Some Tips On Getting over Public Speaking Fear

Public speaking fear can paralyse you and stop you from doing all you’re capable of.

Whether you want to present yourself at a job interview and wow your prospective employer with your expertise and skills…

…or you give a polished, accomplished and expert presentation to your work team or to
management in your company and engage your audience…

…or you even speak to a large audience with passion and self-assurance…

Public speaking is an essential ability that you will need to get a promotion or even get that coveted career. And ideally, you want to be relaxed, confident and compelling.

In reality, though, you may not be feeling quite so assured, confident and relaxed. Your nerves may be giving you grief, or you may suffer from public speaking fear while just contemplating your presentation.

Perhaps you’re very accustomed to public speaking fear if you’ve given any presentations or done any public speaking. You’re standing in front of your audience and suddenly you observe all sorts of strange things in your body.

I have often been curious why, some years ago, I started to have sweaty hands, my knees trembled, I had a sick feeling in my stomach, and I couldn’t speak anymore because my breathing stopped. And then I was breathless after a couple of sentences, and I had to stop and take big gulps of air.I was aiming for a professional, calm and relaxed impression, and I got anything but.

The same in job interviews.

And the same happened even when I attended courses or workshops when, in the beginning we had to introduce ouselves, give our name and tell everybody what we were expecting from the course.

In those situations, I used to desperately think what brilliant things I could tell them while I sat there, listening to the others speaking so confidently. And when it was my time, in a split second heat was searing through my body, my breathing stopped, and my voice was croaking.

No wonder I used to dislike training courses, workshops and particularly introductions at the beginning.

Well, this is all behind me, because I learned to get over the fears that come over us when speaking to an audience.

Believe it or not, I was particularly afraid tht everyone in the audience would be judging me. I was worried what they would think of me. I would look at all their faces, when I had time between gulping air and being a quivering mess, and would discover that some people would stare at me closely and disapprovingly, I thought.

What a relief it was when I discovered that my audience was listening intently to what I was saying and were waiting for more.

And I realised that when I was focusing on my audience and what they are interested in, and I was able to engage them with what I was talking about, it became easy and very enjoyable to talk about something I was passionate about.

It wasn’t important anymore that I was suffering from public speaking fear, that my hands trembled slightly, or that I couldn’t quite remember my script. Because I knew my listeners didn’t actually notice.

The next time you need to give a presentation, or you go to a job interview, one key tip to reduce your public speaking fear is to prepare beforehand. You will feel more confident when you know what you’re going to say, even at an interview.

One other tip to stay calm is to remember to breathe. Breath in and out slowly and deeply a couple of times before you start. Slow down when you talk and pause at the end of the sentence.

It may sound too slow for you, but for your listeners it will be just right because they will have time to understand what you’re saying. And it will give you time to breathe.

These couple of techniques, and many others, will help you to manage your public speaking fear and you will feel much more assured and in control of what your saying and how you say it.

The other thing that will be of great help, of course, is to do any one of a number of good public speaking courses.