How You Can Fight Stage Fright: Public Speaking Tips for Teens
Your Teen magazine, April 2020
by Joy Jones
Joy Jones writes: “If they haven’t already, your teen will soon come home with an assignment that most adults fear: public speaking. Speaking in public can be scary, but it’s a skill that will serve your child well at school and throughout their career. A Columbia University paper reports that the social anxiety that leads to fear of public speaking impairs graduation from college by 10 percent. And people who fear public speaking earn 10 percent less money than those who don’t.”
“The good news is, you can fight stage fright. Here are some public speaking tips to help your teen get through it…”
Joy Jones is a former middle school poetry slam coach and the author of Fearless Public Speaking (Sterling Publishing), chosen as one of the Sixteen Must Read Books for Middle Schoolers.
Tech Check, Highlighter (Mid-Atlantic SCBWI Newsletter), Fall 2017.
Stage Fright is Your Friend
Joy Jones writes: “Pick up a pen and your prose flows. Place your hands at the keyboard and your fingers fly, forming fine phrases. But ask you to speak before and audience? Your brain freezes and your heart fails.”
“School visits, book talks and writing workshops help you generate additional income for your writing career. A book signing where you do a presentation rather than loiter behind a table will be far less boring and will motivate more people to buy your books.”
“But what to do about that knee-knocking terror that strikes you when you think about facing an audience?”
“Well, I’m here to tell you that stage fright is your friend. That uncomfortable, uneasy feeling you get at the prospect of delivering a speech is actually a great thing. Here are a few user-friendly ways to think about stage fright…”
Stage Fright is Your Friend, Highlighter (Mid-Atlantic SCBWI Newsletter), Winter 2013.
State of Black Marriage
Read Joy Jone’s report on marriage in Black America, published in the March 2011 issue of Ebony:
Joy Jones, Black Love: Special Report: “State of Black Marriage,” Ebony, March 2011, pp. 72-73.
Why Are Black Women Scaring Off Their Men?
Have you met this woman? She has a good job, works hard, earns a good salary. She went to college, got her master’s degree; she is intelligent. She is personable, articulate, well-read, interest in everybody and everything. Yet, she’s single! In a Washington Post opinion piece, Joy Jones explains why black women may be scaring off their men:
Joy Jones, “Why Are Black Women Scaring Off Their Men?” The Washington Post, September 1, 1991.