5 Simple & Effective Ways to Get Over Stage Fright

Being on stage isn't foreign to me; I've been on stage since I was 5 years old, but for singing, not speaking. When I started public speaking in 2015 I soon realized public speaking was a whole new adventure, one that was felt new and somewhat terrifying to me. Singing was entirely different; with singing, I had a script and movements to memorize and a character to mimic. With public speaking, I was vulnerable. It was just me, Lindsey Boggs. 

I remember the week before my first big speaking event at LinkedIn in 2015 and practicing for my breakout session with my mentor Christine and being so nervous. I also remember being called on Sunday before my breakout session and being told not only do I have the breakout session, but I also was going to present and shoot free throws with Shaq. Being nervous was an understatement. 

Now, 2 years later I'm on the speaking circuit regularly and looking back I smile at how nervous I used to be because now, it's become second nature to speak in public. So, how did I overcome my fear of public speaking? These 5 tactics below:

1. Practice. I know it sounds cliche, but it's true. You must practice or you will not get better. Practice your speech on your friends, your family, anyone who will listen. Don't just practice out loud by yourself, ask someone to listen in. I practiced on Skype with my mentor Christine often and it helped tremendously. Pro move: create an outline of the presentation so you can start and stop in different parts of the presentation.
2. Act the part. This part I stole from my singing career. Remember how I said above how with singing I was a character? Well, with speaking, I'm acting as if I'm confident. I'm acting as if everything I'm saying is on point and accurate. "Act as if" is one of my favorite quotes. You're on stage, so everyone in the audience assumes you're smart and know what you're saying, so act as if you're the smartest person in the room and it will portray that way in your delivery.
3. Improv. Ever taken an improv class? If you're in sales I highly recommend taking an improv class. I've led several sales teams and as a team building event I've taken them to improv classes; it makes you quick on your feet in case you lose your way in your speech, or if the lights go out, etc, you know how to react quickly. Inevitably you'll be on stage when something will happen and you'll have to act quickly on your feet; improv helps with this tremendously. 
4. Breathing and Stretching. Some people get on stage and can never fully catch their breath and adds to their anxiety. In my musical background, breathing exercises helped calm my nerves tremendously. A couple minutes before heading on stage, I stretch my arms up and take three deep breaths in and out. There have been studies that people that do this exercise over those who don't have much less anxiety in their performance on stage.
5. Be real. Have expectations that not everything is going to go 100% perfectly every time. Practice like how you want it to go, but be flexible for when things go awry. Make jokes out of things that go wrong. I almost fell off the stage recently and I made a joke out of it and made fun of myself. Another time the deck didn't work and I had to do the entire presentation with no deck. This is when PRACTICE comes in handy - make sure you have an outline of your deck at least memorized! Be able to go with the flow and improv!

I hope you found these tactics helpful for your public speaking fears. The last suggestion I can give, is after you get off stage, go book yourself another speaking engagement! The best way to get over your fear of public speaking is to keep doing more and over time, it'll become second nature to be on stage!