Ask Arizona: Curing the (Hiccup!) Jitters by Lissa Rovetch

Author:Lissa Rovetch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Highlights for Children, Inc.
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Once I realized the world wouldn’t end if I messed up, I felt better.

“That’s exactly what I’m stressing about. There’s no way I can get up in front of my whole class!”

I was fairly positive my parents were going to say “Nonsense!” or “Don’t be ridiculous!”

Luckily, they both knew just how I felt. They even took turns telling stories about times they’d been nervous. And you know what? Even though their situations must have seemed pretty bad way back when they were happening, we could all laugh about them now.

My parents suggested I list everything that I thought might go wrong during my presentation. That really helped, to see all of my worries written down. Once I realized that the world wouldn’t end if I messed up or even if I hiccupped, I felt way better.

After that, I was calm enough to practice my presentation a few more times.

“Sounds good to me!” said my mom.

“And if you still feel jittery tomorrow,” my dad said, “just imagine that your audience is a bunch of cute little piggies.”

The next day, my presentation went fine—and I didn’t hiccup at all, although I had water there just in case. But I did giggle a little. (You would have laughed, too, if you’d seen that audience of cute piggies!)

So, dear Nervous, here’s my advice. Instead of focusing on how your stomach feels, try making a worry list and talking it over with someone. Also, do your best to be prepared. (After practicing so much, I actually started to look forward to my presentation!) Once the time comes, take a deep breath and use your energy to do the best job you can do.

And if you happen to mess up—though you probably won’t—you can laugh about it later!

Ciao for now,

Arizona

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.