How To Deal With A Fear Of Public Speaking

Fear of public speaking is the number one of all fears. In the words of
Mark Twain: “There are 2 types of speakers: those that are nervous and
those that are liars”. Our bodies are programmed from prehistorical
times to react to fear with fight or flight––fight that animal or run
out of its way. But that surge of adrenalin no longer helps us when we
give a speehc. So we have to learn to manage it.

Steps:

1. Be prepared. The more skillful you’re and the better you know your
   subject, the less nervous you’re likely to feel when giving it.
   Exercise to friends and relatives. Exercise to a
   
   dictaphone and then listen for potential improvements you could make.
   Give your presentation to yourself in front of a mirror and notice your
   hands, head and facial expressions. Make sure to exercise out loud.
2. Be truthful. What’s the most frightful that could happen? Well,
   you could die. All right: 1) that is not very likely, and 2) whenever
   you are dead, the presentation will not matter anymore as you will be
   dead. Of course, there are other things that could happen, but they
   aren’t really expected either, and your audience will probably
   understand because everybody is afraid of public speaking. Whenever you
   realise your nervousness, you are able to manage it a lot more easily.
3. Picture a successful demonstration.
4. Dress suitably. Wear clothing that will fit in with your audience
   and give the right message. Also consider some physical cues you could
   give to your audience that you are nervous. E.g., if your chest becomes
   blotchy from nerves, tyr wearing top with a high neck.
5. Examine the room. Arrive earlier to orient yourself and assemble.
   Get acquainted with the lights, audio and some technical gear you will
   use.
6. Stay calm before they arrive. Have a cup of herb tea and think of
   something additional whenever there is time between becoming oriented
   and when your people arrive. It will calm down your nerves. Go for a
   walk, moving your body will help too.
7. Examine the audience. Whenever appropriate, chat with people as
   they arrive––it is easier to talk to a group of your allies than a
   crowd of strangers.
8. Take a breath! You will feel less nervous whenever your brain gets
   oxygen. Make a couple of deep long breaths before you start. Make a
   deep breath at the end of each [hrase of your presentation. For large
   sentences, breathe at the finish of each phrase. Breathe whether you
   want to or not.
9. Make a joke. Make sure to prepare some before you start. Laughter brings out tension and reduces nervousness.
10. Use motions and strong volume. They’ll give you an impression of confidence.
11. Stop! Whenever you lose it or get frustrated. Make a deep breath
    and have some water. If your mind still has not cleared, start
    someplace in your flip charts that seems about right. It’s alright at
    any point in the speech to pause and gather your thoughts.

Tips:

• Establish eye contact with a friend in the room if there is one.
• Avoid caffein before your speech. It might just make you a lot nervous.
• Detect your nervousness. Whenever you observe what your body is doing, you attain control over it..
• Cover your nervousness by looking at your draft. Use the chance to take a breath and bring your thoughts together.
• Keep in mind that people wants you to succeed. Why would not they?
  Everybody wins once you are interesting, arousing, informative and
  amusing.
• Mirror otherses behavior. For instance, whenever you do not know
  what to do with your hands, make the same thing as somebody who looks
  poised.
• Acquire experience. The more speaking you do, the less nerves it will cause you.
• Formulate relaxation formulas over the long-run. Test different approaches and apply the ones that work for you.
• Do not comment on your nervousness. Almost always people can’t
  notice that you are nervous. If you bring up your nervousness or
  apologise for problems you believe you are having, you will simply call
  attention to it and possibly reduce your credibility.

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