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Fighting the fear of public speaking
There’s an apocryphal statistic that seems to get quoted whenever somebody has some public speaking to do. It goes along the lines of more people are afraid of public speaking than they are of spiders/sharks/redundancy, delete as appropriate. This may or may not be true, though it does illustrate the point that many if not most of us view the prospect standing up in front of people and talking with at best trepidation and at worst outright horror.
The important thing to remember when it comes to public speaking is that nerves are a good thing. Only crazy people or narcissists feel completely comfortable when going up in front of people to speak. The first thing to do is relax and stop feeling as if you need to be cool calm and collected before your speech or presentation and realise that nerves are what keep you sharp, force you prepare properly and can make the difference between a presentation that plods along in a routine manner and one that keeps people on the edge of their seats.
Obviously crippling fear is another matter, stammering when you speak or going pale and shaking are not going to win your audience over. However, there are strategies you can employ to manage this. Firstly, take the focus off you. If all you’re thinking about is yourself, you’re going to be aware of and analysing every gesture, every vocal tick. This is obviously not where your attention needs to be. Concentrate on something else. The audience is a good place to start, you’re supposed to be talking to them after all.
Once your attention is off you, you’ll start to see your confidence increasing and your chances of creating the image you want improving exponentially. Remember, nine times out of ten you’re only up in front of these people because they want to hear what you have to say. They’re on your side all you’ve got to do is tell them something useful.
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