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Subject:RE: deer in the headlights From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <SGallagher -at- akonix -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 21 Feb 2002 12:09:23 -0800
Keith,
It's called stage-fright. Everybody gets it to a certain extent
and it's more prevalent in some situations than others. But it's
stage-fright none the less. When someone is watching you perform,
performance anxiety takes over; and it doesn't matter if you're
standing up in front of an audience or sitting in front of your
workstation with only one person standing over your shoulder.
The only way around stage fright/performance anxiety is to
practice it out of your system. Take a public speaking course,
join toastmasters, sing a solo at the karioke machine,... The
more you perform, the easier it is to control your anxiety.
As a former white-knuckler myself, I totally commiserate with
you. When I landed a job as a trainer in the early 80s, I knew
I had to get over it, so I took a voice class at the local JC.
After a group warmup and a little rehersal time, each member
of the class got up on stage and performed a solo, then the
rest of the class critiqued the performance. After a couple
of semesters of this kind of torture, I had it licked, as
anyone who's attended my sessions at STC conferences can
attest to. ;-)
HTH! Good luck!
-Sue Gallagher
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com [mailto:kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com]
>
> Does this happen to anybody else? I'm a decent typist, and a fairly
> self-confident guy. I'm pretty good at what I do (or just
> really good at
> surviving layoffs - that's admittedly a judgment call).
>
> So why is it that when somebody stands behind me, looking over my
> shoulder, and asks me to do something - anything - on my computer, I
> freeze up?
...
>
> Is it just me, or do I have a support group out there?
>
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