I was the kid in school who always sat at the back of the room, did my work, pulled As and Bs, and kept my head down. I felt that if I didn’t make eye contact with the teacher, he wouldn’t call on me to answer a question in front of the class. It worked. Brilliantly. If any of my teachers knew my name, I’d have been surprised.

I grew into adulthood with a crippling fear of public speaking. Whenever thrust into the role of having to speak before my peers, I would turn red, break into a cold sweat, and get nauseous. And the feeling didn’t end when I could hide once again. I’d remain in a state of nervous anxiety for hours after any public speaking episode.

I never had a problem with speaking to students, which baffled me, but even after becoming a teacher, I was panic stricken if I had to address more than one of my peers at any time. In a career where you are forced into meeting after meeting, it was an untenable situation.

Thankfully, my district began forcing me into more and more public speaking roles. I was asked to be on committees where I was forced to respond, then I was asked to train other teachers. I will never forget the first time I faced a room full of my colleagues. I actually saw black spots dance in front of my eyes and thought I was going to vomit on my podium, but I had no choice. I wasn’t going to be allowed to hide anymore.

Halfway through a daylong training session, I realized I wasn’t trembling, my voice was steady, and my face didn’t feel like it was on fire. Yes, it happened that suddenly and that fast. I wasn’t afraid anymore. I’m not going to tell you I don’t have a flutter of nervousness now when I speak before my peers, but it doesn’t last more than a flutter. I’ve been cured.

The student who so feared being seen by the teacher is herself a teacher who demands participation in her classroom. I may not be able to force my students to do their homework (although I try very hard to encourage them to do so), but I tell them that once they cross the threshold of my classroom, they will participate in class.

I do not want another student to spend thirty years of her life fearing public speaking, so I start small. I have them stand by their desk and tell something about themselves, but I start on the first day of school. Then it’s a group presentation before the class, many group presentations beginning the first week of school. Finally, we work our way up to an individual speech.

It is simple to get kids in front of the classroom. Most teachers do a warm-up at the beginning of class; some teachers call it bell work. When my students enter the room, they have a warm-up on the overhead. I have them attempt the short activity on their own, then I have a student correct it with the entire class at the overhead. I take volunteers at first, but after the more gregarious students go, I call on the students who are reluctant to participate. The student who is being the “teacher” is provided with the answers when he gets to the overhead. I want this to be a positive, successful venture. This student is in control of calling on the class for answers and recording them on the transparency. Most students admit it is a fun experience. They seem to enjoy having that authority over their fellow students. Some even admit that they might think of going into teaching themselves someday.

Last year I had a student lament that he was taking over his father’s cement pouring business and therefore would never need to give a speech. It was one of those perfect, teachable moments. Another student raised his hand and said, “You never know what you might wind up doing. I thought the same thing myself…until last year when my brother got married. He picked me to be his best man.”

I just smiled and let the moment speak for itself.