isn't how it's supposed to sound like. The following is a brief list of words and their intended pronunciations; boldface capitals indicates the syllable that is stressed:
- arthroscopy: ar-THROS-ko-pe
- atrophy: AT-ro-fe
- biopsy: BI-op-se
- electroencephalogram: e-lek-tro-en-SEF-ah-lo-gram
- erythrocyte: eh-RITH-ro-site
- hematoma: he-mah-TOH-mah
- hypertrophy: hi-PER-tro-fe
- laryngeal: lah-RIN-je-al or lah-rin-JE-al
- metastasis: meh-TAS-ta-sis
- oophorectomy: oh-of-oh-REK-to-me or oh-oh-for-EK-to-me
- relapse: reh-LAPS
- tachypnea: ta-KIP-ne-ah
- Don't get confused over similar word parts and terms. Some word parts and terms are similar in both spelling and pronunciation but opposite in meaning. It's important to differentiate between these to avoid a misleading, possibly harmful diagnosis or treatment plan in your career. Examples of these are:
- hyper- (higher-than-normal) and hypo- (lower-than-normal)
- sarc/o (flesh) and sacr/o (sacrum)
- -tomy (incision, cutting into), -ectomy (excision, removal of), and -stomy (opening)
- -plasia (formation), -phagia (eating or swallowing), and -phasia (speech)
- hematuria (blood in the urine) and uremia (high levels of urea in the blood)
- menorrhea (normal menstrual flow) and menorrhagia (abnormally heavy menstruation)
- Some terms have word parts in which their individual meanings differ slightly from the definition of the term itself.
- Example 1: ANEMIA is a deficiency in the amount of hemoglobin (the iron-containing protein in blood) and/or the number of red blood cells, resulting in reduced oxygenation to other cells of the body. Literally, the term means "condition of no blood", because of the word parts an- (no, not, without) + -emia (blood condition).
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