When we hear people mention about public speaking, the next word ispublicspeaking anxiety. Yes, fear of public speaking or glossophobia. It's a fact that the most people have fear of public speaking phobia or afraid of speaking in front of an audience.
People who have publicpublicpeaking anxietyexperience all these typical symptoms: Sweaty palms, rapid heart beat, shaking all over, memory loss and some even to the extent of having breathing difficulty.
Remember what Mark Twain's quote: "There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars". Do you know some of the world's renowned presenters or motivational speakers have openly admitted to have public speaking nerves or speech anxiety? Experienced and well-established speakers who give effective public speaking, do encounter some speech anxiety each time when they are speaking in front of an audience.
The first step to overcome publicpublic speaking anxietyis to accept the very fact that this fear is completely normal and and almost every other person do have the same fear. Yes, you are not alone.
So, how do you overcome self-consciousness and other negative influences which are the main culprits for causing you to have those butterfies in your stomach?
The truth is you cannot conquer thepublicspeakinganxietysimply by reading a book or even this article alone. The only way to ovecome this dreaded public speaking phobia is primarily by experience. You got to go up and speak up in front of an audience. Just do it.
But before you do that, you have to do the most important task. That is preparation. What I am saying is you must make sure you are properly and thoroughly prepared before you step in front of your audience. Nothing will relax you more than to know you are properly prepared. Remember this famous quote, "He who fails to prepare is preparing for failure."
Proper preparation and lots of rehearsal can help to overcome thepublicspeaking anxiety. In fact, 95% of delivering effecting public speaking is in the preparation. The rest is to have a positive state of mind.
Here are a few tips which are crucial to overcome your public speaking fear:
Know Your Stuff Well
Knowing your subject matter like the back of your hand is very important. Once you are well-versed in what you are going to talk about, your focus on the subject helps you to be less self-conscious. You will be busy sharing your talk and concentrating on explaining. Practice your speech or presentation and revise it until you can present it with ease.
Start Out Small Gain Experience
Take small baby steps. Initially, practise speaking in front of a small group. Starting from your own supportive friends, family, relatives and workmates. With each session, you will find out your strengths and weakesses. Experience builds confidence. This is the key to effective public speaking. You will find your anxieties decrease after each speech you give. The more you practise it will increase your confidence. That's what most standup comedians do in some unknown comedy clubs before they hit the big time.
Know Your Audience
Meet and greet your audience before your talk. Chit chat and exchange pleasantries with them. It helps a lot to both you and the audience. Later when you up there speaking, you will feel more relaxed as you have already meet some of them earlier. They are not total strangers to you anymore.
Get To Know the Venue
Familiarize yourself with the place in which you going to speak. Always arrive earlier and walk around the room and the speaking area. Go to the lectern, speak into the microphone. Do all these, it helps you feel at home, so to speak.
Do Some Relaxing Exercise
After checking the room, do some simple light exercise to ease tension. Breathe in slowly through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Open your mouth and eyes wide, then shut them tightly to relax your facial muscles.
Creative Visualization
Picture yourself walk up confidently, greeted with loud rousing applauds. Now see youself speaking with poise and full of enthusiasm. Visualize yourself as a successful speaker before your audience.
Focus On The Message
Just concentrate on your message of your speech. Focus on sharing with them of what you have prepared and your nervous feelings will fade into the background.
Never Say Sorry , You're Nervous
Always remember this advice. Never ever apologize for being nervous. Just be confident as I have mentioned above, and blast off your speech like a professional speaker. Don't call for any unneccessary attention. No one out there is looking for a nervous speaker.
The Audience
Frankly, I am sure nobody wants to see boring or nervous speakers. They want speakers or presenters to sound interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. Why do they want you to fail?
In most cases, they admire or envy you; who dare to speak publicly. So, take a deep breath and go up there and deliver your well-prepared talk. You can overcomepublic speaking anxietywith all the above tips.
