There’s a special kind of fear that only comes when your professor locks eyes with you during a lecture. You’re minding your own business, pretending to look engaged, and suddenly… you hear your name. Now the challenge is trying to remember literally anything about the topic you’ve been pretending to follow for the last 45 minutes and more importantly say something that hasn’t already been said.
Why is this so terrifying??
It’s not about knowing the answer, it’s really about how now there is 30+ eyes waiting for you to say something important. The social anxiety takes over and it’s like everything we have learned is in a language that you don’t know. For most of us, it’s a fear of being wrong and looking dumb in front of our peers. Even though everyone else probably feels the exact same way, the pressure feels so individual.
Here are some tips that I have found help me survive the much-anticipated cold call. For reference, when I started college, I would have been the girl who froze if a professor called on me without me raising my hand. These techniques helped me come a LONG way so no matter where you are starting from, it will get easier.
Filler Words
Sometimes you just need a minute to collect your thoughts and come up with something that is reasonably relevant to the prompt. Try repeating their question back to them, saying “That’s a great question,” or even asking them to clarify. Anything to give your brain those extra few seconds to remember what you learned!
Pull From Person Experiences
This won’t help you out when professors are looking for factual information or calculations, but a lot of courses at Bentley are discussion based and even if it doesn’t seem like it, a lot of that can relate to your life and your experiences. If a professor calls you out and asks what you think, it’s a lot easier to talk about how the topic relates to you or work you have done in the past, rather than trying to recall something from the textbook. Who knows these insights into who you are might actually help you to strengthen your bond with your professor and demonstrate how much you care about the course!
Embracing “I don’t know”
It’s okay if you don’t always have the answer, and it won’t make you look stupid for saying so. More often than not the other people in the room won’t know either and are just grateful it wasn’t their name that was being called. Admit that you aren’t totally sure and 9 times out of 10 the professor will be grateful for your honesty because it let’s them know they should go over that topic again.
It’s Not That Deep
This is the hardest lesson I had to learn but the most helpful. Nothing in class is that deep. It feels like it in the moment, and you feel so judged by everyone around you. But the hard truth is most of the class will not be paying attention, and the ones that are, will not remember how you answered a question the second the class is over. Even if you stumble over your words or can’t muster the courage to speak at all, that was 10 seconds of your long long life. So, stop thinking about it.
To sum it all up…
The unfortunate reality is that cold calling is a part of college life, no matter how unfair that may seem. What the good thing is, is that all of your peers know that your answers to a cold call is not a reflection of your intelligence. It’s a weird academic tradition that everyone collectively hates, so the next time your professor decides to call you out, take a deep breath, and remember you have time.
And as a final comment, if any professors are reading this right now… kindly put an end to the cold calling.