e6bpilot

I am not an airline pilot (yet), but I do fly heavy jets for the military. Being an aircraft commander in our case means teaching the young up and coming copilots to fly the plane and manage the cockpit and crew. You do it by nature whether you are an instructor pilot or not. I would imagine it is pretty similar in the airline industry.
I learn something from just about everyone that I fly with, junior, senior, or peer. Good CRM = instructing.
Being a CFI is going to teach you a lot about managing a student, flying, and multitasking in general. It is a good foundation that is an important part of what you are going to do for the rest of your aviation career.

Flaps15

Anytime I was in ground school for my PPL it was always one on one. I know it's called ground school, but there (for me) was no "class" setting. It was always just my instructors and I. Maybe this is because it was at smaller airports. Maybe at a busier flight school it's a little bit more populated.

Another point is this: when I am giving a presentation in a college class, usually it's over something I have only been studying for a week or so. A subject I studied purely for the sake of presenting it. For a CFI/CFII that's not the case. You study aviation for months, maybe even years before you're asked to give lectures on it. At that point, you know it like the back of your hand and who knows, it may just feel more like a conversation rather than an instruction since you'd be so knowledgeable. Just my thoughts.

DO: Know how to communicate well enough and react in high stress.
DONT: Stress over small things or think that CFI is the only way to get to your goal. There's always time-building jobs outside of instructing!

El Pilot

I have had stress in the cockpit before, ( graveyard spiral in IMC during instrument rating) but that's totally different. My situation is more psychological, I have a developed a fear towards oral presentations. I'm more reserved and serious. That is my only reason, but I guess the best thing to do is just try. I still want to see if anybody else has "made it" without giving any dual.

USMCFLYR

You were in a TRUE graveyard spiral, in ACTUAL IMC conditions, during your instrument TRAINING (as in with CFII on-board)???

I'm sorry - what does being reserved and serious have to do with standing up in front of people and talking?

What it seem is that you have a phobia against public speaking, and rationalizing it isn't going to help.
Seek help - and not just for the possible CFI eventuality - but for an improvement in life.

I had a fairly signigficant stutter when I was younger. I eventually out grew it, but if you are still having problems at your age then you will probably need some professional help.

El Pilot

Yes, or at least it was close to developing. we were doing the DME Arc into vero beach,when I asked the instructor to explain the chart. At that point no one was flying the plane. It rolled to the left past 30 degrees and the nose dropped. Instructer began to pull up instead of reducing climb power and leveling the wings. The turn got tighter unill I corrected the situation. Miami center got back at us for losing altitude while IFR. Being reserved and serious = introvert = not the most social creatures.

PILOT811

While in college and training for my CFI certificates I was not the biggest fan of giving presentations but knowing that made me try harder to overcome it. For some people public speaking is second nature, for others it requires a little more work.

I earned my CFI, CFII, and MEI certificates (with the intent of instructing) but I have rarely used them. Instead I was offered a job as a survey pilot which has provided me with a significant amount of flying experience. Don't get me wrong, flight instructing is a great way to build experience and hours. But, there is more than one way to do it.

own nav

I don't think it's a bad thing to explore other options. You might end up on an eternal waiting list to get hired at a a flight school even if you do become a CFI. It does happen when flight schools get backed up.

I've seen a handful of people "make it" without instructing. Typically it involved building time to over 500 hours on their own dime, then moving to a place like Las Vegas where there's a lot of low time jobs like Grand Canyon tours, skydiving etc.

Bozo the pilot

Although thoroughly annoying, insructor time is valuable. I know a few guys who avoided it, but it was before the 1500 rule. Its gonna be tough to build that kind of time-but im sure guys will have ideas for ya. Good luck

Rodger Wilco

I have no doubt that you can be a good CFI, just work hard. The fact that you are concerned about your quality as a teacher tells me that you would be a good teacher. There are a lot if dudes only instructing to get the hours and they make it very obvious that they really do not care at all about the quality of their lesson. You will be fine, instructing is mostly 1 on 1 anyways.

Now, about this "low standard of 40-60k a year".... Hahaha, here is the bad news; sadly that is a high standard for pilot pay. If you are going to be an instructor you better forget about Starbucks and grow an appetite for cold cereal as dinner.

JohnnyG

I think you should do it and not worry about it. Take your writtens and go to the ATP 2 week intensive. Make good friends with your apartment mates and let them help you become an instructor who can speak and relate.

Many anxieties such as public speaking can be overcome fairly fast with the right conditioning. In fact, most people with little public speaking experience have anxiety over it.

Good luck!