How can you overcome your fear of public speaking?
- Practice in front of a mirror and listen to your voice.
- Organize your thoughts.
- Be genuine.
- Allow profound moments of silence.
The overwhelming anxiety that comes with speaking on-stage can be daunting.
Before the cheers and applause, there is the complete silence waiting for your voice to fill. Don’t blame yourself if you are too intimidated or frightened to do so.
Speakers from around the world and the Philippines have had corporate training or public speaking training but they also make do with overcoming their stage fright according to their own terms.
You can too!
At first, you may feel that your fears are louder than what you’re going to deliver to your audience but you have to take command of it.
Assuming the worst will just lead you to obsess over the mistakes you haven’t even made yet. Also, know that it’s okay to feel frightened because you can use it as fuel for your motivation later on.
By the end of your presentation, you won’t even think about why you are scared of speaking in the first place because it will be replaced with a sense of fulfillment instead.
So relax and breathe, and remember these 4 ways to help you overcome your fear of public speaking.
Practice in Front of a Mirror and Listen to Your Voice
Knowing what you look like while you are making a speech helps you become conscious of your appearance and helps you with making proper eye contact.
As a speaker, you have to engage with your audience so if you just read off of your notes then you won’t do a good job of convincing them to absorb your material.
If you practice in front of a mirror, you will learn how to connect with people looking at you. You get a preview of what your audience will see when they are watching you speak.
You can adjust or manage your presentation according to your assessment of yourself.
Organize your Thoughts
Your audience will know right away if you are unprepared.
You cannot avoid audience reactions if they detect that your heart is not in it and this will leave you even more frustrated which will lead to your fear hovering over you for the rest of the presentation.
People are most likely to listen if you give ready-to-digest information.
Making an outline helps—you should start by envisioning yourself delivering a presentation and narrow down the important key points.
Know what intro will catch the audience’s attention, the main body of your talk, your foreseen goal in delivering the material and your concluding statement.
Clear and concise thoughts make a smooth presentation. Establish your selling point and start from there, advertise your idea like you would a product.
Be Genuine
Putting more effort into this method will guarantee its failure—being genuine does not require too much of you.
You only need to be yourself and that should come easy.
Being genuine means that you accept that you will make mistakes sometimes and this is a great way to overcome your fear of public speaking since you won’t have to worry about flopping in your presentation.
When you make a mistake, make light of the situation by incorporating it into your talk.
Genuine interactions with their speakers are what the audience craves so this can also help you withstand all your doubts in public speaking.
Allow Profound Moments of Silence
Taking a long pause is better than rambling on and on at a rapid speed.
This will also help your stage fright because it gives you time to step back and breathe. Make silences a part of your presentation just as much as the words you speak do.
That breathing space should not just be a personal one as you can also give it to your audience.
Leave them a few moments to think about the course of the presentation so they can further understand the reason why you are speaking in front of them. Let your ideas sink into their minds.
However, don’t overdo it because it will eat up too much room from your presentation and it can also be another reason for you to be nervous when you see the audience staring at you.
Key Takeaway
Overcoming your fear of public speaking is no easy feat but you have to trust that you can become a leader that takes command of that dread you feel when you step on a stage.
And when it gets too much for you to handle, you can ask for help—Inspire Leadership Consultancy’s programs will be your saving grace.
Stop stressing about your next presentation and learn from their upcoming event, “Leadership That Matters”, where you can learn from one of the best public speakers in the country.
Someday, you’ll be one of them too.
What are you waiting for? Register for the event here.