How to tame your fear of Speaking in Public?

The past two Saturdays I spent with two great groups of people, teaching them the art of speaking and presenting in public in my “Presentation Skills Course”

Among many expectations from the course, the attendees wanted to know “How to get rid of the fear of speaking in public?” Working with corporate clients, you might be surprised to know that besides knowing how to structure and deliver memorable presentations, this expectation persists: “How to get rid of the fear of speaking in public?”

Well, as human beings, we have a rainbow of emotions in different shades and “fear” is one of them. We live daily with feelings like “joy”, “love”, “sadness”, “courage”, “fear”..
Why do you want to get rid of something that it is only human to have?
It is like saying that “I was hurt once, therefore I don’t want to ever experience the feeling of love anymore!”

Even the most experienced speakers experience the fear in different shades – from slight nervousness to even being terrified, but guess what – they still do it, because the reason why they do it is so much more powerful than the fear of speaking in public and they learned how to “tame their fear” in time and with lots of practice.

One of my favourite speakers is Wayne Dyer, who sadly passed away a few weeks ago… His inspirational speeches and teachings made a huge difference in my life. He, too, was afraid when starting his career as an author and speaker, but he pushed himself beyond his fears, to make an extraordinary difference in the lives of millions of people around the World!
Have you ever listened to a speaker/speech that made a difference in your life? What if that speaker would have never spoken out, because of the fear of speaking in public and you have never heard his/her message?

Your audience can’t know how you feel, they can only see how you act on stage. If you act as if you are confident, they will believe it! After all, when you speak or present in public, your role as a speaker it is not “not to be nervous”, but it is “to share my message with my audience”, right? 

Most of the times it is not the fact that you are nervous that bothers you as a speaker, but the idea that your audience will see and know that you are nervous that can really discourage you!

So, here are few signs that will give away that you fear or you are nervous when speaking in public:

1. The way you stand on stage – are you straight and open or trying to make your body as small as possible?

2. Your breathing – shallow breathing, the feeling that you have just worked out in the gym. “Fear is excitement without breath” – Robert Heller

3. Your voice – is your pace too fast, without the use of pause and same vocal tonality for entire presentation? How about your voice projection –is it a confident one, or weak and low?

I help my clients identify what gives away their nervousness, by implementing tailored techniques for each of them to change their speaking experience.

Speaking and presenting in public is a learnt process, but you cannot learn what you are not aware of.

What motivates me to do what I do is helping my clients share their message with that somebody who needs to hear it – while it is their product, service, new business or experience that can make a difference.

If I can help you to share your message, lets get in touch!

Sincerely Speaking,
Natasha Arvinte-Hickey

www.educecommunications.com