What have been your experiences with public speaking? For example, in a communications class.

I had to do a presentation today and I know I sounded very nervous. Now I'm agonizing over how it could have gone better. I practiced it beforehand and it was fine. But when it came time to actually present in front of the class, my heart rate skyrocketed and I had a hard time breathing, so my voice quivered.

The entire thing was 45 minutes (I was in a group) and it seemed like it would never end. It got better by the end of it (because I got more used to it), but the beginning was really bad.

Think about how professors have to do this every single day. Every lecture is public speaking.