How can you conquer your fear of public speaking?

Conquering fear of public speaking involves understanding its underlying causes and reframing perceptions. For example, recognize that fear often stems from the anticipation of negative outcomes, such as judgment or failure. By reframing fear as a natural response to perceived threats and embracing it as a catalyst for growth, you can shift your mindset from avoidance to acceptance. Additionally, cultivate confidence through preparation and practice, gradually exposing yourself to speaking opportunities and building resilience against fear. Over time, you'll realize that fear diminishes as you gain mastery and confidence in your speaking abilities, empowering you to deliver presentations with ease and conviction.

Understanding fear is crucial when conquering the fear of public speaking. I vividly recall my first experience speaking at university—announcing an event in front of 200 people. I was overwhelmed with nervousness, my hands trembling as I held the mic and my heart racing. It felt surreal, almost like an out-of-body experience. Despite the fear, I pushed through. The key, I've learned, is to face your fear head-on and speak anyway. With each speech, the fear lessens, and confidence grows. Over time, the worry becomes manageable. My advice: embrace the fear and keep speaking. It truly does get easier with practice and perseverance.

Conquering the fear of public speaking involves several key steps: 1. Practice Regularly. 2. Know Your Material. 3. Start Small: Begin with smaller audiences and gradually move to larger ones. 4. Visualise Success: Picture yourself delivering a successful presentation to boost confidence. 5. Focus on the Message. 6. Control Your Breathing: Use deep, slow breaths to stay calm. 7. Use Positive Self-Talk. 8. Engage the Audience. 9. Embrace Mistakes: Accept that mistakes happen and keep going. 10. Seek Feedback. Implementing these strategies can help you overcome public speaking fears and transform the experience into a rewarding opportunity.

I completed a TEDx talk at the University of Delaware about mens mental health, specially my experience with panic attacks as a professional in a public-facing role. It seems counterintuitive to enter into a stress-inducing situation like public speaking, especially given the context and vulnerability required, but it's the perfect exposure to framing "fear". Ultimately, exposure and framing fear as a commonality among your peers and audience was my 2-step antidote. Public speaking is inherently scary for most, but that's why it can be overcome, because you are not alone in that fear. The vast majority of your audience feels they are incapable of doing the exact act you are overcoming in front of them. Frame that into strength, not fear.

You're going to be doing something that terrifies most people, so just by being on a stage you're already doing better than most people. Be confident in your material and know it inside out. Believe that people want to hear you and they will believe what you have to say. Take your time, don't rush. Take deep breaths and move around the stage, don't hide behind a podium. Believe that you own that stage, and that you have every right to be there.

I rehearse as much as possible before I give a research presentation. It is good to get as familiar as possible with your slides or your speech.

Grab every single opportunity. Believe your next speech is your best speech. This keeps reminding you it's ok to make mistakes, embrace the flaws and to come out of fear of failure.

Practice Practice Practice. It's the best way to conquer your fear of public speaking. As a Public Speaking Coach I always say start by reading your speech many times and familiarising yourself with it. Make your speech your own and if there's anything complicated you could try and rephrase it in language you are comfortable with without losing the core message. Follow this by practicing. Practice in front of a mirror. Record yourself and play it back over a few days and observe yourself. Get a small group of family and friends together and deliver your speech in front of them imagining them to be your live audience. Interact. Use gestures. If one of them smiles at you smile back. Take honest feedback from them and act on it.

One thing that should be added to optimize your practice: always take some notes! I always have my keywords, highlights, and talking points before I practice, so I won’t blabber and able to deliver what I actually mean.

Public speaking may be scary but it could be a great experience especially if we visualize audience focused and giving us all the attention during our presentations, the interest that audience showing us is the mark of our ability to share something very interesting and important to them and it will increase our confidence and ability to face audience without any fear It is important to visualize a successful presentation and believe we are capable to share a great presentation, we should also remember that it is not a gifted skill, we can learn everything and progress every day

I have found visualization to be a highly effective measure against fear of public speaking or performance. In most cases the worst case scenario is a culmination of pre-meditated hindrances and responses. When we go forward and encounter these it only intensifies the fear response as our fears are now realized. BUT, if we are to spend preparation for SUCCESS and visualize the best case scenarios, we can then create an environment that feeds confidence and control instead of discouragement and chaos. "As a man thinks, so is he" keep visualizing success!

Learn to manage anxiety to bounce back from public speaking setbacks with greater resilience. These techniques are particularly helpful if things aren’t going perfectly during a presentation. Don’t let fear derail you! Try the following: ??The 4-7-8 breathing technique helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system for a more relaxed, calm state. ??Remember that public speaking isn’t a truly dangerous crisis. While it might be uncomfortable, you are safe. ??Use humor to de-escalate tension with your audience. If you can make them laugh, you’re all set! ??Remind yourself: Your audience wants you to succeed. They’re rooting for you! Which strategy will you try during your next presentation?

The fear of public speaking is one of the most common afflictions in society, and that's not just a guess: in 2013, a survey of 2,000 volunteers revealed that, when asked about the situations that caused them the most fear, "public speaking" came second on the list, behind the fear of losing loved ones, but ahead of many other phobias, such as the fear of being buried alive, snakes and even the end of the world (the data is from a survey by British company OnePoll). The act of speaking comes naturally to us, but despite all the advances, most of us are still not comfortable speaking in front of other people, and even if it's not the goal, being judged by them. Moral fear is greater than possible technical inability.

Remember that there are very few times when you are public speaking that people will be there to pick you apart and tear you down. Rarely are you being evaluated as much as the content you are presenting. Stay focused on the facts, stick to your talking points, and keep your attention centered on the audience's experience and takeaways. Don't give in to the temptation to curl in on yourself or rock around. Big bold body language!

Often anxiety will dissipate once you start talking. Just getting yourself up in front of the crowd as success. Then, just have a conversation with the group. Often asking them some questions as a good way to get started.

?Something that's really made a difference for me is getting the audience involved, especially at the start. I've found that a quick, light icebreaker introducing myself and the topic gets people smiling and that lightens the mood. ? You can maintain audience engagement throughout the conversation by interspersing it with rhetorical questions. ?When you keep the audience engaged, it changes the dynamic from just you delivering to us having a conversation together.

I believe when one connects with an audience in public speaking fear cannot exist because when one is focused on the task of public speaking one has no time to fear

Spark engagement from the start. An icebreaker like a quick two-minute quiz related to your topic can energize the audience. Or even a joke, just to loosen up. Asking for questions throughout builds relevancy and fosters a two-way conversation, where they learn from each other's perspectives. Borrowing a technique from education, consider incorporating small group discussions. Encourage participants to share their key takeaways with the larger group. This collaborative approach builds content and keeps everyone engaged. An active audience is more likely to retain information and be open to further involvement.

Engaging the audience can help deliver your message clearly and actually make the experience of delivering a talk, presentation or seminar less intimidating. It’s helpful to think about how and when you’ll engage the audience: ice breakers, questions to engage and even a short activity (Menti) can work well depending on context.

Know that every public speaker, regardless of experience, can always grow. Embrace feedback as a chance to learn, not as criticism. With each presentation, you'll notice your confidence soaring and your fear fading away.????

Firstly don't think that you fear It is our mind that creates fear in us We usually fear because we think that one mistake will make us a joke in the eyes of public and yes it will but just for few minutes The minute the audience leaves the room they aren't thinking about you that much So just relax !!! Make mistakes fear will vanish off Hope this helps !

The resolution of conquering fear of public speaking will come from within you. No one else will be able to help you in this unless you help yourself. You have to decide that you will not be afraid of stepping up on stage and speak to an audience. Once this decision has been made, prepare your topic well. Have thorough knowledge of the subject. Be prepared with, what questions is the audience likely to ask, and their answers. Make a good presentation. Practice alone. Then in front of the mirror. Then in front of your friends/ mentor. Obtain feedback from them. Integrate that in your talk. You are good to go. You can deliver any number of talks and be a master, but you will still get butterflies in your stomach before every talk.

I practice in front of a mirror, watch videos of other speakers, compare a little, give myself feedback, add a twist and voila!