TIPS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY
[In this blog, we will focus on some SPEAKING TIPS that will help you Overcome Public Speaking Anxiety as you implement these Public Speaking Techniques.]
Let me begin by asking you - Have you ever thought about or asked this question to yourself?
"I want to stand in front of a crowd and be able to speak, but I have stage fear. What should I Do?"
You are not alone. Fear of Public Speaking is what everyone suffers from when they develop the desire to stand in front of a crowd and speak.
Feeling the fear is okay, but not being able to take action to overcome the fear once and for all can destroy your dream to speak in front of people.
I have experienced my mind going totally blank even after preparation as I stood in front of my colleagues to give a presentation.
My mind refused to support me. That day I was really upset with myself. I was not able to understand why even after good preparation I was not able to speak?
Have anyone of you been through this? Do let me know in the comment section.
That day I decided to do something about my speech delivery and get rid of my speech anxiety once and for all.
The first thing I did was, I changed my question from 'Why' to 'How'. Instead of asking 'Why I am not able to speak in front of an audience?' I asked:
How Can I Overcome Fear of Public Speaking?
I pondered on this question and even asked my colleagues to offer me suggestions.
I started seeking Public Speaking Advice from whatever source I could so that I don't go blank or shiver when I am speaking in front of an audience.
Based on long discussions and their suggestions combined with my deep thinking, I came up with 3 Ways to Improve Public Speaking.
I started practising the three speaking strategies and over a period of time, it started giving me results. I became an effective public speaker following my tips to overcome the fear of Public Speaking.
If these techniques could help me overcome my fear to stand in front of a crowd and speaking, I am sure it will also help you gain confidence in speaking in front of people.
So, if you want to overcome the fear of Public Speaking, I strongly recommend that you follow the tips that I am about to share with you.
Are you ready?
Let's get started!
PUBLIC SPEAKING TIPS FOR STUDENTS & TIPS FOR OVERCOMING PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY
ACTION#1: Speak to Empty Chairs
You might find this really funny. But let me assure you, this one technique worked wonders on my speaking capabilities. It was one of the best pieces of speaking advice I got.
When I for the first time looked at the empty chairs in the seminar hall from the speaker's point of view, I realized one thing - The world from this side looked entirely different. It had a kind of charisma attached to it. I felt a sense of excitement rise inside me.
Surprisingly I had never looked at the hall from this angle. I had a mixed feeling of eagerness as well as nervousness.
I just moved around the seminar hall in front of the empty chairs making my body to get used to standing on the stage.
The next day I prepared a small topic and once again stood in front of empty chairs.
This was the second part of the first action that I took, I started speaking to Empty Chairs in a seminar hall.
I spoke as if I was giving a real presentation to a packed hall. I looked at the empty chairs as I spoke as though I was looking into the eyes of the audience. I did not hurry. I took my time as I spoke at a slow pace. I was not afraid of what the audience might think because there was no audience. This created a psychological positive impact.
By continuous repetition of this activity, I started preparing myself emotionally to become confident in public speaking.
This practice not only made me comfortable with the ambience of the seminar hall but also gave me the conviction to stand on the stage facing an audience.
I was on my way to improving my public speaking skills.
ACTION#2: Start giving a presentation to a small group of people
The next baby step that I took was to start giving presentations to real people but not to total strangers.
If you are following these tips for speaking skills, I suggest, you request two or three of your colleagues or friends to sit for your presentation. Just make sure that your colleagues or friends are capable of giving the right feedback and advice and will help you achieve your goal.
Why I am suggesting friends and colleagues is because if you commit a silly mistake while giving your presentation you can laugh about it together and then move ahead.
You need to make sure about one thing though - Even if they are your friends, never take your presentation lightly. Be sincere in your efforts.
This is what I did:
I got hold of a few of my three colleagues and started giving presentations to them in the same seminar hall. As I wanted to get into Sales, I started giving presentations about the products that we sold.
I started small. The presentations I made were short, maybe 7 - 10 minutes long.
The purpose of keeping my presentation small was to make sure I do not get nervous during public speaking with my long product presentation.
By repeating this tip on a regular basis I was confident speaking in front of a very small audience.
This is what I wanted - Before getting into other aspects of public speaking like body language, tone, and voice modulation, first I wanted to develop speaking with confidence.
My colleagues responded well to my presentations. They gave me valuable feedback that helped me correct my speaking errors.
From their response, I understood where I was performing well and where I needed to improve.
With regular practice, slowly and steadily I was getting rid of my fear of Public Speaking.
My persistence was paying off.
ACTION#3: Slowly and Steadily Increase the Size of Your Audience
As I was learning public speaking, a new internal training session was introduced in the organization. Here every Saturday one team member will train the other sales and non-sales staff on a particular topic.
This was a great opportunity for me to implement what I was practising. I grabbed this chance and started training the staff at my office. The staff included both, seniors as well as juniors.
The size of my audience had increased. The small seminar hall was almost full each Saturday for the training.
I started enjoying my presentations. I worked hard on choosing the topics and preparing the content. I looked forward to my training sessions.
The staff also started enjoying as well as learning from my training sessions and I gained popularity amongst them.
Now, it was time to take the next step.
I had started doing well in sales. I proposed to my boss to conduct free entrepreneurial seminars for entrepreneurs and through these seminars sign them up for paid programs. I said that I will conduct those 90 minutes of free seminars. My boss agreed.
Now it was time for me to perform in front of an audience whom I had never met before.
I was nervous, but I had learned that being nervous is okay as long as I don't allow my nervousness to take over me.
I conducted the first seminar, then the second, and then the third. With every seminar, my confidence was rising.
Now, whenever I stand in front of the audience the content starts to flow from inside me.
This right set of circumstances in the form of a free seminar gave me exposure to completely root out my fear of public speaking and come out a winner.
It skyrocketed my confidence and I was ready to face a larger audience.
My life had changed! I had transformed myself from being an introvert who was shy to speak in public to an individual who overcame the fear of public speaking.
If I can do it so can you!
Hope the 3 tips that I shared will guide you in overcoming public speaking anxiety and make you an effective public speaker.
In Conclusion
As a beginner to the world of public speaking, these public speaking tips infused in me great confidence that I went on to conduct many seminars for entrepreneurs and their employees.
My effective speaking strategies practice continued regularly for one complete year. I was committed to moving from a failure to an individual who took charge and made a difference. For me, failure in public speaking was not an option.
Many years later, a time came when I gave a presentation on health to a 500-plus audience. This was possible only because back then I had taken a decision to do something about my fear of Public Speaking.
Today I am training youngsters to 'speak to impact' so that they can make a mark in society as confident individuals and lead the nation to greater heights.
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