Is there a way to control my emotions during presentations and discussions?

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ode_to_joy
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Hi everyone :)

I have been exploring this forum as a guest and just created my account

I just want to talk about a situation I encountered at school today.

My physics teacher is a quite nice guy and really tries to make our class fun. One day, we got into a discussion about appropriate language and politeness. Then he brought his anecdote.
"... especially more polite then asians. When I was in Hongkong, the students were like 'Hey Mr.X you smell like curry! whassup..."
I believed it was intended as a joke. All students laughed. Then I realized that this was really inappropriate to laugh. But I could not control my emotion and laughed a few more seconds while other guys just stopped laughing and got back to work.

Then I realized the teacher should have said "some Asians" or have not made that kind of racial reference. It was an overgeneralisation. I wasn't seriously offended. I don't know of the other asian girl in my class though. I should have issued about this to the teacher.

Also, I get really anxious when I present in front of my class, even when I ask some questions. I literally can hear my heart pumping faster. Is there any way to be cool and relaxed and controll my emotion?

Thank you
 
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Welcome to PF, ode_to_joy!

Your teacher should have made reference to the culture and not a race, that's true. I think you're right in interpreting what he said by what his intentions were, and not on the exact words he used. And you know him well enough to know he wasn't trying to be mean.

It's normal to get a bit flustered when talking in front of people. The best way to control it is to practice it a lot. Yes, sometimes your emotions will get too strong and you may be embarrassed, but keep trying!

Do you get nervous when you speak in smaller groups of people?
 
Hi lisab

well, I do actually get little nervous in discussions and stumble a lot. I feel relaxed only when I am talking to my close friends.
 
ode_to_joy said:
Hi lisab

well, I do actually get little nervous in discussions and stumble a lot. I feel relaxed only when I am talking to my close friends.

That's alright! You'll find a lot of people on this forum have the same problems as you do. A lot of people really do not like to talk in front of a large audience or strange people. I don't really like strangers myself, in that I'm really shy and nervous when I first meet somebody.
The thing is that you need to practice a lot of discussions and presentations. It does get better over time. My first presentations were horrible, but now I can do fine. I'm still shy, but after a while you can control it better!

And welcome to PF, by the way!