Public Speaking Fears - 5 Top Tips to Have You Speaking with Calm Self Assurance!

The act of Public Speaking is feared by the majority of the population even more so that death itself, so major studies have revealed! It is however a fear worth defeating and a skill worth mastering if you can, as to do so will boost your confidence tremendously and enhance greatly your career and social opportunity.

An eminent psychologist once said "do what you fear and death of fear is certain" and he was right! Most of us who suffer with this anxiety spend considerable energy avoiding public speaking situations, but if we were to meet the challenge head on, we would very soon have our fears under control. So ok, you have a public speaking engagement that you are dreading, it's a week before the event and your anxiety levels are rising, perhaps the event is constantly on you mind, and maybe you are even having sleepless nights. You need help and fast, so what do you do?

Analyse your fear - it's not speaking in public is it? If you can talk to one person, you can talk to one thousand can't you - what's the difference? Dig deep what are you afraid of? Appearing foolisl and nervous in frontof peers perhaps? Drying up is a major conce
too, and not coping with the fear and having to make a quick escape is usually the next. So how can you avoid these?

1. Fear is your friend! Actors, sportsmen, and performers of all kinds need a little adrenaline to help them perform to the optimum. You just need to keep that fear under control, so you must prepare well in advance, know almost by heart what you are going to say, and rehearse several times. If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail so learn your speech and only use bullet points on the day-don't read it to your audience. Learning your speech will give you enough confidence to get you started, and after a good start you will be flying!

2. Check out the venue before the day if possible, and get a feel for it. Then rehearse the event in your mind over and over when you go to bed. See yourself speaking confidently with calm self assurance and your audience interested, engaged, and responding favourably. This will really give you an edge, and where your mind goes successfully, your body will be sure to follow.

3. One the day of the event, steer clear of caffeine and alcohol, they will not help you and caffeine can really push your anxiety over the edge and out of manageable limits. Breathe slowly and deeply, in for a count of 7 and out for a count of 12, this will reduce the anxiety and your nervous system will start to kick in a relaxation response.

4. A few minutes before the event, whilst breathing deeply, remember a significant success moment in your life that you've prepared in your mind. Wallow in that success for a few minutes and the feelings that it generated. This will calm you mind also enough to get you started.

5. You're on and running, pick a friendly face and engage with them, they will respond and you will start to relax. You've prepared, you've breathed slowly, you've had a good start and you are sticking to the script that you rehearsed and memorised and you're doing fine. If appropriate, ask your audience a question, or invite their questions. This will take the spotlight of you and make your audience think, and see, YOU are now in control, and the audience are being guided by you! Slow down and do not rush to the end. If you find yourself hurrying, just breathe and have few seconds break, you are in control and you just take your time. A good conclusion will make you feel happy and content with your performance.

You've done it so congratulate yourself and be so proud of what you have achieved, and do it again soon!