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The Power of the Mind: Reduce Your Fear of Public Speaking

Lisa Braithwaite has shared her experiences with panic attacks and anxiety on her blog.  I admire her candour, and am thankful she shared her experiences, because this sort of story encourages those who feel trapped by the condition.  I went through a similar time – panic attcks and anxiety, and certainly would not recommend it.

But in this particular article Lisa has given us all a new way of looking at the situation, especially as it applies to public speaking, with some incredibly powerful tools to use.

If our mind is powerful enough to create fear from “nothing,” it’s also powerful enough to reframe our thoughts to propel us forward in a positive way. There have been many books written about the power of positive thinking – the most well-known of these is Norman Vincent Peale’s, first published over 50 years ago. Recent medical research shows, for example, that a positive expectation of a medication has real measurable physical effects (not just the psychological “placebo effect”) on our health.

How does this apply to you as a public speaker? You can control the amount of fear and anxiety you experience around public speaking. You have the power to turn negative and fearful thoughts into positive ones. How do you do it?

Here’s how …

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Overcoming stage fright

PREPARATION and practice – that’s the 2Ps approach advocated by trainer Faridah Khalid for overcoming stage fright in a public-speaking competition.
“There are no shortcuts to overcoming stage fright. You need to prepare and practise,” she told participants of the English-Speaking Union Malaysia (Esum)-The Star-HSBC Public Speaking Competition 2006 workshop at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Kuching last Saturday.   Article continues

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How can you lose the fear and get out there and speak?

You’ve heard it said many times before – the fear of speaking is considered by many as their number one fear, outdistancing death and divorce. There are legendary stories of entertainment superstars who undergo extraordinary episodes of stage fright immediately before they perform…

They’ve experienced blurred vision, nausea, and headaches – even after performing hundreds of times. So, if these entertainers face anxiety on stage, is it any wonder that the rest of us may be fearful of appearing before groups? That anxiety may even prevent us from reaching our fullest potential since we may tend to avoid speaking opportunities altogether that could advance our career.

So how do you overcome that – reach your fullest potential?  Find out in Pivotal Magazine. http://www.pivotalmagazine.com/lose_fear.htm

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Public Speaking for private people

Since you only die once, but you could live to give many speeches, why not learn to make public speaking easier? Here’s what I did to help me take center stage—joyously!—at my book launch event:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/self-promotion-introverts/200910/public-speaking-private-people

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The 6 strongest speaker statements

Want to look confident? Want to hold your audience’s attention? Want to make your point stick? You can do all the tricks and tropes out there, but these six phrases, in my experience, almost always grip the listener, make the speaker look strong, save her from a world of trouble, and invite real connection with your audience. Keep these in your back pocket for a stronger speech:
http://eloquentwoman.blogspot.com/2009/09/6-strongest-speaker-statements.html
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Fear of Public Speaking

Public speaking is an example of a social phobia, and is the most commonly reported social fear.

Unfortunately, fear of public speaking can adversely impact upon one’s career, personal life and academic achievements. For example, sufferers may avoid careers which would entail public speaking or decline promotions which would involve giving lectures or presentations. Social anxiety sufferers may also experience a great deal of distress if required to give a speech at their 21st birthday, wedding etc. University students may choose their courses or subjects so as to avoid having to give presentations.

A Few Tips on Public Speaking For Social Phobia sufferers

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How to beome a great speaker (with no stress)

We have all heard that famous statistic, the one that claims the number one fear people have is public speaking, number two is death. Seinfeld had a joke about this stat, he said apparently if people are at a funeral they would rather be in the coffin than be giving the eulogy. If that statistic is accepted as fact, Seinfeld’s joke, while ridiculous sounding, would be technically correct. What is wrong with this scenario?

Would people really rather be dead than speak in public? Why? Well I am here to tell you that speaking in public is nothing to be afraid of; I do it all the time. Like most things in life, the more you speak in public, the less nervous you become when you do it. Unfortunately, most people choose to avoid giving speeches so vehemently that they will never do it enough to become comfortable with it.

So for all of those people out there who avoid speaking in public like, well, death, I am here to tell you how to breeze through any public speaking engagement and come out the other end as a hit public speaker, with as little stress as possible.  >>>

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10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking


by The Princeton Language Institute, and Lenny Laskowski

From the reviews

Lenny LaSkowski is an expert in the field (and author of Dynamic Presentation Skills of the Business professional). Here he offers a course on giving public talks and seminars. It’s comprehensive and covers every part of the presentation process, from investigating audience needs and meeting-room layout to having backup equipment and polished techniques for handling difficult people. It is full of interesting observations, suggestions and instructions.

The book has the tools you need to become a relaxed, effective and commanding public speaker. It is presented in a clear, concise, step-by-step approach with dozens of inside tips. It is well structured and easy readable.

Read the book and be encouraged to be comfortable with your own unique self. Learn to establish an instant rapport with an audience. There are suggestions on how to integrate humor, and memorization techniques.

The book’s lessons could also be extended to communicating more confidently and efficiently in general.

You can buy this book for just $9.40 from Amazon

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The fear of public speaking … and evolutionary psychology

From my own personal experience, from working with thousands of people face to face, and from asking my blog readers what they find hardest about presenting, I know that the fear of public speaking is a biggie.

And not everyone who suffers from the fear of public speaking has suffered a humiliating public speaking experience.

So why do so many people have a fear of public speaking?

The theory of evolutionary psychology

Read more …

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Help For Public-Speaking Anxiety

 

Fear of public speaking strikes some people harder — and differently — than others, according to a new study.

The study shows that those who suffer most over speaking in public get more anxious, not less anxious, as their presentation gets under way. And when it’s over, instead of feeling relief, they feel even more anxious.

… more

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10 Sure-Fire Steps To Take The Fear Out Of Public Speaking

Do you “feel the fear” when asked to do some public speaking? Public speaking is still one of our greatest fears and it turns grown men and women into nervous wrecks. The mere thought of it turns our tongue to cotton wool, causes our internal plumbing to act up and turns our knees to jelly. Well, there’s no need for all of this because help is at hand. All you need to remember are your P’s and Q’s. Let’s start with the P’s

(…more)

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How To Conquer Public Speaking Fear

Public speaking is a common source of stress for everyone. Many of us would like to avoid this problem entirely, but this is hard to do. Whether we work alone or with large numbers of people, eventually we will need to speak in public to get certain tasks accomplished. And if we want to be leaders or achieve anything meaningful in our lives, we will often need to speak to groups, large and small, to be successful.

The truth about public speaking, however, is IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE STRESSFUL! If you correctly understand the hidden causes of public speaking stress, and if you keep just a few key principles in mind, speaking in public will soon become an invigorating and satisfying experience for you.

(…more)

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Confident Public Speaking: Check This “Avoid At All Costs” List

In the pursuit of confident public speaking skills, it is important to accept that nervousness may never be completely eliminated in some public speakers. This is not necessarily bad. A certain amount of nervousness can be positively channeled to enhance performance.

Nevertheless, confident public speaking does involve learning not to betray one’s nervousness through obvious body signals

Familiarize yourself with the items in the list below and either check yourself through a video playback of your next presentation or have a close friend or colleague critique your presentation by looking out for these indicators that betray a lack of confidence in public speaking.

http://mitm-la.blogspot.com/2008/07/confident-public-speaking-check-this.html

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The Importance of Public Speaking

Public speaking is one spoke on the marketing and PR wheel, but is a very powerful medium to get your name, your company’s name out there and to brand yourself and your organization as thought leaders.

This is an excellent article on getting yourself out to speak, either for yourself or your company (or both!). 

Read the whole article here.

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The Power of Your Speech

Language expert Wilfred Funk was one of the first to study highly successful men and women to determine what they have in common. What he discovered was that they all have the ability to communicate clearly and effectively. Since then, many studies have shown the same thing. In fact, members of the “speaking” professions – lawyers, politicians, professional speakers, salespeople, and entertainers – are among the highest paid. There appears to be a high correlation between word power and earning power. The ability to speak, to persuade, and to keep an audience’s attention is well rewarded.

What about you? Have you been sabotaging your own success because you feel that speaking in front of a group is something you would rather die than do? If so, it is time to do yourself a favour and learn the skills that can change your life.

Read on …

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Presentation Nerves Part I

There seems to be hundreds of theories and opinions about nerves in relation to making a presentation. Possibly one of the more famous sayings is that it is okay to have butterflies, as long as they are flying in the same formation. Other people say presentation nerves are built-in anti-complacency buttons, ensuring that we are always on edge and performing to our best.

Article continues

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Become a fearless, confident public speaker

For most people, just the thought of—or the hint that they might “have to” —speak in public automatically raises their anxiety level to red alert. In fact, it’s well know that many psychological polls rank public speaking as people’s #1 fear… usually ranking above the fear of death.

If you have any level of fear, even if you are terrified when it comes to public speaking, I’m here to tell you that you do not have to live with it. There are all sorts of techniques you can use, but the people at ThinkRightNow.com have produced a new audio program.

”You can literally erase your fear of public speaking… whether it’s a brutally intense fear or just a small twinge. And you can do it without effort or struggle with a new audio program just released:”

Fearless Public Speaking Now!

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Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking

Very succinct list of way to overcome the fear of public speaking.

Click on the picture to get to the video

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Tips for keeping your cool before your presentation

You need your nerves.  You need your excitement and you need your energy before you present.

 

You also need to keep them under control and channelled into the best presentation you can give.

 

Depending on the space and the time that you have, try these physical strategies to tame the nervous in the body and give your mind a chance to relax and be positive before you bring speaking.

Stretch to relax. Rise on your toes and reach for the ceiling, with your head back. Tighten your muscles from legs up through abdomen, and then release. Relax the neck and shoulder muscles, letting head loll on neck in different directions.

Breathe to relax. Stand erect, but relaxed and balanced. Inhale while silently counting to five. Hold the breath for five counts, then exhale for five – all breathing is through the mouth. Your diaphragm should move, but your chest should not expand. You can gradually increase the number of counts for each breath to 10.

Relax your Jaw. Let your head loll forward. As you raise it, keep your jaw relaxed. Let it hang open, and smile to yourself at how silly it feels.

Relax your throat. Yawn …. This is how your throat needs to be to speak well – open, and relaxed.Keep relaxing the muscles throughout your body, your jaw, neck and throat until you walk to the presentation area. Then smile! and begin.

 

Take your focussed positivity, generosity and passion out onto the stage/platform/presentation space …. and enjoy!