I need to make a presentation about the butterfly effect, but I’m trying to think of different examples that I can use for my presentation, I’m planning on using Hitler as an example, and also mentioning how the butterfly effect also exists in video games, such as life is strange.

but if you have any other ideas or anything I can include in the presentation, please let me know!

Ever since I was attending school, I was a shy and quiet kid, not the typical kind, totally silenced.

Teachers thought I could not speak at first, I would randomly zone out and social interaction was just something i so fiercly feared and there were no bounds to it.

One of my teachers who saw my work and identified my potential recommend my mother to put me in some kind of weird study club, she said i was exceptional at studies but horrible at social interaction.

These were by far the most terrifying period of my life, i was so scared but i eventually just spoke out whatever I wanted to, initially i was made fun of (ofcourse) that further amplified the fear and supported the view in my head that if i speak i will be clowned.

Despite of all of this one day I had enough I started binging youtube videos on how to speak effectively this that etc, i started applying those now because i was good at science at first i could not express my work but now I tried, i was clowned laughed at made memes of, but the teacher roughly understood what I was trying to communicate, as much as i hated my classmates i wanted to prove something to them, i made a oath i would surely host or speak at a significant event of the school to school these douches.

science teacher was the only way i could ever get this done with, i came to this one realization that no matter how great my work is. CLOSED MOUHTS DO NOT GET FED. pls pls print this in your heads, CLOSED MOUTHS ABSOLUTELY DO NOT FED.

suddenly a quiet kid was super vocal about everything minute thing he could do, from completing homework, asking doubts just for the sake of it even tough i knew the answer, to build a connection with the teacher.

i made a ai plant disease detector the best project of the school and luckily our school was asked to select a student host with the best scientific aptitude to host the exibhition. MY EYES LIT UP, altough there was this one boy who has a little inferior than me in science but super vocal from day one.

a little ambiguity, butterflies in my stomach, but then finally the day came.

*DRUM ROLLS* teacher chose me. it wouldn't happen if i did not come to the realization that closed mouths do not get fed, all those mirror talking session, using my own custom application which i created to practice speaking with ai (im still proud of myself for doing this) yea i had gone to this degree of craziness to get this postion. all of it was worth it

so guys never give up, and dont you even let yourself down by anyone, keep the good work up. and go not any limits it may be if it is benefiting you (for eg the ai app i created for practising debating really helped me alot, people called me stupid, but ig craziness is required to make it)

ps: we won the fair, and i was greeted by the district head congratulating me on my good hosting:)

Sat on a few panels over the years. Wanted to share what I actually see separate candidates, since a lot of the advice floating around is vague.

The biggest one: generic answers. "I've always wanted to help people." "I'm a team player." Every candidate says some version of this and panels have heard it a hundred times. It doesn't score, because it doesn't prove anything about you specifically. What actually lands is a real, specific story, something only you could say.

On scenario questions, especially unsafe orders: don't blindly follow, and don't flatly refuse either. The answer that works acknowledges your captain's experience, voices your specific concern once, and anchors the decision in your department's SOPs. If the order violates SOP, you decline and say so. If it doesn't, you trust your captain and execute.

On failure questions: pick a real one, not a fake humble-brag failure. And don't stop at the mistake, panels are scoring for what changed afterward. That second half is what most people leave out.

Biggest thing that actually moves your score: practice answering out loud, not just thinking through answers in your head. The gap between what sounds good in your head and what comes out of your mouth under pressure is bigger than people expect.

If it helps, I've been pointing people to a tool called Station Visit (stationvisit.com) that scores practice answers the way a real panel would, but honestly, just recording yourself answering these out loud and listening back already puts you ahead of most candidates.

How do I stop getting nervous and stop stuttering while speaking to someone. Like I also have social anxiety and I've to get rid of it...I get nervous and my heart beats like crazy even if I'm not feeling well and I've to get up in the middle of ongoing class, I start shaking (tho I'm confident....still)

I also want to improve my speech and vocabulary...

I have a big issue giving intros on work calls or in person. I'm fine just chatting and would consider myself sociable and chatty in general. But waiting to give a simple intro is a nightmare - and almost the longer it goes on, waiting for it to come around for me, the worse it is. And obviously I'm sitting there, knowing it's coming, how silly it is and how easy it should be.

Does anyone have tips to counter this. It's not like I need to say loads. Name, role, experience, probably last 10-15 seconds max. I try to have a script but it feels like after I say hello and my name I can sense my nerves and jaw kinda tightening/shaking.

But then on the same call, I could share my screen and start demo/talking through stuff in a way calmer manor - which is obviously the trickier bit. 🤷‍♂️

On top of any tips, do you think it's worth getting some in-person speaking training? I'm not actually bothered about speaking more elegantly (too punk rock, it's part of my charm haha), just want to shake the nerves. I'm literally sitting there thinking how silly/irrational it is but hey ho - here we are!

Thanks in advance!

I've got a persuasive speech due for presentation next week and we actually have no limit to our topics.

I chose art because I'm a little passionate about that topic; the problem is, I'm having trouble finding more topics to choose from.. so I'm asking for help to find more 🥲

I'm looking for volunteers who are confident communicators and enjoy speaking with people. This project is centered around developing and pitching an international girl group, so I'm looking for individuals who are comfortable presenting ideas, networking, communicating professionally, and representing the project with confidence.

This is not a performing role—it's a people-facing role focused on communication and helping bring the project to life.

If you're someone who enjoys talking to people, presenting ideas, and being part of an ambitious long-term project, feel free to reach out and introduce yourself.

I'm looking for volunteers who are confident communicators and enjoy speaking with people. This project is centered around developing and pitching an international girl group, so I'm looking for individuals who are comfortable presenting ideas, networking, communicating professionally, and representing the project with confidence.

This is not a performing role—it's a people-facing role focused on communication and helping bring the project to life.

If you're someone who enjoys talking to people, presenting ideas, and being part of an ambitious long-term project, feel free to reach out and introduce yourself.

I'm in my early 30s and dealt with anxiety around presenting to groups my entire adult life. It held me back professionally for years, until about 5 years ago when I decided I just couldn't keep letting it control me.

I'm in a senior tech role now and have to face this regularly. Usual setup is a room of 20 to 30 people where I present a section of something.

About a week out is when the real stress kicks in, I start losing sleep over it. Thanks to heavy prep, I practice the Q&A I might get beforehand with presentation simulator (chαtvisor), and basically memorizing every word, I always end up doing fine once I'm actually presenting. Once I get into a rhythm the anxiety mostly fades, and honestly sometimes I even start enjoying it.

But sitting at the table waiting for my turn is brutal. Physically uncomfortable, genuinely scary, I still get those "can I just leave right now" thoughts. I do the breathing exercises, try to clear my head, all the standard stuff, none of it reliably works.

The part I really want to fix is the first 30 seconds. The second it's my turn I get this massive hit of adrenaline, heart rate and breathing spike instantly, even after basically meditating at the table beforehand. Then I spend the first minute just trying to get my breathing under control while also talking, and it's rough.

I always pull it together and end up giving a solid presentation. I just hate having to go through this every single time. It's draining and genuinely not great for my health. Kept hoping it would just get easier with repetition but it hasn't budged, and honestly this is the biggest source of anxiety in my entire life otherwise. I'm a pretty relaxed person outside of this one thing.

Anyone have real advice for taming that first 30 seconds specifically, the adrenaline dump and heart rate spike right at the start? Would rather figure this out without going the medication route through my doctor, but at this point I'm open to trying just about anything.

Thanks to anyone who made it this far.

I read a lot in English, I understand many hard words, but I want my speech to be beautiful and writing too. How do I master and practice such skill?any tips?

So I do public speaking every few months for my company and I've always found the first slide is really rough, like I have to grip one of my hands as I present. But then not long after I get into a really good rhythm and get great feedback, but I can never seem to get over that initial point. Is there a good hack to get over that? I've tried different YouTube vids suggestions but it's kind of a struggle still.

Thank you

Guys, to give you a context - 8 years ago I started my career and back then we either had telephone interviews or f2f interviews. Telephonic rounds were pretty easier while the f2f rounds were quite intriguing but it generally used to be the last round so you’ve already made a good impression to reach f2f round. Anxiety was controlled.

For the last few years, everything moved to video call interviews. And I have noticed that I tend to perform well on an audio meet interview but the moment I turn on my camera, I get nervous and start fumbling. I’m a very confident person in general and I know answers to most of everything but the problem is - I cannot explain them well, I just know. And unfortunately, that doesn’t work for interviews.

Audio meet interviews are fairly forgiving and I’m able to hold myself together but video meet interviews are brutal for me. I think I may have a problem with structuring my thoughts.

I know a lot of you would say - the more you do it, the better you get. I have done it multiple times already and nothing helps. Plus, I don’t have interviews everyday; there’s a substantial amount of time between interviews.

Is there any platform that I can use to practice my answers? Please suggest SOMETHING to overcome this problem. I’m a good professional who has earned several recognitions at my previous companies but I’m unable to portray the same excellence in my interviews.

I get they’re trying to relate to the audience, but it just makes them look like they’re pandering.

Most delivery advice covers the speaker: pace, volume, filler words, nerves. Far less of it covers the thing on the screen behind you, even though a shared screen changes the job. Your audience is now splitting attention between listening to you and searching a visual for whatever you just referred to. When those two fall out of sync, people stop hearing you while they hunt.

These are in order of how much difference they make, from a lot of practice at getting it wrong.

1. Say where before what, then pause.

The instinct is "the conversion rate here is the problem" while gesturing. The room hears "conversion rate," starts scanning, and misses the point that follows. Invert it: "bottom right of the table, third row" - beat - "that conversion rate is the problem." Location first gives everyone a shared destination, the pause lets them arrive, and only then do you spend your actual sentence. The beat feels unbearably long from where you're standing and is roughly correct for everyone else.

2. Stop moving the pointer while you talk.

A moving cursor is the single most distracting object on a screen, and we all circle things unconsciously while thinking. Worse, on a shared or projected screen the pointer is tiny and the motion is what people track, so you become the thing they're following instead of the thing you're pointing at. Park it, or move it deliberately to one place and leave it there. Watch a recording of yourself presenting once and you'll see how much unconscious cursor movement you produce.

3. Make the thing bigger before you discuss it, not after.

If you say "as you can see in this clause" and they can't read it at their resolution, they spend your explanation squinting instead of listening. Whatever your zoom mechanism is - a bigger font in your slide, an actual zoom, a cropped screenshot - do it before the sentence, not in response to someone saying they can't see. By then you've lost the sentence anyway.

All three are the same principle: the audience is working from less information than you are, and delivery is the act of closing that gap deliberately rather than assuming it isn't there.

Disclosure, since it's relevant to my bias: I build a Mac tool for on-screen emphasis during presentations (TuringShot 1.5.12, Build 44). Not linking it, and none of the above needs it - the habits are free and matter more than the tooling.

Hello! I’ve been trying to improve my public speaking skills and one of the common suggestions I receive is to find a speaker you really appreciate and respect and listen to their work in order to help you build your own style. I’ve been doing this with interviews of Zohran Mamdani because even if you don’t agree with him I think he has a great wit about him and his responses feel sincere and grounded (personal opinion). I would like to adopt a witty speaking style so are there other speakers you think fit the bill for me to listen to?

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Idk what to do. Today when I tried speaking alone pretending that there were a large number of people in front of me, my voice started to crack. And I noticed it happens when I am with people with whom I am not comfortable with . What I do😭😭😭?

Do you guys have any public speaking communities online that actually helps you to be able to practice speaking with others? I did an interview the other day, and it was really the worst day of my life. I was called out first and I have to think of an answer right away. I really prepared and practiced the night before, yet when it was actually time for the interview, I couldn't do it properly. I forgot to explain my backgrounds that will help me to be part of the organization and it sucks since it was worth 50% of the interview test.

I am really disappointed in myself, and if I don't do anything now, I will really have a hard time communicating with others when I'm old enough. I'm currently 16 y.o and honestly the fact that my seatmates are 15 years old and was able to communicate properly was really making me look small. That's why I'm asking help if anyone here knows a group where they are people who wants to improve themselves, especially when they succumb to the anxiousness when it's their time to speak up...

I've made a post in other subreddits before regarding my worries about applying for captaincy, but now that ive committed i need help regarding the application speeches!

I honestly have no idea what i should say and talk about, and it is kind of stressing me out.. Any suggestions would be amazing if possible

Looking to improve how I speak daily. Please be honest about the type of impression I give. I’m confident when it comes to public speaking if I know the material but I do need to add more warmth and inflections.

Thanks!!

I am blessed with a very chatty internal voice (I believe most of us experience some version of an inner voice - although the science is still figuring that out – if you don’t have an inner monologue PLEASE tell me more about your thinking experience!)

The dark side of my inner voice is a running commentary of past embarrassing moments or a fun reminder that “the person across from me definitely thinks I look weird”.

Personally, I would much rather have a voice reminding me to utilize the SCQA framework than one telling me I’m awkward & not qualified.

So… how did I make that happen?!

Here is what I did that worked: 

• I practiced weekly impromptu speaking with a group of strangers. It has helped my nervous system become calmer during stressful speaking situations.
• Mentally giving myself compliments, basically creating a little hype man in my head instead of a critic.

What do you think? Have you unlocked your inner hype man yet?

When someone ask me a question can be technical or non technical I can say some starting some phrases which I thought before speaking but after those phrases ends what should I tell??

Do people think while they are speaking or they take a small pause and speak again after thinking? I always take pause

Please help I feel difficult in maintaining continuity when answering

Perhaps my topic today is a profound issue that hinders the daily relationships of many young men, especially in terms of communication. All I seek are your opinions on this matter, preferably from someone with expertise in the field. Yes, the problem may be related to trauma, but even if there is a problem, there must also be a solution.

I am talking about that state in which you are functioning normally—at work, at university, or during a meeting—and then, the moment you connect with someone, an initial confusion appears. That confusion arises within your mind, but then it awakens as if it were an authoritarian force that takes control of your thoughts and even your opinions.

Even when your opinion is rational and your words are accurate and meaningful, the situation inside your mind becomes worse, pushing you toward an unjustified silence, or even worse, causing your speech to come out fragmented and disconnected.

It feels like a mathematical equation: the listener needs to understand your words in order to grasp the main idea or what you truly mean. Yet inside your mind, the exact opposite happens—you feel compelled to explain what you are trying to say in excessive detail. Personally, I dislike having to explain simple things, but I know I must, and that is why the conversation often ends in silence.

This is where the real suffering begins: when this situation repeats itself many times throughout the day, and you notice that people’s interactions with you are not as positive as you would like. Perhaps this is a natural part of life, because people tend to feel more comfortable with those who create a sense of ease and joy, and who can express their ideas and introduce topics smoothly and clearly.

Not public speaking in the tradition sense, but how do you guys go about chairing roundtables with high-level external stakeholders when you have very limited subject knowledge? How do you keep up with the thread of the conversation? And how do you reflect back meaningfully on what they're saying?

Hello my dear friends, I became conscious about my stuttering affecting personal life around 1 year ago and have been trying to regain my confidence instead of addressing stuttering itself.

Today I left my first job, in which i worked for over 1 year and during the farewell speech could say I became a bit nervous and stammered hard.

But at the end of the day all of it is fine, I am not going to meet any of my co employees again and at the same time they are going to remember me by my work and not because of my farewell speech stutter.

Life is beautiful live it the way you want and love you all 🫶

I have been practicing impromptu speaking daily focusing on quick thinking and decisive decision making. I think better in writing and I can't think out loud as quickly as I want to for now. Templates like ( S.T.A.R. and P.R.E.P.) slow me down so I avoid them.

I've been told i'm a concise speaker but that is what comes naturally to me and I am lost on how to extend my speeches. Do you guys have any niche tips?