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Overcome Your Fear Of Public Speaking

Quick Notes - Conquer Fear of Public Speaking:
  • Know Your Material
  • Most times your audience has very little expectation - be yourself!
  • Humiliation goes a long way - break the ice with a joke
  • Concentrate on giving something of value to your audience

The fear of public speaking. Its something we've all experienced at one point in time. The anxiety and nervousness that takes over your body before you speak in front of an audience. Sweaty palms, shakiness, loss of breath...the feeling that your heart is going to beat out of your chest at any moment and land on the podium in front of you. Public speaking to many people is the fear of all fears. Scarier than death, a bad grade, unemployment, and even clowns (no offense to clowns). Fortunately there is a solution to this phobia. One that can help anyone, including you, speak fearlessly in front of an entire auditorium.

How to Conquer Your Public Speaking Fears

There are in fact many ways to conquer your fear, anxiety, and nervousness of public speaking. Some of the tips below will help relax your nerves before and during a speech.

Know Your Speech or Presentation Material

First and foremost, KNOW YOUR MATERIAL. Even a good public speaker can look like a monkey if he or she is ignorant to the subject they are teaching. Having a good understanding of what you are going to be speaking about relieves you of unnecessary pressure build up before you're speech or presentation. This will allow you to concentrate on conquering your fears of public speaking rather than what you are going to say when your in the spotlight.

The Audience

A very important thing to remember when speaking in front of an audience is that the majority of your audience has the same fears as you when it comes to public speaking. Unless you are the president of the United States, 99 percent of your audience has no expectation of your public speaking skills. If you can deliver your message and give useful information to the people that are listening, then they will be happy. Remember, if your reading this - your public speaking may not be the most fluent of speech, but the important thing to keep in mind is that no one really cares. Concentrate more on the message you are delivering rather than making a flawless speech. When you think too much about not messing up is when you really start to make mistakes. Speech perfection will come in time with practice...don't try to be a 'President Obama' your first time up.

Humiliation Goes a Long Way

Humiliation goes a long way. A good way to break the ice of a speech is to admit your fear of public speaking and even tell a humiliating story of past experiences. This not only lightens the mood a bit for your speech, but also portrays trust in your audience which you will get in return.

Speech or Presentation Repetition

Last, but certainly not least is public speaking repetition. This is the number one way to conquer your fear of public speaking. It has been proven by people with the utmost public speaking phobias. The more you make speeches or presentations, the more and more easier and less stressful it will become. In time you will completely eliminate any nervous symptoms that you once had before and during a speech. The best way is to start out with a small group - family is typically the best. Be open with ones closest to you, tell them your fears of public speaking and ask them to help you conquer these fears. Take 5-10 minutes each night to stand up in front of your household and read from a book or debate about a topic. Be sure to have them sit while you stand - you will want to mimic as much as possible a real life presentation or speech. After you feel comfortable with this, move on to more challenging scenarios. Volunteer for your church for some form of group teaching or passage reading. Become a host or hostess for a local club. Whatever it is try starting out small and working your way up. The more times you make yourself get up in front of an audience, the less your mind and body will show nervous signs. Nervous signs are the results of un familiarization. Familiarize yourself with anything and you can flush these symptoms out of your body.

Don't forget, no one wants you to mess up! If you can be yourself while making a speech or presentation, your audience will admire that you have the courage to stand in the spotlight. Trust me, they will always give you the benefit of the doubt - even if they don't know you. Your main goal is to deliver something of value and your audience will appreciate that in itself, the public speaking skills will come in time!