Presentations

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Is anyone else scared of holding a presentation?

To me it's not just embarrassing but I always fear being laughed at and that my teacher and classmates think of me as an idiot. I'm highly anxious when it comes talking in front of people. Do you have similar feelings?

Sure I do.

What are you giving a presentation on?

I think I can help you get started on the carboxylic acid information:

In organic chemistry, carbon chains can sometimes contain functional groups. These functional groups change the chemical properties of the overall compound. Alcohols are carbon chains that have a C-O-H at one end of the molecule. Ethanol, H3C-C(H2)-O-H, is an example of an alcohol. It can also be represented by replacing the carbon chain with an R, giving R-O-H as the shorthand form of an alcohol. Carboxylic acids are compounds that contain both a C=O and a C-O-H on the same end carbon atom on a carbon chain. You can think of it like an end carbon having both an aldehyde and an alcoholic functional group. A carbon in the middle of a chain cannot be a carboxylic acid because it would then have five bonds. Carbon atoms are restricted to have 4 bonds at the most (with a few temporary exceptions in radical mechanisms). The C-O-H group allows for solubility in water due to hydrogen bonding effects, plus the hydrogen atom can be extracted to form the hydronium ion (H3O+) in water, but only weakly (ie. weak acid strengths). When the hydrogen has been removed, the carboxylic acid shares the negative charge between both oxygens and the end carbon, with each C-O bond being a 1.5 bond strength. This allows for the carboxylate ion to make a wonderful chelating group to metal cations, much like a crap can pinch food. The length of the carbon chain dictates some of the properties of the compound. Short chained carboxylic acids (less than 6 carbons) are very smelly liquids at room temperature. Most of those are used in nature as a warning device to other creatures not to mess with things containing it. For example, HC(=O)-O-H is formic acid, which gives ant bites their "sting", while vinegar is a very diluted aqueous solution of acetic acid, the 2 carbon chain long carboxylic acid. We use acetic acid in dilute form to preserve foods like pickles. The 4 carbon chain long version carboxylic acid is butyric acid (smells like rotten dairy products mixed with vomit). Long chained carboxylic acids (greater than 5 carbons) are odorless white solids at room temperature and are commonly found in natural fats/oils within foods. We use carboxylic acids in our bodies in the production of amino acids. Amino acids contain both a carboxylic acid end and a amino end (R-NH2). These compounds link together to produce long chains that build up into DNA, which makes up proteins within cells.

As for being nervous giving presentations, that is natural. I was very nervous to do class presentations, until I had to give them time and again in a speech class. By practicing over and over, I lost my stage fright to the point that I can easily give lectures to a class on a whim. Trust me, it gets easier with time. Good luck and let me know if you have questions on the above.

Glad I could help you. Let me know if you have any questions about chemistry and I will try to answer them.

When all these idiots laugh, I give them a murderous stare that makes them shut up.

I used to be, but i can manage this fear rather easily.
I took some acting classes in high school, and i apply what i learned there to presentations; they are not too different from holding an oration on stage, so the same training applies (the fear for presentations is basically stage-fright).

Once question time arrives, i will instantly become (appear) less confident, since that bit cannot be prepared for, but the presentation itself can be.

If I've prepared the material carefully and rehearsed it enough I don't have any problems.
If anything, I like the rush of being fully in control of my epic presentation.
People usually don't have many questions. Owww yeah!

Is there any way you can tell your teacher that you have a few friends who would also like to be there for your presentation, and then Skype us all in? I would LOVE to see this presentation!

I think everyone in the world is secretly terrified when they give a presentation. I thought I was going to be fine when I gave my last one, which was my thesis proposal. But I started to have physical issues when I was giving it and I got all freaked out. They could totally tell. I wasn't the smooth operator I hoped to be. :/

NO ONE is going to laugh, or even think about laughing. You have interesting things to talk about, so they'll be looking at the slides, not you. And once you get through the first couple of slides you'll feel a lot better.