Time Tested Ways To Overcome Public Speaking Phobia

Have you ever wondered if there really is some special ‘secret’ to overcoming public speaking phobia? Well, these secrets and subtle tricks definitely exist and I’m going to share one with you in just a moment.

However before I do so I’d like you to imagine what your life and career would be like if you were never afraid to speak in public again. How much different would your life be?  More promotions? More friends? Perhaps even more money and self confidence?

You see, trying the typical methods to overcome public speaking fear such as practicing your speech, visualization, and positive self talk work…but only to a limited degree.  In order to really squash those fears you need to think outside the box. With every word you read, you’ll notice your fears beginning to dissapear.

While it may seem counter-intuitive, one of the best ways to succeed as a public speaker is to not consider yourself a public speaker at all.

Let me explain.

You see, many of us have unrealistic or distorted views of what successful public speakers do. We falsely think that in order to be a fantastic public speaker, we need to “mimic’ what the professionals do and say.

Consequently, we try to emulate the personal characteristics of others because we believe those traits are responsible for their success.

This isn’t the case.

The truth is most successful speakers learned how to conquer fear of public speaking by doing things the opposite - they didn’t try and emulate others but instead allowed themselves to be themselves.  And, much to their surprise, the discovered how much fun public speaking can really be.

You too can do this with your audiences.  Instead of droning on about some uninterested subject, what if you allowed yourself to be bold, compassionate, silly, helpful, witty…or anything else you choose? How much more fun would your presentations be?

Next time you’re assigned to speak, I encourage you to apply what you’ve learned.  Even take it a step further by going into your speech without any idea how you’re going to get across your main points.