“The number one fear in the world, ahead of even the fear of death, is the fear of public speaking”
The fear of public speaking is extremely common, most polished
speakers experienced it. Facing your fear is a huge advantage in your
career especially if you catch your boss’s attention. It shows you have
communication skills.
Some tips to help you get over that fear and jump start your career:
Practice in advance in front of a mirror:Yes, in
front of a full length mirror. it has a great value.The mirror will
make every move you make distracting, you will notice if you are
getting sweaty,if you spit while you speak. More important, you will
notice if you move back and forth, if you say “um” ,”ah” and “you
know”. in brief, the mirror allows you to be aware of subtl
distractiong actions you do. Those actions are the reason why speeches
go bad so often.
Practice your speech facing a wall: The opposite
scenario as compared to the practice facing a mirror. Speaking in front
of a wall will allow you to block out all distractions and focus
exclusively on the content of your speech. You might feel silly at
first (it’s fine and a lot of people feel that at first) but this
practice will help you identify the parts in your speech that you are
struggling with, where the speech is weak. Go on, hammer your way
around the house.
Practice with a friend: Amore relaxing way to
deliver in the presence of a friend. He will understand your point of
view, ask questions and should give honest feedback (what parts were
easy to understand and where he struggled to follow you). If a friend
will only tell you what you want to hear, find someone else.
Practice with a peer (non-friend): A useful
technique because it will add some pressure. The pressure of actually
delivering the speech is much higher but this is an opportunity to test
a non-friend pressure.
Record yourself: Asimple tip but very useful.
Recording your speech and critiquing yourself is extremely important
because you will be able to identify and correct flaws.
Do a dry run: Get to the venue before the big
presentation, have a feeling of the place and do a dry run. Make sure
to practice your speech exactly as if there was an audience. Make it as
realistic as possible (yes, use the microphone). the more realistic
your dry run is, the easier it will be when the big day comes.
So by now you should know that the key to overcome that fear is
practice. Doing it under different conditions and various scenarios
will make you more relaxed , more confident and will reduce your
anxiety. Practice however could make you feel bored and time consuming
but it’s worth it. The more you practice,the more improvements you will
see.
Practice makes perfection!
Now, if you think delivering a speech is a hard thing to do, try Stand-up Comedy!