ALT-10 How to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking
Public Speaking is often reported as the number one fear among most people, even out ranking death and disease. Speaking to an audience is something we all have to do at one time or another, whether it be making a speech at wedding or other special occasion to making an important presentation at work to colleagues and bosses. Just the thought of speaking to a roomful of people all staring back at you is enough for the anxiety to kick in. You imagine yourself there before a crowd and your heart starts to race, sweat beads on your forehead and palms and the room begins to spin. Your first thought, "I can't do this".
What are you fearful of?
This is the first step. Defining what exactly it is that you're fearful of. Once you know what your afraid of, you can begin to overcome it. Close your eyes and imagine the worst likely thing to happen. Likely being the key word here, your pants won't fall down and that picture of you in loud floral gear from your last vacation won't get mixed up in the sides. For many people the fear resinates in one of two areas, "being discovered as a fraud" and "Being humiliated".
Being discovered as the fraud you (think you) are
The thought that the people you're speaking to will realise' that you don't know what you're talking about is a common one and stems from lack of confidence. Thinking that you will be asked a question you won't know the answer to or that the audience will turn out to know more about the topic than you do fuel the fear.
1. Know your subject matter - It is much easier delivering speech on a topic you know about as you are not simply regurgitating information from a text book, but incorporating your own ideas and opinions into it. If it is a topic you are interested in, the audience will pick up on your enthusiasm and it will spread around the room.
2. Don't over prepare - You will only add pressure to yourself. You can prepare your presentation, slides and have handouts ready and even practice delivering your speech. You want to be natural and relaxed, over preparation can result in a stiff and unnatural presentation.
3. Keep it simple - Don't try to cover too much. It is generally better to cover a few points thoroughly than many points superficially.
Being humiliated beyond belief
The thought that "I'll freeze, my voice will shake and people will know I'm terrified" Thinking that the audience won't listen to your speech or they'll walk out also stems from lack of confidence. The negative self-talk fuels the fear. In addition to the above points below are some further tips.
1. Positive self-talk - Telling yourself that you can do it, that you are capable of delivering an interesting speech, that people will be engaged and interested helps no end. If you don't believe you can do it, then you won't. It's that simple.
2. Be yourself - Don't try to be somebody else. Deliver the speech as though you are having a one on one conversation with each person in the room. This will help you to feel more relaxed.
3. Be honest - Sometimes opening with "I'm a little nervous so bear with me" can really break the ice. You've put it out there and that makes it a non-issue. If you can, make a joke out of it. Humor is a great way to loosen things up.
Remember the audience are heckle going to heckle you or throw things at you. You won't get booed or laughed at. At worst the audience will sit patiently while you speak, thinking to themselves how glad they are that they aren't the one giving the speech. At best they will be actively engaged and hanging off your every word. Either way it'll all be over in fifteen minutes.
