Speak without fear
Most of us do not like public speaking just because we are afraid of speaking in front of people. It is normal if our heart beats faster than high-way cars when we speaking in front of a group of people.
“ According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy. ” — -Jerry Seinfeld
It sounds pretty correct, right? I have seen some people would rather die than give a speech. Different people contain different level of nervousness when it comes to public speaking.
Some common fears are :
“People will laugh at me if I made mistakes.”
“I will probably forget what my scripts are and go blank in my brain.”
“What if I cannot answer their questions?”
Besides this, some people might had failure experiences before, which would increase the fears.
Naistadt mentioned some exercises that are useful in the book Speak Without Fear:
Exercise: Discover and Acknowledge
Naistadt said that List the worst outcomes of speaking in front of people
Once we have a list of what makes us feel afraid, we can write down what each one makes us feel. Naistadt stated that this compels you to discover the underlying issue behind your fear and to acknowledge the negative emotion connected with that issue that you have internalized and nurtured. (78)
To be honest, I have never done this before. I used to just prepare in my mind and go over everything mentally. However I will use this chart to prepare for my presentation on Oct.2
Exercise: Re frame
Now look at your list of “Worsts”, drawn down what you want to happen and keep your positive outcomes list. (82)
Ta-DA! That is very easy right? Everyone can do it!
I love the example that Naistadt gave in this book because the feels are what usually happen to most of us. Everyone can make a huge progress without fear!
Work Cited
Naistadt, I. (2004). Speak without fear: A total system for becoming a natural, confident communicator. New York: HarperResource.
