Anxiety about Speaking at the Meeting

My mom and I practice Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism and have bi-monthly meetings at our house. The people that come are all people I know very well. Well for the meeting tonight they want me to get up in front of everyone and introduce the meeting and also close it. I’m very isolated and withdrawn and have anxiety about this. What if the demons show up and try to distract me? I’m nervous. Why am I nervous if they are people I’m comfortable with? I should just do it. Any suggestions :question:

I think your audience wants you to do good. How about doing some practicing before the big night? It might help you to be comfortable at the real thing.

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That’s a good point. I have time tomorrow that I can practice. Thanks for the advice Nick :sunny:

Just focus on the fact that you know these people. They know you. They are rooting for you. I can understand the anxiety. But you’ll have your Mom there and no one is there because they don’t want to be. It’s not like a work meeting where everyone hates their life.

You’ll be great.

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Lol that’s a good point J, thanks…btw how is school going for you?

I had similar issues at meetings that I had to chair. Coming up with the opening topic to discuss share personal info and closing. I would get sweaty shaky and on the verge of a panic attack. I would think about the topic beforehand and have a loose idea of what I would say. In my experiences if I tried to write down and memorize a script it made me more nervous because I was afraid I would screw up, forget, and lose my place. Rehearsal helps a ton but leave much wiggle room so you can keep going from any place in the opening and closing. Also like what others are saying, they all know you and are just happy to see you and hear what you have to say :slight_smile: When its over you will feel really good. Have fun and remember no worries good luck friend!

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hey i was just impressed that you practice buddhism, i love all their sayings.
you will be amongst loving souls, and remember even normal people get nervous, buddhism is about non judgement , love and kindness, you will be in a loving space.
take care

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Thanks for the encouragement, as it turns out I didn’t have to do it. A lot of people couldn’t make it so we just chanted. Sith you would probably like the Buddhism I practice. We chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo which means devotion to the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration. Through doing this we get benefits in our lives and it brings out our personal obstacles and guides us to have victories in our lives by becoming more enlightened people.

So far school is going pretty well. I’ve been keeping up and I’m glad I did the english class on line. I will get my test results back soon and then I will know how well I did

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That’s awesome!! I love doing school online…I can do my whole program that way…good luck.