Know your topic inside out, then blank the moment everyone looks at you?
Why is presenting so hard?
Presenting means speaking, remembering, reading the room and being watched, all at once. Yet many AuDHD people are brilliant speakers on topics they love.
Nervous isn’t the same as not good at it.
Speaking to a group means doing several hard things at once. You have to remember what to say, keep to time, watch how people are reacting and cope with being looked at. The autistic side may find the attention and the unexpected questions stressful. The ADHD side may go off topic, speak too fast or lose the order. And yet many AuDHD people are excellent speakers when the subject is one they love.
What gets hard
Side by side, it looks like this:
| Autistic side | ADHD side |
|---|---|
| Being watched | Forgetting the order |
| Unexpected questions | Going off on tangents |
| Reading the audience | Talking too fast |
| Eye contact | Running over time |
Hard, but not impossible.
What it can look like
You might recognise some of these:
- Dreading a five-minute talk for weeks
- Knowing the topic inside out, then blanking
- Shaking hands and a racing heart
- Shining when you talk about your passion
- Replaying every word afterwards
Prepare well
- Use clear slides: They can be your prompts.
- Write cue cards: Key points, not a script.
- Practise out loud: In the real room if you can.
- Plan for questions: Guess the likely ones.
- Time yourself: A visible timer helps.
On the day
- Look over heads: No eye contact needed.
- Hold something: A clicker or cue cards.
- Pause and breathe: Silence feels longer to you.
- Buy time for questions: “Let me come back to you.”
- Ask for adjustments: A smaller group, or a recording.
Where to start
Prepare more than seems necessary. Use slides or cue cards as prompts, and practise aloud, ideally in the room itself. Think about the questions you are likely to be asked. On the day, look just above people’s heads, and give yourself time to pause. If you need adjustments, ask.
The bottom line
Your voice deserves to be heard.
This post is for awareness, not diagnosis.
Want the swipeable version? This post is also a carousel on Instagram: follow @johnhasaudhd for more on life with AuDHD.