Most Experts Recommend This One Strategy to Control Nervousness and Why You Should NEVER Do This!

What is the single most important thing you can do to control nervousness when speaking in public?

If you answered practice, practice, practice! You're absolutely right! The question now becomes, how should you practice? I recently watched a video of a college professor from a very prestigious university. This professor recommended practicing in front of a mirror. I could not disagree more!

I also know some teachers and speaking coaches recommend practicing in front of a mirror, but I say "That's not good enough!" Why is practicing in front of a mirror not good enough? Let's look at this logically. Would you practice driving a car by reading a book? Of course not! The only way to actually learn to drive a car is to get behind the wheel and actually drive. If you are giving a speech or presentation wouldn't it be more realistic and more effective to actually practice in front of a live audience?

In addition to my several years of training and public speaking experience, I have also taught Oral Communications at a local business college. Every class I taught I would ask my students their top fears. Overwhelmingly the top two fears where 1) the fear of failure, and 2) the fear of being stared at. I can tell you first hand, my students were absolutely terrified to speak in front of the class! By the end of every Oral Communications class I taught, I had my students speaking with confidence, conviction, and with enthusiasm! A lot of them were even enjoying speaking in front of the group!

Let's examine why practicing in front of a mirror is not the best way to overcome nervousness. First,it's simply too easy to cheat. It is too easy not to actually speak out loud. Second, how does practicing in front of a mirror get you accustomed to speaking in front of groups of people?

So how did I get my students overcome their fear of speaking in public? The key is breaking into public speaking "slowly". The first thing I always do is have each student introduce themselves. They don't have to speak in front of the group. I have my students stand and introduce themselves right where they are sitting. Next step is to practice in front of a very small group. I split my classes into small groups of 4-5 individuals and have them practice within their respective groups. I also encourage my students to practice at home in front of friends, neighbors and/or relatives. The key is to practice in front of people you know and trust and also feel comfortable with. Doing this forces you to speak out loud, and also gets you accustomed to speaking while being watched.

In each and every one of my Oral Communications classes, my students had to give 3 speeches - Informative, Demonstrative, and Persuasive.

The informative speech was used for their first time speaking in front of a group of people. I encouraged my students to choose a topic they were both knowledgeable and passionate about. This, like practicing in front of small groups of people that you know and trust, greatly reduces nervousness. After giving that first speech in front of the group I saw the nervousness wall begin to crumble. With each and every speech, I continued to have each student practice in front of their respective groups before they gave their speech in front of the class. I also encouraged members of each group to give "constructive" feedback to each member of the group on their speech so that they can work on whatever issues they may be dealing with.

Lastly, when I evaluate each and every speech I always start out with the positives - what each individual did well. I then will make suggestions on what they need to work on.

By the end of the term, I would see a BIG improvement in my students. They all spoke with a lot more confidence, conviction, and enthusiasm, and no longer feared public speaking!

I hope this article helped you? Speaking with confidence, conviction, and enthusiasm will help you in every step of your career - from going on job interviews, to effectively communicating with employees and customers, wining new clients and increasing sales.