Fear of public speaking -- it's more widespread than we suspect. My daughter, in fact, was an A student in college whose last required class was public speaking. She was so anxious about facing an audience she called me to say, "I may have to drop out of college; I just can't do this dad. Public speaking makes me physically ill."
You are not alone. Speaking in public is truly scary for most people, including many whom outwardly seem very composed. Our brain shuts down normal functions as the 'fight or flight' impulse takes over.Presentations skills and public speaking skills are very useful in many aspects of work and life. Effective presentations and public speaking skills are important in business, sales and selling, training, teaching, lecturing and generally entertaining an audience.
Fear of public speaking? Gone. It was as if, she said, this fear had never existed.Public speaking class. We were to give a three to five minute speech about ourselves. They were OK, nothing to get excited about, and then Byron R.'s turn came. Since that April spring day I've heard many speeches, but I've never seen anyone as nervous as Byron, which was surprising to all of us because he was one of the school tough guys, or so we thought.
As I headed back to my seat I dared not look at any faces. I kept my eyes on my seat of solace as if it were an endearing lover.Because of reports from my friends I know for a fact that I'm one of the most retarded Public Speaking Anxiety Sufferers.And it had been a long time since I had been in a public speaking situation it was the most uncomfortable moment I had experienced in a long while.As if the anxiety itself weren't bad enough, after an embarrassing moment like that I would then suffer though the emotional pain afterward. To present myself like that to an audience completely misrepresented my identity: That wasn't me up there!As I sat in my seat of solace I considered what would be the lifelong impact of inflicting these emotional wounds on my psyche for the rest of the semester. This was the moment that changed everything.
On another occasion a few years later I was a member of a public speaking club that met weekly. We used up a lot of time that night discussing our annual party for spouses and friends we wanted to invite. The discussion finally came down to what beverages would be served. Coffee, of course, was on the agenda and why it took over a half hour merely to discuss coffee I'm about to tell you because what happened is another of those unforgettable images etched in my mind thanks to Mr. O.For nearly fifteen minutes he gave an impassioned speech about why we needed to rent special coffee urinals, instead of urns, and yes our budget was tight, but he felt so strongly that we needed to splurge and rent coffee urinals that well, we were laughing so hard, we let him go on and on about coffee urinals longer than decorum should have permitted. My ribs ached for a week and we're lucky no one laughed so hard an emergency vehicle had to be called to cart them off to the emergency room of the nearby local hospital.
You've probably heard this many times but why not take up several lines saying it again? A number of studies have shown that some people fear public speaking more than death, a fact I sincerely doubt, but that's what the studies say. Do you think the dead feel that way about public speaking when they're contacted by a relative on some psychic's radio or television show and have to answer questions albeit inside the psychic's head in front of a live national audience?My college speech professor, Mr. Plache, used to talk to us about what he called "the awkward phase of change." What's not easy in the beginning probably isn't supposed to be because, just like learning to ride a bicycle or drive a car, you have to go through the "awkward phase of change" before the activity becomes second nature and you become an old pro at it.
Such public speaking phobias are closely associated with the kind of panic attacks they are known to cause. As is well known, any sort of intense nervousness might become the reason for a panic attack. Phobias such as public speaking phobia (closely associated with Agoraphobia, or the fear of crowded places) therefore often act as triggers for such attacks.It is often wrongly perceived that the fear of public speaking is restricted to situations where the affected party needs to address a crowd of unknown people. Not quite so. On a number of occasions, it has been observed that these individuals are also equally unequipped to speak in a board meeting or in a presentation where, technically speaking, they are addressing a far smaller and known group of people.
Quote: Understanding our fears is the first and most important step to conquering them. As the saying goes, don't try to get rid of the butterflies - just get them flying in formation.OTHER WAYS TO HELP OVERCOME YOUR FEAR,Know your material inside out. Remember the quote: prior preparation prevents poor performance. It could also say that: prior preparation presents perfect performance.Know the room- arrive early and check out where everything is. Walk around and look at things from the audiences view.Make contact with your audience before you speak. It's wonderful to have made friends that you can connect with while speaking.Use good relaxation and breathing exercises. Watch how you speak about yourself. Change: "I am so nervous", to: "I am really excited." What you say is what you get. Change the nervous energy to enthusiasm.
The only way of curing the fear of speaking in public is gaining confidence, and that cannot be achieved overnight. So if you want to cure yourself of such a problem, be ready for some grueling hard work for a decent period of time. There are no quick remedies that will build you up in a jiffy for your Board meeting next week and only an extensive effort on your part will be likely to treat you of your problem.Having said that, however, one must also accept that treating Public Speaking Phobia is fairly simple.
As explained, almost everyone who is afraid of speaking in public is ultimately scared of being unable to do so, therefore the easiest way of making them 'un-afraid' is by diverting their mind from their apprehension. A number of people use a click pen or a paper clip to keep themselves occupied during a speech. Keep clicking the pen or keep trying to straighten the paper clip and all that extra energy that your anxiety burdens you with will fly straight out of the window.
You are not alone. Speaking in public is truly scary for most people, including many whom outwardly seem very composed. Our brain shuts down normal functions as the 'fight or flight' impulse takes over.Presentations skills and public speaking skills are very useful in many aspects of work and life. Effective presentations and public speaking skills are important in business, sales and selling, training, teaching, lecturing and generally entertaining an audience.
Fear of public speaking? Gone. It was as if, she said, this fear had never existed.Public speaking class. We were to give a three to five minute speech about ourselves. They were OK, nothing to get excited about, and then Byron R.'s turn came. Since that April spring day I've heard many speeches, but I've never seen anyone as nervous as Byron, which was surprising to all of us because he was one of the school tough guys, or so we thought.
As I headed back to my seat I dared not look at any faces. I kept my eyes on my seat of solace as if it were an endearing lover.Because of reports from my friends I know for a fact that I'm one of the most retarded Public Speaking Anxiety Sufferers.And it had been a long time since I had been in a public speaking situation it was the most uncomfortable moment I had experienced in a long while.As if the anxiety itself weren't bad enough, after an embarrassing moment like that I would then suffer though the emotional pain afterward. To present myself like that to an audience completely misrepresented my identity: That wasn't me up there!As I sat in my seat of solace I considered what would be the lifelong impact of inflicting these emotional wounds on my psyche for the rest of the semester. This was the moment that changed everything.
On another occasion a few years later I was a member of a public speaking club that met weekly. We used up a lot of time that night discussing our annual party for spouses and friends we wanted to invite. The discussion finally came down to what beverages would be served. Coffee, of course, was on the agenda and why it took over a half hour merely to discuss coffee I'm about to tell you because what happened is another of those unforgettable images etched in my mind thanks to Mr. O.For nearly fifteen minutes he gave an impassioned speech about why we needed to rent special coffee urinals, instead of urns, and yes our budget was tight, but he felt so strongly that we needed to splurge and rent coffee urinals that well, we were laughing so hard, we let him go on and on about coffee urinals longer than decorum should have permitted. My ribs ached for a week and we're lucky no one laughed so hard an emergency vehicle had to be called to cart them off to the emergency room of the nearby local hospital.
You've probably heard this many times but why not take up several lines saying it again? A number of studies have shown that some people fear public speaking more than death, a fact I sincerely doubt, but that's what the studies say. Do you think the dead feel that way about public speaking when they're contacted by a relative on some psychic's radio or television show and have to answer questions albeit inside the psychic's head in front of a live national audience?My college speech professor, Mr. Plache, used to talk to us about what he called "the awkward phase of change." What's not easy in the beginning probably isn't supposed to be because, just like learning to ride a bicycle or drive a car, you have to go through the "awkward phase of change" before the activity becomes second nature and you become an old pro at it.
Such public speaking phobias are closely associated with the kind of panic attacks they are known to cause. As is well known, any sort of intense nervousness might become the reason for a panic attack. Phobias such as public speaking phobia (closely associated with Agoraphobia, or the fear of crowded places) therefore often act as triggers for such attacks.It is often wrongly perceived that the fear of public speaking is restricted to situations where the affected party needs to address a crowd of unknown people. Not quite so. On a number of occasions, it has been observed that these individuals are also equally unequipped to speak in a board meeting or in a presentation where, technically speaking, they are addressing a far smaller and known group of people.
Quote: Understanding our fears is the first and most important step to conquering them. As the saying goes, don't try to get rid of the butterflies - just get them flying in formation.OTHER WAYS TO HELP OVERCOME YOUR FEAR,Know your material inside out. Remember the quote: prior preparation prevents poor performance. It could also say that: prior preparation presents perfect performance.Know the room- arrive early and check out where everything is. Walk around and look at things from the audiences view.Make contact with your audience before you speak. It's wonderful to have made friends that you can connect with while speaking.Use good relaxation and breathing exercises. Watch how you speak about yourself. Change: "I am so nervous", to: "I am really excited." What you say is what you get. Change the nervous energy to enthusiasm.
The only way of curing the fear of speaking in public is gaining confidence, and that cannot be achieved overnight. So if you want to cure yourself of such a problem, be ready for some grueling hard work for a decent period of time. There are no quick remedies that will build you up in a jiffy for your Board meeting next week and only an extensive effort on your part will be likely to treat you of your problem.Having said that, however, one must also accept that treating Public Speaking Phobia is fairly simple.
As explained, almost everyone who is afraid of speaking in public is ultimately scared of being unable to do so, therefore the easiest way of making them 'un-afraid' is by diverting their mind from their apprehension. A number of people use a click pen or a paper clip to keep themselves occupied during a speech. Keep clicking the pen or keep trying to straighten the paper clip and all that extra energy that your anxiety burdens you with will fly straight out of the window.
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