Why I Do Not Speak in Public

A few weeks ago my professor approached me before class, to tell me how much she loved my descriptive essay. Normally this would be taken as a huge compliment, which it was, but the sentence that followed this praise was the dreaded, big question. "Could you read your essay out loud to the class?" The horror that went through my mind at that moment was something that I wish on no human being. As the words, "absolutely not" were about to escape my lips, I found that yes had already come out. It was too late, I was done for.

Speaking in public comes as naturally to me as it does to a gorilla. It's something I don't do on a regular basis and something I hopefully never need to do in my life. I avoid it all costs, and with some of the things I hear people say in public places, I believe that many other people should shun this behavior as well. The other problem I have is the inability to say no. I've put myself into some dumb situations because I feel this need to please people, and when under pressure, yes is the only word that comes to mind.