Public Speaking Guide
Six Ways To Overcome Your Public Speaking Fear
#Stop Thinking About Yourself
Does speaking in public fill you with fear and anxiety? Do you feel you are not good enough to speak in public? I assume for most people, it’s a definite yes.
We all know that the fear of public speaking or speech anxiety has an absolute term — “Glossophobia.”
Here’s what you’ll mostly come across when you search it on the internet.
Glossophobia is the medical term for the strong fear of public speaking. It is one of the most common phobias: about 75% of the world’s population struggle with this social phobia, or social anxiety disorder, to some extent.
And,
According to several surveys, the fear of public speaking is even greater than the fear of death.
From what the above quote is suggesting, given a choice, people would rather be put to death than give a speech?
Of course, that’s highly unlikely. This statement seems more of a cliché and a bit exaggerated.
Speaking to the crowd isn’t life-threatening. Although public speaking fear is widely touted as the number one fear of all time, the numbers can be interpreted in different ways, and moreover fear is altered as per the choice of an individual. Perhaps what we fear is being judged or rejected in the group.
Even in public speaking, people are more afraid of being afraid than of the actual speaking itself, because we assume that unimaginable things could happen if things don’t go right — brain freezes, the mind goes blank, you run out of your words, etc.
But I am sure, by understanding fear in general, and the science behind the brain freeze and the complex bodily changes through fight or flight response, you are more likely to change your thinking approach and ultimately de-catastrophize your anxiety level.
That’s what an excellent public speaker is always aware of and intend to do; they are prepared for all the outcomes.
We all know that being a confident public speaker or a presenter is what many people long for. I know many people wouldn’t consider public speaking as their cup of tea but, still, the good news is that it’s a skill that everyone can learn.
Today, more than ever before, you have more leverage to become a better public speaker by learning from the most exceptional speakers ever because you live in the age of the internet.
Just plowing through your favorite search engines, and you’re blessed with thousands of stories and videos about how to be a great speaker at the stage.
Interestingly you’ll also find many personal stories lined up to tell you what worked best for them.
Here’s I’ll explain what worked best for me.
1. Start On Smaller Platform
“All great speakers were bad speakers at first.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every great speaker was once a juvenile in terms of public speaking. We all start this journey, mostly during schools where we have the opportunities to engage in groups, presentations, and functions.
While many of us skip these opportunities to be a part of, some are more than willing to get hold of them early and continue to embark on this journey ahead.
Finding and creating opportunities to speak gives you the chance to practice what you have learned and get better at it. Besides, it helps you to learn how to use your own experience and feedback from others to continue improving your speaking crafts.
Just find a few friends and families to begin with. Or perhaps, you can start speaking in front of the classroom or any group to feel comfortable.
Remember, the size of the audience makes no difference at this point. You just have to make sure you develop enough confidence to engage with the handful of groups.
2. Know Your Topic And Your Audience
Here’s my recent experience,
Recently, I got an opportunity to speak on a program in my local community. I did speak for around 5 minutes, and I thought I did well. It wasn’t until I had an interaction with one elder man during a lunch break who admitted that he had some issues comprehending some of my words.
And honestly, he was right, I was mixing up my native language with some English words. It’s not necessary that everyone in the audience should be well familiar with my standard jargon or some strange non-verbal tick that I am used to.
I should have rather delivered something considering the nature of the audience. So I felt that I could have considered speaking on just one plain language — my own native tone. I am glad that he reminded me that one.
As we think of your presentation, we all tend to make the mistake of staying too committed within the topic/content of the display rather than focusing on its delivery.
More than 50% of the perceived value comes from your delivery.
So, before diving deep into the information, ask yourself —
- Who will be in the room?
- What background do they come from?
- What do they need?
Identify those audience’s needs. Then carefully craft your message that speaks directly to those needs.
3. Prepare Yourself Mentally
Most actions in life are mental meaning if you put it in the right way, you are likely to succeed in many ways.
We all know that, no matter how good of a speaker you are, until and unless you are mentally prepared, you won’t deliver a great talk. And for must of us, fear inevitably gets in the way.
Trust me. Even the great speakers admit that. But there are some mental tricks that you can apply to work your way out.
First and foremost, be firm with your brain. Tell this to yourself —
“Hey Listen, it’s not about me. I am here to help my audience.”
If you have some experience, then remind yourself —
Hey, this isn’t new to me. I've been through this position already. It’s just another day for me.
This way, you will be able to put your body in a calm state. Your goal right now is to refocus your brain and let all those nervousness fade away.
Rehearse several times before the big talk, but don’t overdo it by staying late and not having proper rest. To maximize your mental comfort while you step in the group, you also need your physical body to be ready as possible.
Finally, come up with your pre-game routine. It just depends on how you want to play. For me, I prefer breathing and some facial expression exercises.
It just works differently for everybody — meditation, music, warm-up exercises, whatever that works for you.
Once you’re relaxed, be ready to nail your speech!
4. Perform In Front Of Larger Groups
For some people, the roots of a fear of public speaking are buried deep in our past.
For example, the fear can come from an experience where we were once embarrassed or ridiculed, or even overwhelmed with the attention that was supposed to be positive and later turned out to be the exact opposite.
But most certainly, the one who learns from it and makes adjustments are the one who wins in the long run.
When I was a student, I remember most of my friends who were good at performing at larger groups, and they had no issues speaking publicly as well. And by performing it mean anything — singing, dancing, poetry and all.
This doesn’t apply to everyone, because it immediately reminds me of AGT or some reality TV shows, where some of the contestants seem highly nervous at speaking and even requires the help from the judges to calm down their edginess. But immediately as they begin to perform, it’s gone. It’s smooth.
Some might argue that it’s a different skill-set, and I completely adhere to that. However, switching from any talents that involve performing with any level of audience to speaking with the same audience doesn’t require much effort. I mean, the transition is far more natural.
So, here’s the deal. If you have a hobby or passion at something, and you’d want to perform at any given time, have some practice for speaking too.
Engage with a handful of your audience during your performance. It will definitely help you to fight against your stage fear. Take note of how it differs in each case and try to improve the elements that you’re lacking.
And who knows, one day you will turn into a great speaker who is also a great performer at the stage.
5. Ask for Feedback
While you can do a lot to overcome the fear of public speaking on your own, a little extra help or feedback from anyone is always a great option.
Getting help from one who has been through all can be a more effective way of achieving faster results than doing just alone. Especially specialized professionals who have been around helping such individuals are more effective in terms of training and feedback.
Even I have learned a lot from joining a professional public speaking workshop a year ago, which has helped me know many realms of public speaking that I was completely unaware of.
In particular, I realized that public speaking is not only about speaking confidently — the way to make your speech persuasive using ethos, pathos, and logos, your dressing and style, engagement with the audience, and even how you hold up your microphone; these actions matters a lot!
The bottom line is that, if you want to take it professionally, choosing a professional workshop and talk program will help you even more.
6. Practice, Practice, and Practice
Public speaking, like any other skill, requires a cumulative effort and right level of practice to master it.
The practice is just a thoughtful series of rehearsals.
So make sure to increase your hours of practice to build your cognitive and behavioral comfort.
The more you prepare, the less worried you will be; the less you get nervous and go blank.
I’ve seen a lot of individuals transforming from a timid person on the first day to an average level speaker around the second week — in those workshops.
It’s just how you build your comfort and effectiveness during those series of rehearsals.
The pure nature of repetition helps you on being way more acquainted with presenting yourself in the stage. You might never get rid of those nerves, but through practice, you can learn to put them in check and deliver smoothly.
- First, try to mimic the stage where you’ll be speaking — visualize everything — your microphone, podium, or presentation board.
- Record yourself and see how you perform overall by enabling both audio/video.
- Then mute the audio, and just look through the visuals to see how well is your body language, eye-contact, facial expression, and the way you are handling your props.
- Finally, listen to the audio-only version of it to note down your intonation, voice volumes, vocal pace, and the use of pauses.
Just keenly observe how effectively you are delivering those talks.
Go through plenty of these sessions and run through some of your friends to see how they perceive.
Ask for feedback, and make adjustments. And congratulations, you are already on an improvement journey.
Wrapping Up:
I know this is hard for most people. Even thought of public speaking can sometimes leave you feeling inundated and wondering where correctly to start.
A beginning is always the hardest step, but this isn’t something that happens overnight.
Like everything, it takes time and consistency. And find out what works best for you, don’t follow everything that you find on the internet.
Make public speaking a part of your weekly or monthly routine, anywhere — your school, university clubs, and even in your jobs or businesses. Your fear will evaporate over time, and in the long run, you will already be a great speaker.
With the right mindset, work ethics, and the consistency you put in your work, I know it wouldn’t take much time to deliver your speech effectively and confidently — most important — more effective at reaching the audience and making the desired impact.
Call To Action:
Ready for more tips? I know there are plenty of resources on the internet, but skills like public speaking won’t put out in the testimony of improvement unless you’d engage in the public.
Still, if you want to make your free time utilize during the lockdown and want more practical tips, then Dr. Todd Dewett, has plenty of excellent courses in LinkedIn Learning that you can follow.
