How to overcome the Fear of Public Speaking?

LegacyUser

Hi,

As the title suggests I have a fear of public speaking. And from what I have heard im certainly not alone. Instead of going into too much detail about my own particular circumstances (making presentations), I have decided to quote an article I found on the internet which sums it up perfectly.

What I hope to learn from this thread is how people have dealt with this fear in their own way. Whether it be "biting the bullet" and just getting on with it or hypnotherapy or a few slugs of vodka! Whatever it is please let us know.

Thanks.

Does the thought of speaking in public leave you with butterflies in your stomach and your legs feeling like jelly?

Public speaking, making presentations, giving a talk, making a speech - however it's described it can be a terrifying experience for many, if not most, people. This could be addressing a small group of colleagues in a business meeting, giving a presentation to three or four customers, talking in a committee or team setting, or giving the best man's speech at a wedding.

Many people feel anxious about giving a formal talk or presentation and have a real phobia of speaking in public. This is backed up by fear of public speaking research. In a survey in the USA, where 3,000 adults were asked to list their ten worst fears, public speaking emerged as the number one fear - above even fears of death and financial ruin!
(Christine Stuart, "Effective Speaking")

Why is public speaking such a source of anxiety? Here are some of the main possible reasons for this "stage fright":

§ Unfamiliar situation - because most people speak formally to an audience only rarely, the novelty of the situation is a cause of apprehension

§ Lack of confidence - stems often from a feeling that others are better speakers than ourselves, or that they know more about the topic in question

§ Sense of isolation - the speaker is alone and vulnerable

§ Self-consciousness - about our accent, grammar, voice and image generally

§ Fear of looking foolish - we may worry that we will forget what we wanted to say, and will stumble over our words, or will say the "wrong" thing

The fear of public speaking, which is a form of social phobia, is of course irrational but is all too real to those who suffer from it.

REDZ

I've noticed that people in groups tend to laugh more easily the larger the group gets. I think its a sort of social animal behaviour thing, but the result is that cheesy corny crappy jokes and comedic observations can work to break the ice. just slip then in somewhere. the larger the group the worse the jokes can be. this is how jim davidison and bernard manning are famous i think!
Anyways that always gives me confidence when dealing with public speaking and the larger the group the better.

Victor

There was a thread on this recently http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=238356&highlight=speaking

Kernel

REDZ wrote:

I've noticed that people in groups tend to laugh more easily the larger the group gets. I think its a sort of social animal behaviour thing, but the result is that cheesy corny crappy jokes and comedic observations can work to break the ice. just slip then in somewhere. the larger the group the worse the jokes can be. this is how jim davidison and bernard manning are famous i think!
Anyways that always gives me confidence when dealing with public speaking and the larger the group the better.

Yeah, the joke can work, but if the joke fails and everyone is just sat there looking at you, it can lead to you getting flustered/red. Unfortunately, OP, I used to have this problem, and the only way to overcome it is through doing it more and more. Start off smaller if possible, with people you know, building up to larger groups of people you don't know. It can help for you to adopt the attitude of not giving too much of a **** if the people are interested or not, just go out and give it your best.

Remember that you have no reason to be nervous, and that it is all purely psychological and in your head. If you look at it logically, you've no reason to feel that way, and that can help you not to. The people are there to listen to you, so give it to them. After a few presentations you get much more used to it, to the point that it is second nature.

In summary:

* Start off with small groups of people you feel more comfortable with, in a relaxed environment.

* Acknowledge that the fear is all unfounded, illogical and purely in your own head - and so, you have no reason to let it hamper you.

* Go out and do it.. you may have bad presentations, but you will always get better.

I got to the point where managers would even comment that I was a natural and gifted speaker/presentation giver, even though I was far from it originally!

azezil

I've done many presentations, sh!t a brick before each one but once I get in to it I'm grand.

What gets me through it is the fact that I know the subject material better than my audiance, so just be well prepared, rehearse, read it aloud a few times before you go up, use slides and have notes prepared (although you should know it off before you go up), oh and emphasise that you'll be open for questions *after* the presentation, nothing worse than been interupted!

KdjaCL

What gets me through it is the fact that I know the subject material better than my audiance

I find thats the best method be 100% damned sure of what you saying and its easy.

kdjac

logonapr

Only way is rehearse, rehearse, rehearse beforehand and whilst you will still be nervous before you stand up the reheasal will mean that you will settle quickly and it is never ever as bad as you feared.
If using slides use an interesting one early on so that you know audience are engrossed in slide rather than you and by then you have had time to relax.
If possible try and be the first speaker after a break and if you can be at the podium as audience are assembling. That way you don't suddenly see piles of faces looking your way.
Finally remember that you rarely hang on every word of a speaker & neither will your audience so not essential that everything flowservice@moneybookers.coms 100% perfectly

Tobias Greeshman

To the OP, if your doing a presentation and you'd be using say Powerpoint for the presentation, try to put something in there a little funny that you could pull off for a joke, say the backround or picture on a certain slide. A simple innocent joke like that can really help you feel at ease.

Your audience is there to listen to what your talking about and see whats on your slides or whatever form of media you use, not to for any other reason.

WhiteWashMan

why dont you look at the things that you think you are afraid of, and then try and put them right?

LegacyUser

I think a lot of the marketing companies do courses in public speaking.

Foresight Communictions for one.

If you know what you are doing it might be a lot easier.

I used to hate public speaking but with time I don't mind it at all.

Keyzer

I made a presentation about 2 years back to my manager, other managers and teamleaders... I made a complete and utter arse of it and had to stop the presentation... The reason being that I didn't prepare enough...

Its great having a fantastic presentation but if you just stand there and quote whats on the screen then your doomed...
You need to be able to expand on every single slide, so i developed a script that I would use and memorised it before the presentation.
When I did my next presentation I absolutely nailed it, was expanding on everything etc etc.

So, prepare, develop a script, be able to expand on slides, and go through the pres in your mind before hand.

Im sure this can be applied to speeches etc...

Sarn

Preparation is definitely important. I'm always anxious before a talk but once I know I've prepared, it takes the edge off. Fortunately as soon as I start I relax completely. Prior to this I'd always managed to avoid public speaking until my final year in college (as far as I remember) as I absolutely dreaded it.

At the same time if your studies/job require you to do presentations you slowly get used to it. As my job requires me to do it, I just do it now. My record so far is speaking in front of about 400 people at an international conference

The one thing I enjoy about it is the feeling of relief when it's over, a real natural high.

SwampThing

Another tip - don't read verbatim what's on your slides. there's nothing worse than a presenter reading EXACTLY what's on their slides. It gives the audience more reason to look at you and not your presentation.

Use graphics and bullet points & short points of info about a topic on your slide but have your spiel rehearsed about the topic. People will automatcially see that the slides have extra/more info that you're telling them and look there while listening. It's one way of getting the eyes off you and on the screen, while looking prepared, confident and prefessional.