How to Overcome Your Fear of Speaking in Public

What NOT to do:

• Take solace in the thought that you are an introvert or shy or a “behind-the-scenes person.” Or have the excuse that English is NOT your first language. That has nothing to do with being able to speak.
  • BTW, I always had the excuse that I stammered or stuttered.
• Try to get out of speaking to a group when the opportunity comes.
  • BTW, I was so afraid of public speaking that for an honorary speech I was supposed to give to my high school graduating class I got the school to have someone else read my speech.

Instead, keep your eye on the prize. The great newsman Lowell Thomas was a strong believer in being able to speak your mind in front of a group. Listen to this if you want to improve your station in life. He said. “The speaker’s platform is inevitable for the person on the way up.”

What TO DO:

• STEP ONE – Admit your fear. Recognize that your fear of speaking is natural. You are not weird, you are normal.
• STEP TWO- EXAMINE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
  • You and I are not unique. I used to be sooo afraid of any talking to a group or an audience. There are hundreds of thousands like us. This means there are hundreds of programs available. Dale Carnegie is one, Toastmasters is another, Clear Talk Mastery is a third. Every adult education organization offers speaker training.
  • Some are better than others. Look for expertise. Look for a program that teaches you many skills And look for practice within the program. I did my training with speech therapists who taught me how to overcome my stammering habits. Then I studied the science and art of public speaking in books—about thirty of them.
    • Then I took every opportunity to practice.
  • Emerson said, “If you do a thing once, you can do it twice. If you can do it twice, you can make a habit out of it.”
• STEP THREE – MAKE A DECISION
  • Investigate then select the course or training program that shows great promise and sign up. If you are like me, you may have gotten this far many times in the past but procrastinated because the unknown is frightening.
  • But here is super news: the very act of making a decision will free you. The moment you make it you will feel good, even euphoric. Such is a beautiful mystery of life. Making a decision carries its own reward because decisions are so difficult to make.

Don’t:  

• Put off until tomorrow. Take action today.

Hello Everybody,

“This tragedy is not going to stop Boston,” said Thomas Menino, the city’s outgoing mayor. “We are Boston. We are one community and we will not let terror take us over.”

Now for you. What are you most afraid of?

People’s Almanac Book of Lists by David Wallechinsky, et al. reports on a survey:

What are you most afraid of?

Speaking before a group 41%
Heights 32%
Insects and bugs 22%
Financial problems 22%
Deep water 22%
Sickness 19%
Death 19%
Flying 15%

This survey obtained more than one response per person. It was an unaided survey—no hints to influence the respondents.

When the same question was asked on an “aided basis,” which means the respondents are given a list of probable fears to select from, more than 90% selected speaking before a group.

Fear of another terrorist attack, fear of making a speech before a group, fear of speaking in English—the physical symptoms are the same in the stomach, mouth, skin and breathing.

What causes this virtually universal fear? The simplest explanation is that when you stand up to speak to a group, you see a gigantic force out there. All those people. You  feel like it’s them against you. A primal physical safety switch clicks on. The central nervous system sends an extra jolt of adrenaline to help you meet this challenge.

It’s the same adrenaline rush and the same question that your ancestors faced back in the Stone Age when they suddenly came face-to-face with a saber-tooth tiger. Fight or flight? Do they stay there and fight or do they run away as fast as they can? No matter what their decision, they needed all the adrenaline they could get.

You are not alone if you suffer fear of speaking in public. It happens to everyone. It’s simply part of being human.

But hey, we don’t overcome fear by wishing it were gone. Three steps are great in  overcoming fear. Here’s the first:

STEP ONE—ADMIT YOUR FEAR

Admit to yourself that your fear of speaking in public is hurting you. It is limiting your opportunity for recognition and advancement. It is holding you back. It is embarrassing. It has no advantages, only disadvantages.

In the next blog will be the next two steps!