Response to David Su

I was reading David Su's blog and I found some quotes I can really relate to:

Before and during a speech or a conference, I become extremely nervous and feel the need rush. I want to get the speech or my part of the conversation over with. When this happens, it tends to imply that I will shake my legs or stutter.

 I have the same bad habits as David. When I read a paper in front on the class, my leg starts moving around like it has its own mind, and my mind tells me to speed up my reading and get it over with. My whole body gets cold, and I get chills down my spine. I sometimes read the wrong words or even skip a line when I am nervous. My eyes want to get over with the text so fast that I lose focus of where I am reading, and when I look up to the audience, I see everyone staring or gossiping at me.

In my opinion, I believe that i become nervous because I know that there is something on the line; my grade. Usually when I normally talk to friends or teachers as a casual talk, I feel fine because there is nothing that could influence greatly on my future. 

I also feel that I only get nervous when I speak in front of a crowd because I don't want to screw up badly. This self-conflict leads to me worrying about reading the paper, which distracts me, making me confused of what I am supposed to read. This also happens when I write a paper that I don't proof-read. When it is time to actually read the paper, I find many mistakes that throw me off course, making me have to think on the spot of what I was actually saying, and change it before I look really unprepared and dumb. Usually, the teacher sees right through this, and instantly deducts points, leading me to learn my lesson and regret spending those few extra minutes reading what I have written over again to check for mistakes.