Fear of Public Speaking - What to do about it
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Do you have a fear of public speaking? If you do, then you have something in common with most of the world. As we mentioned in an earlier page of our site the number one fear of Americans is the fear of speaking publicly. That’s ahead of the fear of death.
So you may be someone who is having to overcome the fear of public speaking and public speaking anxiety. How do you accomplish this? I’d love to humor you with a solution that’s simple or that is as easy as swallowing a pill but that is not the case. The only way to conquer the fear of public speaking is to look the lion in the face and conquer that fear.
What I’m saying is the only way to conquer this fear is to actually get up in front of an audience and speak. No doubt you will be afraid and butterflies will be swarming but you have to realize a few things. The audience is really not your enemy. The fact of the matter is they actually want you to succeed while you’re on the stage talking to them. You are their teacher and you also are serving an important need for them. So instead of thinking of them as the problem think of them as the solution. They are your fans they are actually cheering you on to victory. Victory represents getting your points across to that audience.
Practice. Practice. Practice. The more familiar you become with the material that you are sharing with your audience the more confidence you’ll feel before you speak. And confidence at this moment is just what you need.
Before you go on the stage or platform visualize how it is you are going to deliver your speech. Do not see yourself having a fear of public speaking. Instead see yourself as a master teacher that the audience enjoys. They are hanging onto every word that you have to say. If you can get into your mind that that is what is going to happen your fears will start to subside even before you go to speak publicly.
Some have said that visualizing everyone in the audience is not dressed helps. This has never been something that really worked for me but I certainly can see how bringing humor where nerves are rattled can ease fear of public speaking.
One person I knew would go to the bathroom before he spoke publicly and he did jumping jacks. For him it helped him to rid some of that nervous energy that comes with fear of public speaking.
But remember something, that nervous energy you feel before you speak publicly can serve as your ally. Focusing those nerves into the liveliness of your speech can actually make it more interesting. If you’ve ever watched a boring speaker talk you know he did not keep your attention. In fact you may have had a good nap. But someone who’s exciting to listen to is very interesting and keeps your attention. Nervous energy can make you an exciting speaker. So it could be that nervous energy that comes from fear of public speaking can be a necessary evil to an exciting delivery.