Tactics to take on the fear of Public Speaking

Elevated heart rate, shallow breath, narrowed vision, sweating and shaking... the effects of the hormonal cascade from the Adrenal Medulla. A useful response for the human body to have in times of 'fight or flight'; a very inconvenient response for the human body to have when you are about to stand in front of an audience who you need to communicate with in a clear and engaging way.

It's a cruel irony that Glossophobia aka Public Speaking is one of the most common human fears (up there with things like snakes, heights and even death), yet Public Speaking is also an important requirement of many jobs. I work at a company where people just generally seem to be great at Public Speaking, cue a number of other feelings: imposter syndrome, fear of failure and general insecurity.

I fall into the category of 'credible' rather than 'expert' in the art (and science?) of Public Speaking, however I have learned to control my mild-to-medium case of Glossophobia. I still get nervous but it’s also something that I enjoy – both the speaking part and the overcoming of a fear part.

Here are my tried and tested tactics that make Public Speaking that little bit easier.

1.   No coffee beforehand. There's no need to further heighten the sensitivity of the parasympathetic nervous system. The half-life of caffeine in the body is four hours so cut it out completely on the day.

2.   No alcohol the day before. Even moderate alcohol intake can lead to increased anxiety the following day plus the quality of sleep is reduced.

3.   Sleep. Roughly one point of IQ is lost with each hour of sleep lost. Especially if fielding questions, you need to be at your sharpest… and bags under the eyes are not a good look.

4.   Meditate. I'm not a very frequent nor a very good meditator, however 'pressing reset' brings a sense of calm and focus.

5.   Hydration. Even slight dehydration impairs concentration and memory. Also, you’ll likely have a dry throat to combat.

6.   Know your stuff. Sounds obvious, but this means really understanding and reading around your subject matter so you can provide examples and greater depth when required.

7.   Rehearse. Go beyond just memorising the talk-track or key points. Practise timing, pauses and emphasis on key words. Do it in front of the mirror.

8.   Visualisation. (As per athletes) spend time to create and replay a mental image - thinking, seeing and feeling - of doing the presentation successfully.

9.   Visit the venue and stand on the stage. This helps with the points on rehearse and visualisation above but also eliminates unknowns on the day. I was once told that when visiting a venue in advance, to really 'own' the space by acting like a lion (actually roaring) or like a 4 year old (running around like aeroplane including the sounds)... however given there are usually other people present this is not something I've tried!

10. Speak to audience members as they filter in or in the breakout areas. Having some friendly faces to focus on, or even conversations to relay, while presenting helps build rapport and increase comfort.

11. Interact with the audience early on. Ask a question. This increases audience engagement and makes the communication more two-way.

12. Have an ice breaker; one that's topical, relevant and potentially with some humour. No one wants to jump straight in to an agenda or slides.

What other tactics do you use?