Overcome your Fears of Public Speaking

I used to shudder at the instant I knew I have to speak in class. After knowing Public Speaking is feared more than death after a survey result has at least given me some consolation. However, some fears have to be confronted. Good public speaking skills is an essential skill to master since my career choice is to be in the education sector. Conquering the fear which is more feared than Death definitely is a worthwhile goal for everyone who enjoys living their lives aloud. Over the years I have given public lectures and classroom presentations to more than 20,000 people. Ranging from elementary pupils to undergraduates to working adults, I have gathered some useful tips for you from learning over the years. Here are some of the tips I have for you to start confronting your Public Speaking fear to transform this liability to an Asset once and forever. 1. Don’t hold your script in your hands. It becomes your safety crutch and that will create a barrier between you and your audience by breaking away your eye contact from them and you will end up reading to the piece of paper. Furthermore, your nervousness will be amplified and made evident with the shaking paper along with your trembling hand. rn2. Don’t memorize the entire script word for word. You should instead grasp the flow of your communication and just remembering the key sentences to guide you through from point to point.rn3. Have good eye contact with your audience (remember those at the sides as well). This will establish yourself as being confident and seeing your audience is giving you nods of approval will certainly set you back in a more relaxed state.rn4. Remember your audience wants to learn from you and they are on the same side as you. 99% of the time your audience is with you and supporting you. Give them a smile when you are up to a stage and you will be delighted by their warmness.rn5. It’s important to have a mentor as well. Check out local community for any toastmasters’ movement. The great guys there will love to give you a helping hand and lending ear. They will organize regular activities for people who are willing to learn to speak in public to have a platform to practice and learn from the rest of the like-minded ones. Doing anything worthwhile is worth doing poorly at first. Treat every public speaking opportunity as a learning experience. Learn to enjoy yourself under the limelight. Seek feedbacks from your audience, co-speakers, basically anyone who have heard you spoke. This will enable you to have a first-hand understanding about how you have fared. As all of us have heard from this quotation, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Have your ultimate goal in mind and plan for your milestone steps. After that, just focus on one presentation at a time. With consistent effort and a clear goal, I’m sure you can squash your fear in time. Until next time.. Meanwhile, Happy Talking.