DR. WALLACE: I hate giving presentations more than anything else in the world, but I have to give a major presentation next month for one of my classes, and the presentation will count for over 50% of my grade.

Whenever I give presentations, my worst fears seem to come true. For example, the last time I tried to give a presentation in class, I had a major panic attack and ended up running out of the classroom! It was one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life, and I was depressed for months after it happened.

How do I overcome my fear of public speaking when I have evidence from personal experience that it almost always ends in disaster for me? Overall, I'm a pretty good student, but everything seems to go out the window the moment I have to make a public presentation, especially one with this much pressure attached to it. — Panic Sets In, via email

PANIC SETS IN: In a word: practice! Take your time at home to get to really know your subject matter. Focus on the fact that you are indeed a pretty good student overall. Lean on the logical knowledge that you are a good student in this class and that you do know the subject matter well.

Next, think about the other fellow students in this particular class that you are closest to. Does a friend of yours have this same class with you? If not, who are you most friendly with in this class? Find this person and see if you can both practice your presentations at home together for each other. You can provide each other with constructive criticism as well as confidence boosters. If each of you can master giving the presentation to the other, you're 90% of the way toward your ultimate success!

Once the day for the presentation arrives, be sure the two of you both sit up at the front of the class and then during the presentation, you can feel as if you're giving your presentation only to your friend, the way you did at home. You can look right at your friend as you speak and occasionally glance above his or her head to look over the rest of the room, but look intentionally above the eyes of your fellow students. Look at the tops of heads briefly, then focus back on your friend again.

If you can do this in practice, I trust you can feel confident you can do it well in class also. You are a good student, you do know the subject well, and you have a friendly face to present to. Stay focused there and I trust your anxiety will be greatly reduced and your grade will be greatly enhanced.

HE SAYS IT'S A CLEAN BURN

DR. WALLACE: I'm 16 and I live way out in a rural town in Nebraska. I've heard all about the dangers of smoking cigarettes and even vaping. Some rural kids like to smoke cigarettes when nobody is looking and a few are still vaping, even today after all of the warnings came out on vaping.

For the most part I've stayed away from smoking, even though I did try a few cigarettes about three months ago. I didn't like them and so I quit even though one of my good friends still smokes cigarettes today.

Well, I have another friend who now tells me the only safe way to smoke is to smoke corn silk! He claims it's a "really clean burn" that won't do any damage to my body at all. He says it's a regal, smooth smoke that's fit for a king! For whatever reason, he keeps bugging me to just try a smoke at least once every weekend. Could what he's saying be true? Would it be safe enough to smoke corn silk instead of tobacco, which we already know is not safe? — Not So Sure, via email

NOT SO SURE: I am sure. Sure that smoking corn silk is not a good idea, and that I can ethically advise you not to inhale any smoke, from any source. Almost all burned substances contain toxic chemicals that will be harmful to your lungs. You may not be a king, but you'll be healthier than any would-be king who inhales burned corn silk.

Stay away from firsthand and secondhand smoke of all kinds over the course of your lifetime and you'll then indeed be treating your body like a king.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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