I was sweating before I even opened my mouth: could I overcome my fear of public speaking? | Nova Weetman

I thought becoming an author meant I could avoid ever addressing a crowd again. Then I was invited to a writers' festival

When I was younger I was so terrified of public speaking that I went out of my way to avoid it. If I was forced to address a crowd, I didn't sleep for days before because I would loop disaster scenarios over and over in my head. When it came to the actual event, my hands would be clammy, my breathing would be erratic and I'd speed through my speech in a desperate need just to be done.

At university, I chose subjects merely because they did not involve class presentations. I never applied for jobs that meant addressing a crowd. And when my best friend asked me to speak at her 21st birthday, I drank so much cheap wine that I slurred a sentence or two and then fled outside in shame.