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To Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking, Stop Thinking About Yourself

• Sarah Gershman

Tips for before and during your presentation.

Even the most confident speakers find ways to distance themselves from their audience. It’s how our brains are programmed, so how can we overcome it? Human generosity. The key to calming the amygdala and disarming our panic button is to turn the focus away from ourselves — away from whether we will mess up or whether the audience will like us — and toward helping the audience. Showing kindness and generosity to others has been shown to activate the vagus nerve, which has the power to calm the fight-or-flight response. When we are kind to others, we tend to feel calmer and less stressed. The same principle applies in speaking. When we approach speaking with a spirit of generosity, we counteract the sensation of being under attack and we feel less nervous.

Most of us — even those at the top — struggle with public-speaking anxiety. When I ask my clients what makes them nervous, invariably they respond with the same answers:

• Sarah Gershman is an executive speech coach and CEO of Green Room Speakers. She is a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, where she teaches public speaking to leaders from around the globe.

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Fear of public speaking: how can i overcome it, how can i overcome my fear of public speaking.

Fear of public speaking is a common form of anxiety. It can range from slight nervousness to paralyzing fear and panic. Many people with this fear avoid public speaking situations altogether, or they suffer through them with shaking hands and a quavering voice. But with preparation and persistence, you can overcome your fear.

These steps may help:

• Know your topic. The better you understand what you're talking about — and the more you care about the topic — the less likely you'll make a mistake or get off track. And if you do get lost, you'll be able to recover quickly. Take some time to consider what questions the audience may ask and have your responses ready.
• Get organized. Ahead of time, carefully plan out the information you want to present, including any props, audio or visual aids. The more organized you are, the less nervous you'll be. Use an outline on a small card to stay on track. If possible, visit the place where you'll be speaking and review available equipment before your presentation.
• Practice, and then practice some more. Practice your complete presentation several times. Do it for some people you're comfortable with and ask for feedback. It may also be helpful to practice with a few people with whom you're less familiar. Consider making a video of your presentation so you can watch it and see opportunities for improvement.
• Challenge specific worries. When you're afraid of something, you may overestimate the likelihood of bad things happening. List your specific worries. Then directly challenge them by identifying probable and alternative outcomes and any objective evidence that supports each worry or the likelihood that your feared outcomes will happen.
• Visualize your success. Imagine that your presentation will go well. Positive thoughts can help decrease some of your negativity about your social performance and relieve some anxiety.
• Do some deep breathing. This can be very calming. Take two or more deep, slow breaths before you get up to the podium and during your speech.
• Focus on your material, not on your audience. People mainly pay attention to new information — not how it's presented. They may not notice your nervousness. If audience members do notice that you're nervous, they may root for you and want your presentation to be a success.
• Don't fear a moment of silence. If you lose track of what you're saying or start to feel nervous and your mind goes blank, it may seem like you've been silent for an eternity. In reality, it's probably only a few seconds. Even if it's longer, it's likely your audience won't mind a pause to consider what you've been saying. Just take a few slow, deep breaths.
• Recognize your success. After your speech or presentation, give yourself a pat on the back. It may not have been perfect, but chances are you're far more critical of yourself than your audience is. See if any of your specific worries actually occurred. Everyone makes mistakes. Look at any mistakes you made as an opportunity to improve your skills.
• Get support. Join a group that offers support for people who have difficulty with public speaking. One effective resource is Toastmasters, a nonprofit organization with local chapters that focuses on training people in speaking and leadership skills.

If you can't overcome your fear with practice alone, consider seeking professional help. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a skills-based approach that can be a successful treatment for reducing fear of public speaking.

As another option, your doctor may prescribe a calming medication that you take before public speaking. If your doctor prescribes a medication, try it before your speaking engagement to see how it affects you.

Nervousness or anxiety in certain situations is normal, and public speaking is no exception. Known as performance anxiety, other examples include stage fright, test anxiety and writer's block. But people with severe performance anxiety that includes significant anxiety in other social situations may have social anxiety disorder (also called social phobia). Social anxiety disorder may require cognitive behavioral therapy, medications or a combination of the two.

Craig N. Sawchuk, Ph.D., L.P.

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• Social anxiety disorder (social phobia). In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5. 5th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association, 2013. http://dsm.psychiatryonline.org. Accessed April 18, 2017.
• 90 tips from Toastmasters. Toastmasters International. https://www.toastmasters.org/About/90th-Anniversary/90-Tips. Accessed April 18, 2017.
• Stein MB, et al. Approach to treating social anxiety disorder in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed April 18, 2017.
• How to keep fear of public speaking at bay. American Psychological Association. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/02/tips-sidebar.aspx. Accessed April 18, 2017.
• Jackson B, et al. Re-thinking anxiety: Using inoculation messages to reduce and reinterpret public speaking fears. PLOS One. 2017;12:e0169972.
• Sawchuk CN (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 24, 2017.

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Glossophobia (Fear of Public Speaking)

Causes and How to Overcome Your Fear

Glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, is the most common phobia among people. The good news is that there are ways to cope and learn to overcome your fear, such as using strategies to calm your nerves, practicing the presentation frequently, and engaging your audience with questions.

Public speaking causes feelings of anxiety in 15% to 30% of the general population, and it can sometimes hinder a person's day-to-day life. This is especially true regarding school- or work-related situations involving speaking in front of others.

This article discusses the symptoms, causes, treatment, and healthy ways to cope with glossophobia.

Mikolette / Getty Images

What Is Glossophobia?

"Glossophobia" is the official term used to define a fear of public speaking. It may sometimes also be referred to as public speaking anxiety.

Phobias are categorized into one of three categories:

• Specific phobia : A fear related to a specific object, like spiders or confined spaces, or a situation, such as flying
• Social phobia : A fear that involves a significant and persistent feeling of social anxiety or performance-based anxiety
• Agoraphobia : A fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult or that help wouldn't be available if things go wrong. This term is most often used to describe a fear of crowded spaces.

Glossophobia is a social phobia that causes more intense feelings than are normal to experience when it comes to public speaking. Instead of just butterflies in their stomach, those with glossophobia can feel extreme distress in situations that involve speaking in public, interacting with new people, or talking in a group.

Symptoms of Glossophobia

People with glossophobia may experience a variety of symptoms depending on the severity of their condition. They may only experience a fear surrounding performance and public speaking, but they may also have other social anxieties.

Symptoms of glossophobia typically include:

• A significant fear or dread of public speaking
• Avoidance of situations that require speaking publicly, either formally in front of an audience or informally via small talk

Those with glossophobia may have other symptoms of social phobia, as well. These may occur before, during, or after a social situation.

Symptoms may include:

• Avoidance of group conversations
• Avoidance of parties
• Avoidance of eating with others
• Worrying about activities like speaking on the phone or in work meetings
• Worrying about doing something embarrassing
• Worrying about blushing or sweating
• Difficulty doing tasks with others watching
• Avoiding eye contact
• Having low self-esteem
• Worrying about being criticized or judged

Those with social phobia are more likely to experience anxiety and depression than the general public.

As with many phobias, glossophobia may also cause a variety of physical symptoms. Panic attacks are also possible and may lead to increased heart rate, chest pain or tightness, and trembling. Other symptoms include:

• Hot flushes
• Feelings of choking
• Feeling short of breath
• Feeling light-headed or faint
• Feelings of pins and needles
• An urgency to go the bathroom
• Ringing sound in the ears
• Upset stomach
• Feeling disorientated

Causes of Glossophobia

A fear of public speaking often begins in adolescence. Social phobias like glossophobia can be caused by a range of factors.

Biological Factors

Glossophobia may be due in part to genetics. Genetics can determine how the brain regulates feelings of anxiety, stress, nervousness, and shyness.

Some people may be born naturally shy, and find social situations difficult to navigate. Most people who have a social phobia have had a shy temperament their whole life.

Learned Behavior

A fear of public speaking can develop after learning the fear from a role model. A child with shy parents who avoid social interactions or speaking in public may be influenced to have the same fear.

A child who witnesses such avoidance may grow up to think speaking in public or socializing with others is upsetting and to be avoided.

Likewise, if a parent overprotects a child who is shy, the child won't have opportunities to become used to situations that involve new people or speaking in public. This can result in a social phobia like glossophobia later in life.

Past Experiences

A life event or past experience that is stressful or upsetting can cause people to associate negative emotions with situations that involve public speaking or interacting with others.

If someone has been criticized or feels humiliated, they may develop a social phobia. If a person is pressured into interacting in a way they are not comfortable with, they may also develop a social phobia.

Those who are bullied are more likely to hide away from others and be afraid of opening themselves up to more criticism by speaking in public.

Since the fear of public speaking is a social phobia, it is typically diagnosed as a nongeneralized type of social anxiety disorder. One study indicated that the fear of public speaking is a common feature of social anxiety disorder, but it may also be present without other signs of social anxiety.

For a person to be diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, a mental health professional will perform a psychological evaluation using criteria in the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" ( DSM-5) .

You may also undergo a physical exam or lab tests to look for any irregularities in physical health, which will often check a person's hormone, vitamin, and blood levels.

Overcoming a Fear of Public Speaking

Dealing with a fear of public speaking isn't easy. Many people feel nervous if they have to deliver a speech in front of an audience, but there are ways to cope.

The American Psychological Association suggests the following tips to cope with nerves when speaking in public:

• Begin your speech or presentation with a discussion question : This gets the audience involved and talking and takes the pressure off you for a while.
• Recognize where your anxious feelings are coming from : Nervousness can be due to excitement. Remember that even if you feel nervous, you can still speak in public without failing.
• If giving a presentation, remember it's about the topic : The people you are speaking to are focusing less on you personally and more on what you're saying.
• Try to make eye contact : You may find that making eye contact with the individuals in the group you are addressing allows you to interact with them, and they may nod or smile as you speak, which can help boost your confidence.
• If giving a formal presentation, rehearse a lot beforehand : It may help to rehearse in the actual space you will be giving a speech. Practicing in front of a group beforehand may help calm your nerves.
• Experiment with different strategies to calm your nerves : Try deep breathing exercises, visualization techniques, or smiling during your presentation (it releases endorphins, which lowers stress). Find out what works for you and then prepare in the same way every time you need to speak in public.

Treating social phobias like glossophobia can be complex, and it may require a number of approaches. Psychological interventions like therapy are known to be effective in the treatment of fear of public speaking.

Treating social phobias involves talk therapies, such as:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy : Also referred to as CBT, this type of psychotherapy (talk therapy) is used to change unhealthy behaviors, particularly those that are related to anxiety, trauma, and depression.
• Exposure therapy : This type of therapy can help a person overcome their avoidance of a certain object or situation by gradually exposing them to their phobia.

Typically, medication is not used in the treatment of phobias. However, a healthcare provider may prescribe medication for people experiencing significant symptoms of anxiety.

These may include:

• Beta-blockers
• Tranquilizers
• Antidepressants

The fear of public speaking is a social phobia and may be caused by several factors, including genetics, learned behavior, and past experiences. It is the most commonly held fear, and people with glossophobia may experience anxiety surrounding either interaction with others, performing in public, or a combination of both. Using coping techniques and treatment involving psychotherapy can help people overcome the fear of public speaking.

Ebrahimi OV, Pallesen S, Kenter RMF, Nordgreen T. Psychological Interventions for the Fear of Public Speaking: A Meta-Analysis.   Front Psychol . 2019;10:488. Published 2019 Mar 15.

Tejwani V, Ha D, Isada C. Observations: Public Speaking Anxiety in Graduate Medical Education--A Matter of Interpersonal and Communication Skills? J Grad Med Educ. 2016 Feb;8(1):111. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-15-00500.1

American Psychological Association.  Specific phobia.

American Psychological Association. Social Phobia.

National Health Service. Overview - Agoraphobia .

Johns Hopkins Medicine. Social Phobia .

National Health Service. Social anxiety (social phobia) .

National Health Service.  Symptoms - phobias . 

Heeren A, Ceschi G, Valentiner DP, Dethier V, Philippot P.  Assessing public speaking fear with the short form of the Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker scale: confirmatory factor analyses among a French-speaking community sample.   Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat . 2013;9:609-18. doi:10.2147%2FNDT.S43097

American Psychological Association. How to keep fear of public speaking at bay .

National Health Service.  Overview - Phobias

By Elizabeth Pratt Pratt is a freelance medical and mental health journalist with a master's degree in health communication.

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Detailed Guide for Overcoming your Fear of Public Speaking

February 16, 2021 - Dom Barnard

Public speaking is a common form of anxiety and fear. Over 75% of people experience some degree of anxiety or nervousness when it comes to speaking in front of others.

People who have been surveyed commonly rank this fear above spiders, heights and death. So the first thing to remember is that your fear is totally normal.

It can range from slight nervousness to paralyzing fear and panic, with more extreme fear known as glossophobia. Many people with this fear avoid public speaking situations altogether, or they suffer through them with shaking hands and a quavering voice.

But with preparation and experience, you can overcome your fear.

Sections in this article:

Glossophobia: more than a common fear of speaking, what fear does to us during a speech, verbal communication is essential for your career, why do we have this fear.

• Video: Tips to overcome anxiety

8 tips to overcome your fear of public speaking

What to do before and after the event.

• The cure for insecurity is preparation

Speaking Up without Freaking Out  webinar , with Matt Abrahams, Lecturer in Organizational Behavior at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Most of us have experienced some sort of fear when speaking in public. However, a person with glossophobia is unable to control their nerves and has an extremely strong fear of public speaking, sometimes to the point of a nervous breakdown.

With this can come uncontrollable trembling, sweating, and a racing heartbeat.

This anxiety may not be confined to speaking to large audiences – people suffering with glossophobia may struggle to speak in a meeting, classroom and other smaller group settings.

This can make it very difficult for sufferers to communicate verbally in order to express their ideas and thoughts. As a result, glossophobia may hamper the sufferer’s ability to further his or her academic, social or career opportunities.

• Read more:  What is Glossophobia and How to Overcome it

Being nervous during a public speaking event affects the way we come across to an audience and the quality of our delivery. Nervous speakers tend to  talk too quickly  and generally  ignore the audience , focussing instead on their presentation slides or the floor.

They  talk in a flat voice , with little excitement or vocal pitch variation, and they try to get through the experience without committing to the speech or presentation.

Talk too quickly and in a monotone

Rushing through a talk requires that you talk fast, and talking fast interferes with your breathing. Instead of breathing comfortably, you breathe in a short, shallow manner, or you might even hold your breath.

This gives you the sensation of running out of air and being unable to breathe, a common fear in this situation, and one that greatly increases fear of public speaking.

Talking quickly reduces the chance the audience can enjoy your speech. It creates a barrier between you and them, as they might struggle to understand what you are saying.

Here are some common issues with talking too quickly:

• You won’t be breathing deeply enough to fill your lungs with air
• You’ll sound monotone due to lack of vocal range and air in your lungs
• You’ll sound nervous to the audience
• The audience will struggle to understand what you are saying

Remember, the human voice is in theory capable of paying 24 notes on the musical scale. Most people only use 3 in their everyday speech so if you can incorporate more then you’re already well on your way to becoming an interesting and engaging public speaker.

• Read more about how to  Use your Vocal Toolbox

Ignore the audience and avoid eye contact

Fearful speakers often try to ignore the audience, hoping this will decrease their speech anxiety. For instance, lots of speakers  avoid eye contact  with the audience. This prevents you from noticing any audience reactions. You won’t notice when people seem more interested, or have questions.

When you have no audience contact, you focus on your own thoughts. And if you’re a nervous speaker, your thoughts are virtually guaranteed to be far more negative, and unrealistic, than anything your audience might think or say.

Fight to hide your fear

Finally, efforts to hide your fear create the additional fear of being “found out” as a nervous person. This only adds to the public speaking anxiety you already experience.

It has another negative side effect. After you’ve given a speech, even if it has gone well, you may not feel like it was a success because you think: “If the audience knew how afraid I was, they’d think less of the presentation.

Despite many people fearing speaking in public,  communication skills are essential in the workplace :

83% of human resource directors saying employees who couldn’t develop social skills would not  become high performers .

So, if you manage to overcome your fear of public speaking, this is a brilliant skill for your resume and you’ll be able to accelerate more quickly in your career, as well as be more confident in your personal life.

The core of being a great public speaker lies predominantly in one thing:  confidence .

GMAT study on skills companies demand in new graduate business school hires.

Let’s discuss how this fear comes about and why so many of us fear speaking in public. Understanding the root cause will hopefully help you deal with it better.

In the book, “Confessions of a Public Speaker” by  Scott Berkun , he suggests that our brains identify the following four conditions as extremely bad for survival:

• Standing alone
• In an open territory with no place to hide
• Being without a weapon
• In front of a large crowd who are staring at you

These conditions made sense during the early years of humans. Being alone, or without a weapon for example, could have been very dangerous with wild animals and other fierce tribes nearby.

There conditions happen to all be experienced during public speaking. You’re often alone on a stage, open to the audience who are looking at you, without a weapon and with nowhere to hide (assuming you don’t hide behind your laptop).

So what exactly can you do to gradually overcome the fear of public speaking? Here are key tips that you can apply before, during and after the speech.

Videos: Tips to overcome public speaking anxiety

Speech anxiety tips:

Watch 10 anxiety management tips to use when giving a presentation.  Matt Abrahams  talks us through these tips and explains how best to deal with your fear of public speaking.

Learn more about  practice in virtual reality (VR) .

1. Practice aloud

This is the most important point – you need to practice, over and over again. You can practice in front of friends or family for feedback, join your local  Toastmasters club  or use a virtual reality (VR) app. VR apps are highly effective at tricking the brain into thinking the audience in the app is real.

Methods of practicing aloud:

• Join a local Toastmasters club
• Give a  speech in virtual reality
• Present to a friend or colleague
• Practice with a mirror (ideally full length)
• Practice in a  video conferencing simulator

This is a great way of bridging the gap between practicing in front of a mirror to practicing in front of a group of people (something that you might avoid altogether depending on your fear of public speaking).

Grow your confidence with  interactive practice exercises , on skills such as public speaking, impromptu speaking, giving feedback, and more.

2. Remember why you’re there

Usually you are on stage because people value your expertise and knowledge – or at the very least, whoever has put you there has confidence in your capability. You might be speaking about a recent publication, or a branch of research you successfully tested.

Use this thought to try and relax – people aren’t there to give you a hard time. In fact, most people are probably just grateful it’s you speaking on stage and not them!

To ensure you connect with your audience, you need to plan your speech accordingly. For example,  don’t use jargon or acronyms  if your audience is from a different industry to yours. Keep your language and your slides as simple as possible.

3. Have a script, but don’t memorise it

What are people most afraid of? Forgetting what to say in front of hundreds of people. Even the most  notable public speakers  in history have used scripts, forgotten what they were going to say, and then panicked. The fear of public speaking can consume all we think about.

This might seem really daunting at first and will increase your anxiety levels just thinking about not having the safety of a script. However, remember that when you have a script you tend to either read from it (and therefore lose your connection with the audience) or you memorise it word for word.

The problem with the second method is that if you lose your place, you’ll panic, stumble, and not know what to say next.

A better approach is to make your script into a series of bullet points or, better yet, a list of themes or connecting sentences on a cue card. This will make the speech sounds more authentic and less rehearsed, and you’ll be more likely to show your passion for your topic when speaking from your heart rather than your head.

Method for going from a topic to a speech

Start with a rough outline of the topic you want to talk about. Type up this outline in a conversational style and read it aloud several times to yourself. When certain parts of the speech don’t sound right, correct the outline accordingly.

As you keep rehearsing, try to use your written outline less and less. Highlight certain keywords and phrases you need to mention and add those to cue cards or something similar.

Now start practicing with just the cue cards as you would when speaking at an actual event. On the day of the event, keep the cue cards as backup, maybe next to your laptop, and you’ll be able to speak much more naturally than if you had rehearsed from a script.

4. Don’t rely on technology

If there was something more nerve wracking than forgetting the lines of your speech, it would be for a live  demo to fail . It is a horrible, gut wrenching feeling.

One way to have more confidence and reduce your fear of public speaking on the day is to make sure you have a backup such as a video showing of your presentation or a second method of presentation.

Make sure you’re prepared for technology breaking, including your slides or videos not loading.

For example, if you’re using PowerPoint software and the computer or projector isn’t working, it can be handy to have printed out the presentation for the audience (and yourself if you need it).

Similarly, you should import your presentation offline so that if the internet doesn’t work, you can still present without becoming flustered.

What can go wrong with technology during a speech:

• Embedded videos might not play or have no sound
• The presentation pointer / clicker may stop responding
• Projector doesn’t link to your laptop
• Any live demo may fail (an example being the face recognition for the iPhone X demo)

5. Know your audience

The type of audience you’ll be facing affects your choice of language, humour, opening sentences, length and many more. There are several ways to understand the audience you’re speaking to:

• Research the event using their social media and blog posts
• Learn about the other speakers (if it’s a conference) and the types of presentations they are giving
• Greet audience members when they enter the room and ask them a few questions about their background, expertise, what they expect etc.
• Find out the size of the audience (this may determine the structure of your speech, including where to do the question and answer session, whether to include humour etc.)

Once you understand your audience, you’ll feel more confident about the questions and answers session at the end and that you are delivering a speech the audience actually want to hear.

• How to Analyse your Audience before a Presentation
• Guide to Choosing a Successful Speech Topic

6. Pause and take deep breaths

This simple advice cannot be emphasized enough. When you’re nervous, you breathe rapidly and shallowly. This is telling the audience that you’re not confident. Slow and measured breathing is a sign that you’re in control.

Before you go to the front of the room, concentrate on taking a few slow breaths. Repeat this several times. When you start to speak, remember to pause and breathe after you make a point.

It’s important to remember that there is nothing wrong with a bit of silence during a speech. It can actually be a good thing and bring emphasis to what you’ve just said. Be aware that on stage, pausing for just a few seconds can seem like a very long time – resist the urge to break the silence for at least 3 seconds.

• 10 Effective Ways to use Pauses in your Speech

7. Create backup slides for audience questions

One reason people often experience anxiety before a presentation is the fear that they’ll be asked questions that might be difficult to answer. Don’t get caught off guard.

Think carefully about  potential questions  that might arise and rehearse the answers. Go one step further by creating slides for some potential questions about complex issues.

You can include in your extra slides important information, numbers, stats or even an interesting graph or pie chart that would be helpful to the audience. If such a question arises, it’s okay to say, “I thought I might be asked this question and I’ve got a slide which explains it well…”

8. Focus on the beginning and ending

Your opening sets the tone for your speech and your closing is what you will leave your audience with. You’ll have a few seconds when you start to capture the attention of the audience and prevent them returning to their mobiles.

So you need to make it good. Try starting with an attention grabbing statement, statistic or interesting quote.

• How to Start a Presentation Effectively

The ending brings the presentation to full circle and is when your audience’s attention peaks again. This may be one of the few sections they remember so it’s important you get it right.

• Different Ways to End a Presentation or Speech

Rather than leaving the opening and ending to chance, write and practice them over and over again. What you can do is memorize certain sentences or phrases you think are key to your speech and note down bullet points of other information you want to include in these sections.

Video: How I Overcame My Fear of Public Speaking

In this talk, Danish Dhamani discusses how overcoming your fear of public speaking is key to leading a fulfilling life and unlocking your true potential.

Before the public speaking event

Use these tips to help deal with your fear before an event:

• Greet audience members as they enter the room you’ll be presenting in. Knowing a few of them before you start will ensure you have a few friendly faces you can look at during the presentation
• Do the breathing exercises detailed below this section to slow down your heartrate
• Check that your slides and laptop are working with the projector
• Drink some water to prevent a dry mouth
• Perform some vocal exercises to  warm up your voice before a speech

After the public speaking event

It’s a good idea to reflect on your speech afterwards. Dale Carnegie once said about public speaking, “There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practised, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.”

For that speech you wish you gave, this is why you need to invest some time to reflect in your performance. Be honest with yourself on three points – what was good about your speech, what didn’t work about your speech and what could have been improved?

If you have trusted friends who were part of your audience, run through these questions with them to obtain a better and more diverse perspective.

Better still, record all your speeches and review them personally. Yes, it can be painful and you will probably cringe while watching yourself on video or listening back to an audio recording. But this process is absolutely necessary for you to become a better speaker and one who is committed to overcoming their fears of speaking.

The cure for insecurity is preparation and experience

The key to overcoming your fear of public speaking is preparation and experience. Solid preparation will leave you feeling more confident in your ability as an excellent public speaker, able to deliver a clear, engaging speech.

Experience will help you become more comfortable with the whole experience and stop you dreading that presentation. You’ll need to get out there and speak in public a few times, so join a local Toastmasters, volunteer to speak at a conference, practice in virtual reality or try any other method of overcoming your fear of public speaking.

• See our top rated  public speaking courses  to help you improve your speaking skills.

Summary of tips

• Prepare by practicing aloud
• Remember why you were chosen to speak
• Don’t memorise a script word for word
• Don’t reply on technology, practice without it if possible
• Know your audience
• Pause and take deep breaths
• Create backup slides for audience questions
• Focus on the beginning and ending of your speech

Note:  If these tips are ineffective despite repeated attempts, you may need to look further into the causes of your anxiety and consider seeking medical advice. See the  NHS website  for more information on treatments.

Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety: Strategies For Confident Presentations

• Presentation , Public Speaking

Do you ever feel anxious when asked to give a presentation? If so, you’re not alone. Public speaking is one of the most common sources of anxiety for many people. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way! With the right strategies and mindset, anyone can become a confident public speaker. 

We’ll discuss some practical tips on how to overcome your fear of public speaking and deliver engaging presentations with ease. 

Before we move forward, it’s important to take some of the heat off and you can do that by taking this quiz , calming some of your anxiety, and getting to know more about yourself. 

From understanding your audience’s needs to using powerful body language techniques, these strategies will help you create memorable experiences for your listeners and boost their engagement with your message. 

So let’s get started!

Understand Your Audience

Understanding the needs and expectations of your audience is a key step in overcoming public speaking anxiety.  

To start, it’s important to find out as much information as possible about the people you’ll be addressing. What are their goals? What kind of language do they use? Are there any cultural considerations that should be taken into account? 

Once you have an understanding of the people you’ll be talking to, you’ll be better able to craft your message in a way that resonates with them. 

Make sure to do some research on similar topics and use analogies or stories that will appeal to their interests. 

By taking the time to understand your audience, you’ll have greater confidence when it comes time to present. 

Prepare Thoroughly 

Once you have a better understanding of your audience, it’s time to begin preparing. 

Start by writing down the main points you want to make in your presentation and practice saying them out loud. 

This will help ensure that you’re speaking clearly and confidently when it comes time for your talk. 

Don’t forget to prepare visual aids —like slides or handouts—to back up your points and keep the audience engaged. 

Finally, make sure to practice in front of a mirror or record yourself speaking so you can identify any areas for improvement before delivering your presentation. 

By taking the time to thoroughly prepare, you’ll have greater confidence when it comes time to present. 

Make A Connection With Your Listeners

Connecting with your audience is key to any successful presentation. 

To start, make sure you’re making direct eye contact with individuals in the room and smile often . 

Be sure to use body language that conveys enthusiasm for the topic. 

If possible, tell a personal story or anecdote related to the subject to further engage your listeners. 

Finally, use humor when appropriate to keep the audience interested and energized. 

By taking the time to make a connection with your listeners, you’ll be better able to engage them and gain their trust. 

This will help you maintain greater confidence throughout your presentation and create a memorable experience for everyone involved.  

Project Confidence Through Body Language 

Your body language can play a huge role in how confident you appear when speaking. 

To start, stand or sit up straight with your shoulders back —this gives off an air of authority and will help you feel more confident in yourself . 

Don’t be afraid to use hand gestures when appropriate to emphasize certain points or create emphasis. 

Finally, make sure to keep your movements fluid and natural —avoid rigid motions or fidgeting which can undermine your confidence. 

By using body language that projects confidence and authority, you’ll be able to effectively engage with your audience and present your message with ease.  

With practice and dedication, anyone can become a confident public speaker.

Speak Slowly And Clearly 

Speaking slowly and clearly is essential to any successful presentation. 

To start, pause regularly to ensure everyone in the audience has time to process your words. 

Don’t be afraid to emphasize certain points by speaking louder or slower —this will help keep your listeners engaged and make sure they don’t miss a single point. 

Finally, make sure to practice ahead of time so you can get a feel for how quickly or slowly you should be speaking . 

By taking the time to practice, you’ll be able to deliver your presentation with confidence and clarity. 

With dedication and preparation, anyone can become a confident public speaker! 

Use Visual Aids To Engage The Audience 

Visual aids are a great way to engage and captivate your audience. 

Use slides or handouts to break up your speaking points and add visuals that will help reinforce certain ideas. 

Consider using props or demonstrations to illustrate difficult concepts or show how something works in action. 

Be sure to make the visual elements of your presentation interactive and engaging. 

This will help keep your audience involved and create a memorable experience for everyone. 

By taking the time to prepare visuals, you’ll be able to effectively engage with your audience and provide an enjoyable experience for all those involved.  

With practice and dedication, anyone can become a confident public speaker!

Adopt Positive Affirmations 

Positive affirmations can help to boost self-confidence and performance in any setting. 

To start, think of two or three positive statements that are relevant to your presentation such as “I have all the knowledge I need to deliver an effective presentation” or “I am confident and capable”.  

Repeat these phrases out loud or in your head the morning of your presentation to help boost confidence. 

Finally, try to imagine yourself delivering a successful presentation as you repeat these affirmations—this will help build positive feelings around the event and further increase self-confidence. 

With practice and dedication, anyone can become a confident public speaker!  Adopting positive affirmations is an easy and effective way to boost confidence before any presentation. 

With time and dedication, these affirmations can help create a memorable experience for both the speaker and their audience. 

Public speaking can be daunting, but with the right strategies and techniques, anyone can become a confident presenter. 

By using body language to project confidence, speaking slowly and clearly, incorporating visual aids into your presentation, and adopting positive affirmations you’ll be able to engage audiences of any size. 

With practice and dedication, anyone can master these principles of public speaking – all that remains is for you to take action! 

Start today by writing out some positive affirmations or practicing in front of the mirror. You’ve got this!

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How to Conquer the Fear of Public Speaking

Are you ready for a standing ovation.

Posted November 28, 2017 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

• What Is Fear?
• Find counselling to combat fear and anxiety

Fear of public speaking is very common, with almost 1 in 4 people reporting being anxious when presenting ideas and information in front of an audience. Being a good public speaker is an essential skill that can help you advance your career , grow your business, and form strong relationships.

Researchers have identified many reasons why we are afraid of public speaking , which you can read more about here . It seems that the way we feel, think, and act with respect to having to speak in public can raise or lower the amount of fear we experience significantly.

While fear teaches you to protect yourself in risky situations, letting that fear stand between you and your audience could prevent you from sharing inspiring ideas, speaking about important work, and presenting interesting solutions to problems that affect many people. In short, it’s everyone’s loss.

What can we do about it?

The factors that cause fear of public speaking are also the factors that researchers have targeted to help people overcome it. Several methods exist for conquering the fear of public speaking. Some of them address the physiological aspect of fear, others focus on the cognitive aspects, and a few focus on the behavioral components that contribute to higher levels of fear and anxiety around public speaking. Based on that research, here is where to start:

1. Learn how to put your body in a calm state.

A variety of relaxation techniques can reduce the increased physiological activity that the body produces automatically when confronted with an event or situation that causes fear. In the case of public speaking, the stimulus that causes fear can range from the actual speaking event itself to the mere thought of having to speak in public. Learning to relax while thinking about, preparing for, or giving an oral presentation reduces the experience of fear and prevents it from interfering with performance. Relaxation techniques involve learning to control your breathing, to lower your heart rate, and to lessen the tension in your muscles. These techniques work best when paired with gradual exposure to public speaking. For example, you begin applying these techniques first when you agree to speak, then as you prepare your speech, and eventually when you present it. You could also gradually increase the scale of the events as you learn how to manage your anxiety through relaxation, starting with very small audiences and moving up in numbers bit by bit. You could also start with speeches that are easier to prepare for or less scary to deliver to master the relaxation techniques, and then continue to use them as you enter speaking situations where the stakes are increasingly higher. Relaxation is an effective technique, with quick, but not necessarily long-lasting results.

2. Challenge your beliefs about public speaking.

Another way to conquer the fear of public speaking is to challenge your beliefs about your ability to prepare and deliver an effective and impactful speech. Cognitive reframing approaches target your negative self-statements ( I am not a good speaker; audiences find me boring ), or any irrational beliefs about public speaking ( People can see how anxious I am on stage ). Irrational, in this case, means that your beliefs are not supported by the facts or by your experience. Cognitive reframing helps you challenge negative statements and beliefs and replace them with favorable, supportive, and proactive statements. It is important to note that these techniques are not intended to simply replace negative thinking with vapid and meaningless statements. They challenge you to think more pragmatically and intentionally. In essence, you are teaching yourself to see public speaking as a non-threatening event that you can learn to handle and to see yourself as a confident speaker-in-progress.

3. Shift your focus from performance to communication.

A different cognitive approach includes shifting your perspective from being evaluated to being of value. You train yourself to see public speaking as a situation where you are communicating with people something that you think they will benefit from, instead of thinking of it as a situation where you will be tested and judged. That shift in perspective relieves you of the worry of how you will come across and focuses you on how to best get your message across.

4. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

A public speaking appearance is only the culmination of a thorough process of preparing and rehearsing your presentation. The more prepared you are, the less worried you will be about looking nervous, forgetting your lines, or losing your train of thought. Think about the amount of work actors put into delivering entire scripts in front of audiences. Approaching public speaking the same way actors approach performing will help you shift your focus from worrying to preparing, and the more prepared you are, the more focused on your message and the less distracted by your fear you will be. In this TEDx talk , Amy and Michael Port (author of Steal the Show ) encourage people to see themselves as performers and apply techniques similar to those that actors use “to create a reality of their choosing” in high-stakes situations that involve sharing ideas and information with other people. Such an approach allows you to accomplish your goal and at the same time maintain your authenticity . Remember, being underprepared is always more nerve-wracking than being overprepared.

5. Seek out more opportunities to speak.

Whether you are working on your body responses to fear, your view of yourself as a speaker, or your general approach to public speaking, the more experience you get, the more confidence you'll gain. Finding and creating opportunities to speak gives you the chance to practice what you have learned and get better at it. In addition, it helps you learn how to use your own experiences to continue improving your presentation skills. Essentially, you learn from what didn’t work well, instead of punishing yourself for it. And the more often you speak, the more you realize that what makes a good speaker is a combination of the noble intention to inform or inspire an audience, a positive mindset, and a lot of prep work.

6. Ask for help.

While you can do a lot to overcome the fear of public speaking on your own, there are many options available for a little extra help. Getting help can, in many cases, be a more effective way of achieving results than doing it alone. There are several tested interventions available to help overcome the fear of public speaking and many specialized professionals who deliver them . In addition to asking professionals for help, there are consumer-organized groups, like Toastmasters , which also provide opportunities for building your skills in a non-threatening and non-committal environment. Many people join such groups specifically to overcome their fear of public speaking.

The bottom line is that if something scares you, you will avoid it, and if you avoid it, you will not get enough practice, and when you don’t get enough practice, you will not get better at it, and if you are not getting better at it, you will continue to be afraid of it. This cycle of fear can go on and on. But it doesn’t have to. With the number of options available, it is up to you to decide when and how to break this cycle of fear of public speaking.

LinkedIn Image Credit: fizkes/Shutterstock

A Racing Heart, Rattling Knees, and Ruminative Thoughts: Defining, Explaining, and Treating Public Speaking Anxiety Graham D. Bodie, Louisiana State University

Theo Tsaousides, Ph.D. is a neuropsychologist, assistant professor, and author of the book Brainblocks: Overcoming the Seven Hidden Barriers to Success .

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22 Public Speaking Tips to Overcome your Fear of Presentations

• Public Speaking

Even Warren Buffet Had Anxiety of Public Speaking

Early in Buffet´s career he was forced to give presentations and speak in front of people twice his age teaching investment strategies. He practiced these skills over and over again.Today and people hang on every word Warren says. In fact, Warren Buffett ´s wisdom is some of the most sought after investing advice in the world

1) The Key to Successful Public Speaking:  Choose a Subject that is important to you and help others

This will help reduce your fear of public speaking. however, it might not be possible for every event that you need to speak at but don’t worry in the article we will share with you several effective tips guaranteed to reduce your fear and anxiety of public speaking., let’s say for example you have to give an important sales presentation. you need to identify and present the key benefits that will impact your audience or clien t . these keypoints should be well researched by you or your team, not guess work they should address to audiences specific problems or questions., how to pick a subject that you passionately care about:.

• The subject has had a significant impact on you
• You want to share the message with others
• You know and feel others would benefit from your knowledge
• You can speak about it from your core

When you speak about something you deeply care about you will be more comfortable and feel more confident in your element.

2) Organize Your Presentation

Imagine you’ve organized all of your thoughts and materials and you now feel much more calm and relaxed. you find after clearing and organizing your thoughts greatly reduced anxiety and fear of public speaking. Why? Because now you are able to focus even better. The result is giving a great presentation.

3) You need to Practice And Prepare a lot 

Unfortunately,There’s no shortcut for practicing and preparing for your presentation. Sit down and write a script, an outline of your key points, but don’t memorize word for word or worse read the script word-for-word. 

Another thing I do to prepare my presentation is to research all the data and facts I can, so that I can answer any potential questions and back it up with data and research. In the past I have had some tough audiences in fortune 500 companies and I learnt to do this to reduce my anxiety and stress.

4) How to Eliminate Fear Of Rejection

“What if they hate my presentation? What if they boo me off stage?”   One of the things I teach my students is to eliminate the mental chatter this really helps remove the fears of rejection.

Imagine you’re there to help the audience and you then focus on helping them. Remember the audience is there for a reason,that reason is to learn something by listening to your expertise on the subject. For more about overcoming your fear of public speaking contact me . 😀

5) Practice In The Mirror

Practice your presentation in front of the mirror as if you were speaking directly in front of the audience. If you really want to be really charismatic then work on your:

• Your facial expressions
• Your body movements
• Your hand gestures
• Your body language 
• Do you appear warm and open to the audience? 

When you are giving a presentation and speak you show calm demeanor and gentle expressions , your audience will welcome you more.

6) Video Record Yourself and Improve

Video record your presentation on your phone or on a video recorder. Practice while Recording yourself giving the presentation from start to finish. Then watch it, and make notes on how you can improve. 

Many people do not like watching themselves on video let alone listening to the sound of their voice. it is important that you get a custom to your voice and speaking style. Learn to improve wherever you can. 

7) Breathing

Your breathing will affect the resonance of your voice. When you focus on relaxing your breathing your voice will have more resonance. Practice breathing calmly and focus on getting into a rhythm. Even though this is a public speaking exercise, breath-work will help improve clarity and reduce stress in all areas of your life.

8) You need to be willing to Pay the Price 

A great example of this is les brown , he worked like a maniac throughout his life, even during tough economic times he slept in his office but because he kept going and kept working he eventually succeeded and as a result became one of the highest paid speakers in the world , you need to make a decision now that you want to learn to deliver outstanding presentations and you need to be willing to pay any price and any amount of time to achieve your goal..

I have worked with people who I have jumped to the ahead of the pack in their careers by overcoming their anxiety and fear of public speaking. You will discover the more you practice, the more you will improve, the easier it’ll get, the more fun it will be and your business or profession will sky rocket.

Many times, I´ve seen people get significant promotions simply because they were really good orator and because the boss not nearly as good kept them in the company. In fact, they often received salary increase and advancement. Why? Because they were more valuable to the company due to the talent they developed. Being a good public is a highly marketable skill in the professional world.

9) Practice and then Some More . . .

When someone asks me how he can build effective communication skills and improve his public speaking, I quote to him the words of Elbert Hubbard, who said, “The only way to learn to speak is to speak and speak, and speak and speak, and speak and speak and speak.”

10) Deliver Your Speech To someone you trust

There are plenty of people you can practice on. be sure to tell the person to be completely honest with you in their critique..

Examples of people you can practice on:

• Your Partner
• Your friends
• Your parents

Practising in front of another person, this will help feel more comfortable and give you experience. You should receive feedback from them, though I wouldnt expect so from your cat. Whatever questions they have about your presentation, it is likely that people in the audience will have similar questions.

11) Public Speaking Classes

You could join a club like toastmasters or find a group on meetup. There are many groups that you can join to learn the art of public speaking . Finding an experienced coach or mentor can help you get over the fear of public speaking, presentations. I have some techniques that I have used with clients and had awesome results.

14) Don’t focus on the audience reactions but focus on helping others!

This is a keypoint to keep in mind, several years ago I was interviewed in a magazine and the interviewers asked me the number one thing to overcome Fear of speaking in public. Focus on delivering your material and how that material will benefit the audience the best possible way. Lastly, don’t focus on the audience reactions but focus on helping others!

15) Reframe and Relax Fear Of Public Speaking

I am sure you’ve heard this before, but if I ask you NOT to imagine a blue elephant, the first thing you´ll do is imagine a blue elephant . That’s my point, if you try NOT to focus on anxiety, that is nearly impossible for you. You´ll be drawn right to the fear like a magnet! So you need to reframe your mind by focusing on the positives of the presentation and all benefits that the participants will receive by listening to you Look at #20 for a cool technique used by the pros that might help you to relax . .. 

16) Don’t Sensitive Audience Reactions

Whether you see someone in the audience on their phone or yawning there will always be people who are bored or tired. None of these observations have anything to do with you personally and who knows maybe the guy didn´t sleep or his wife´s about to have a baby!

Here’s a great question for you? How do you know when you´ve done a good job? There are 2 methods people get feedback from their environment. What that means to you is that rather than be overy reactive to the audience, be internally focused for feedback. For more info on this contact us .

17) Avoid Pitfall of Talking Too Fast

Another pitfall to avoid is speaking too fast because if you talk too fast you will breathe less. So? Panicked people take short quick breathes. Talking fast during a presentation messes-up your breathing patterns which creates feeling shortness of breath, which in turn will make you feel panicked and fearful. Practice slowing down when you speak, and you will be more calm and relaxed.

Here´s a great exercise:

Don’t believe, not sure? The fast way to change your mental state is to change your physiology according to Tony Robbins and lots of supporting research . Right now try and start taking slow deep breaths and how do you feel? Now try and take short shallow quick breaths, how do you feel? I’m sure you’ll notice the difference in your physiology. Or drink a bunch of alcohol and tell me your mental state doesn’t change! 🙂

18) How to Make Your Nervous Energy Work For You

Learning to channel your nervous energy into positive energy is a cool trick. When you feel nervous you release a hormone called adrenaline. You can use this excess capacity of energy impassion presentation and your public speaking event.

19) Practice mental rehearsal 5 Minutes A Day

Hey it works for professional athletes like tiger woods, olympians, actors and dancers. I´ve seen it help my students and helps me when presenting in front of larger audiences. It helps clear your head of internal chatter that leads to negative thoughts. 

In an article in Forbes , Dan Harris, co-anchor of Nightline and Good Morning America discussed his public speaking anxiety and how meditating for 5 minutes a day helped him to eradicate negative thoughts from his mind.

If you’re interested in learning a mental rehearsal practice it´s a kind of meditation, John English published a very helpful article and video for beginners.

Be sure to check out How to Mental Rehersal can help you reach your Goals for step by step instructions and a free guide.

20) Exercise Before the Presentation

Remember, physiology has a direct impact on your emotions and feelings. Exercising or even walking before a presentation will get your blood circulating , pump more oxygen to your brain, get those endorphins and dopamine release. So go for a jog or take a walk before your presentation.

21) Sip Water That’s Warm Or Room Temperature

Another trick I learned was to sip on warm water while talking. It keeps my throat from getting dry. Some people recommend putting a little himalayian salt and lemon in your water. 

22) How to Improve Your Next Speech

Practice makes perfect. There are always 3 speeches you and I make, the one you practiced, the one you deliver and the one you wish you had delivered!

If your presentation is on video watch and take notes see how you can improve it

• How did you do?
• What could you improved?
• Did you seem stiff or make any weird facial expressions?
• If you used a PowerPoint, did it help?
• Did you maintain a stable rhythm?
• How often did you  “ um ” and “ah” ?

Keep your notes, keep practising and gradually your fear of public speaking will dwindle. 

By the way: There are 2 types of public speakers: those who feel a bit nervous and those who lie! 🙂 The big difference between an inexperienced and seasoned public speaker is that the experienced public speaker knows how to channel their nervous energy and because of lots and lots of practise.

Have You Overcome Your Fear Of Public Speaking ?

You will find that if you implement the techniques and tips I have shared with you in this article, that your anxiety and fear of public speaking will dissipate immensely.

The one of the principal component of overcoming your fear of public speaking is making sure you are prepared and confident with the material you are going to present and the second part might be mental and emotional preparation which I can help you achieve. Contact me  

  Good Luck and Always Success

Key Takeaways

The fear of public speaking is a common challenge, even for successful individuals like Warren Buffet.

To overcome this fear , it’s crucial to choose a subject you are passionate about and focus on helping your audience.

Organize your presentation thoughtfully and practice extensively, honing your body language and gestures for confidence.

Video recording your practice sessions allows for self-improvement. Proper breathing techniques enhance your voice resonance, and mental rehearsal and visualization techniques can clear your mind of negative thoughts.

Exercise before your presentation and stay hydrated with warm water to keep your energy levels up.

Remember , practice makes perfect, so review your speeches, identify areas for improvement, and gradually, your fear will diminish.

By implementing these strategies , you can conquer your fear of public speaking and become a confident, impactful communicator.

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Conquer Your Fear of Public Speaking: 7 Proven Strategies

Are you hearing your heart thump in your chest as you imagine getting up in front of hundreds of strangers to give a speech?

Do you suddenly feel like your throat is in a vice grip every time you think about speaking in public?

If so, you’re definitely not alone in your fear of public speaking. In fact, it’s one of the top fears in the world. But the countless possibilities in life that could be opened up if you could conquer your fear of public speaking are worth the effort. It’s just a matter of finding the right strategy to make it happen. That’s why we’re here today.

In this blog post, we’re going to explore seven of the most proven strategies people have used to successfully conquer their fear of public speaking, no matter how petrified they were at the outset.

So buckle up and get ready, because together, we’re about to take a deep dive into the world of public-speaking fear-conquering. Let’s do this!

Quick Explanation

Everyone feels nervous when speaking in public , but facing your fear is the most effective way to overcome it.

Practicing your presentation in front of small groups or individuals and developing healthy strategies for dealing with anxiety can help you feel prepared and confident when delivering a speech.

An Overview of Fear of Public Speaking

Fear of public speaking, also known as oratory anxiety and glossophobia, is a common psychological phobia characterized by intense feelings of dread, nervousness, and anxiety when facing a crowd.

It is estimated that at least 75% of people experience some type of speech anxiety when addressing an audience, making it one of the most common anxieties worldwide. The effects of fear of public speaking can manifest in physical symptoms including rapid heart rate, sweating, difficulty breathing, nausea, muscle tension, and even panic attacks. In more severe cases, it can lead to full paralysis.

Mental distress such as feeling overwhelmed and unable to control one’s thoughts are equally debilitating. Due to its prevalence, many debate whether fear of public speaking should be classified as an official medical condition.

Supporters argue that this fear is often rooted in deeper psychiatric issues and thus may require immoderate treatments like psychotherapy.

Others contend that the current term itself is too generic for diagnosis purposes. They suggest that the diagnosis ought to be further deconstructed into different types of fears such as those stemming from poor performance anxiety or inadequate preparation. While reasonable arguments can be made on both sides, it is clear that the fear of public speaking cannot be easily overlooked due its potential to impact quality of life negatively.

Regardless of whether it meets the standard for clinical diagnosis or not, individuals with speech anxiety should still seek professional treatment if necessary. The next section will delve into what causes fear of public speaking to better understand methods for tackling these uncomfortable emotions.

What Causes Fear of Public Speaking?

Fear of public speaking is a common problem that affects many people.

Whether giving presentations to coworkers, leading important meetings, or delivering lectures in front of large crowds, this fear can be debilitating and make it difficult for individuals to succeed in their professional roles. 

But what actually causes fear of public speaking? One argument is that the fear is learned and arises out of social conditioning. An innate fear of potential embarrassment or criticism from one's peer group can lead individuals to avoid public speaking situations entirely.

It could also be argued that fear of public speaking stems from a deeper sense of insecurity or lack of self-confidence.

If an individual does not feel capable or prepared enough to fulfill their role in these situations then they may become overwhelmed with anxiety and dread when called upon to speak publicly. Another argument is that the fear may have biological roots and is interconnected with our innate fight or flight response.

Speaking in public can create a sense of vulnerability which triggers the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline within our bodies, causing us to become overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety and terror. Though there are different theories on what causes fear of public speaking, it’s clear that many people suffer from this condition.

Luckily, there are methods and strategies to help overcome this fear. The next section will provide guidance on how to conquer your fear of public speaking through proven techniques and strategies .

How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking

Fear of public speaking can be a challenging problem to overcome, but it is not impossible. There are several strategies and tactics to help individuals conquer their fears, resulting in more confident and successful public speaking engagements .

In order to successfully rid yourself of this fear, you must first understand the root cause of it. You may find comfort in realizing that public speaking is a shared fear among many people. It is not something that you have to suffer through alone; therefore you still can find ways to communicate with an audience confidently even if your fear persists. 

Understanding the physical symptoms associated with the fear can also be beneficial; such as quickly beating heart rate, dizziness, and stuck or blocked thoughts.

Becoming aware of these symptoms can provide an indication that anxiety is mounting prior to giving a speech so that appropriate steps may be taken. It’s important to learn proper speech preparation techniques in order to achieve both mental and physical relaxation prior to engaging with your audience.

Proper breathing exercises before and during your speech while standing tall, maintaining eye contact and projecting your voice can all help alleviate stress levels.

Additionally, practicing the speech out loud with family and friends or recording yourself delivering it can help gain confidence and familiarity which will reduce anxiety levels significantly.

Knowing your material well is another important step in conquering the fear: having confidence that you know what to say allows for more spontaneous delivery which will grab and keep people’s attention better than a memorized script can. Indeed, while public speaking is still considered one of the scariest tasks by many people, achievable successes are possible given that the right preparation and practice takes place before the event.

With hard work, determination, positive thinking and mindful preparation strategies in place, the fear of public speaking can become manageable over time. Now that we understand how to overcome fear of public speaking, let's discuss tips for successful public speaking which will result in captivating your audience for maximum impact.

Tips for Successful Public Speaking

Public speaking is a skill that, with practice and the right strategies, can be mastered. Utilizing techniques to boost confidence in public speaking can increase the chances of successful delivery of one’s message.

There are many tips for successful public speaking that can help people overcome their fear and give an impressive presentation. Research is a key part of preparing for a presentation . Taking the time to learn a topic thoroughly will enable the presenter to make well-informed statements during the speech.

This knowledge will also lead to more confidence while on stage, allowing the speaker to focus on engaging their audience rather than worrying about instantaneous recall of facts. Practicing the presentation beforehand is important in order to become comfortable with the material. Going through a couple of complete run-throughs will help build familiarity with the content, including how it needs to sound when spoken aloud.

This practice period also allows speakers to determine breaks in between topics and decide which parts need more emphasis or questions from the audience. Thus, practicing helps reduce anxiety so that speakers can present confidently without panic or hesitation. Along with these two fundamentals, there are other actions that can further enhance successful public speaking such as selecting attractive visuals and using an appropriate style of delivery .

Visuals can be helpful tools if used correctly and add contrast and emotion to presentations, especially if they create movement or tie directly into each point being made by the speaker.

Furthermore, it is important to pay attention to tone, speed and pauses while delivering a speech; this will keep listener’s attention and prevent talking too fast or slow, as well as allowing rests for absorbing information and transitioning effectively between ideas. Finally, leaving time at the end for questions is beneficial because engaging your listeners establishes relationship.

Not only does it show respect towards those listening but provides an opportunity for them to understand points further more and provide feedback. Asking questions throughout activates their attention span and allows some sort of personal connection while they contemplate possible responses. Overall, these simple tips will ensure successful public speaking by building confidence in oneself prior to presenting and executing strong visuals, vocal tone variation and classroom interactions during that same session.

With these methods in mind plus enough research and practice preceding a speech, anyone should feel prepared for any kind of talking engagement that comes their way.

As preparation is essential for good results in terms of public speaking, performance anxiety is another factor that must be taken into account when developing strategies for success in this area.

In the following section we’ll take a look at different ways to reduce performance anxiety ahead of presenting publicly.

Performance Anxiety

Performance anxiety is an inevitable part of public speaking. Even the most experienced of speakers experiences feelings of nervousness or apprehension when delivering a speech to an audience. It can be overwhelming and affect your ability to give a successful presentation. The key to overcoming performance anxiety is understanding it and finding ways to cope. First, you should understand that feeling anxious before presenting is natural. According to numerous studies, even extreme anxiety can be beneficial in some ways by increasing motivation and focus. However, too much anxiety can lead to problems with memory recall and make you feel out of control on stage.

To combat this, make sure you take deep breaths and talk slowly . This will help you feel calmer and more confident when you present. Additionally, practice relaxation techniques like meditation and visualisation which can help you feel more relaxed before taking the stage. When considering how to face fear of public speaking, it's important not to let fear paralyse you into inaction. Try taking small steps towards your goals—the purpose of public speaking—and expanding them as your level of comfort grows. Also, learn from mistakes as they come without letting them overwhelm or discourage you. Finally, don’t forget positive self-talk; it’s powerful in helping you remain calm in difficult situations. Having positive thoughts will boost your self-esteem and help reduce any worries or doubts that creep up while delivering a speech. In order to thrive in the world of public speaking, learning how to manage performance anxiety is essential.

With a few helpful strategies such as deep breathing, relaxation techniques, and positive self-talk, anyone feeling overwhelmed with apprehension about getting on stage can start to conquer their fear for good.

Now let’s move on to discussing how best one can prepare for presentations so that fear won't get the best of them in front of an audience.

Preparing for Presentations

For speakers, nothing is more important than being well-prepared for a presentation. Despite the fears you may have surrounding the experience and outcome of your speech, proper preparation can help put you at ease and even enhance your chances of success.

Preparation covers everything from researching your topic thoroughly to developing the content of your presentation, approaching the setup of your speech and running rehearsals of what you’ll say. Although some people prefer to “wing it” when giving a presentation, this approach comes with quite a few risks. You may find that you don't stay on track during the speech or encounter surprises along the way which disrupts its flow even further.

Therefore, if you want to be sure that your presentation is entertaining and informative for its entire duration, it's important to begin preparing for it ahead of time. The first step in preparation is researching topics related to the presentation thoroughly. This research should cover background information related to the story or topic you are discussing as well as any facts or figures that may come in handy.

Once you have researched all relevant information necessary, things like setting up a timeline of events or organizing all your thoughts into a clear structure will help bring this all together.

Having a thorough understanding and knowledge of the subject also allows you to take into consideration potentially tricky points where someone may challenge your statement such as an opposing viewpoint.

By discussing oppositions directly instead of avoiding them you can prove that it has been taken into consideration fully before defending your own opinion on it. Organizing visual aids and practicing out loud can also help build confidence leading up to the speech itself.

Storytelling techniques are welcomed here as they allow for more creativity and can be used with many types of audiences no matter their age or level of knowledge on the topic.

From using analogies to metaphors and even props during the speech, these techniques allow you to make an emotional connection with each audience member by presenting in multiple ways. Your body language tells just as much about yourself as your words do during a presentation so it's essential to ensure comfort in body positioning as well as vocal delivery too. 

Managing nerves is vital here - take deep breaths before beginning, swallow saliva regularly and purposefully maintain direct eye contact with each audience member at least once during the talk.

Or better yet if possible speak directly with people in between sentences depending on topic relevancy when needed; this relaxes both sides naturally allowing a more interactive experience overall. Finally, it's worth rehearsing out loud at least three times so that smooth delivery comes unconsciously while speaking - here practice correct pronunciation of words while speaking slightly louder than usual as well as pacing yourself according to how long you want certain aspects drawn out for or leaving enough space for breaths when needed throughout the course of the presentation too - is key for success. All in all, preparation plays an essential role in dealing with public speaking fear successfully and often determines whether or not yourself and those listening remain engaged throughout its entirety.

Having placed such effort thus far into preparing for presentations, it’s natural that body language is influential here too. Thus, in our following section we’ll discuss how managing reactions from the audience accordingly using body language techniques will influence outcomes within public speaking circles equally so too - Stay tuned!

Body Language and Reactions from the Audience

Visible body language and reactions from the audience can play a crucial role in how well public speaking is perceived by both the speaker and the audience.

When presenting, a presenter should make sure to focus on their postures and facial expressions . Simple cues such as maintaining eye contact, good posture, and gesturing appropriately show an engaged audience that the speaker is present, articulate , knowledgeable, and confident.

It can also help stay connected with the listeners. These visible signals can create a level of trust between the speaker and their listeners, which is essential for any successful presentation. On the other hand, reactions from the audience can be unpredictable and daunting even to experienced speakers. Knowing your material may not be enough if the audience isn't responding positively. If there are no signs of engagement or if they appear tired or bored with what you’re saying, it's easy to become overwhelmed or lose confidence. To ensure your presentation is received well even if the audience’s reaction may appear less than enthusiastic, try using feedback loops to help inform your responses.

Being prepared to recognize trends in the responses of your listeners will help you adjust and tailor your content accordingly so that it resonates better with them. This kind of active engagement can extend the impact of your message and create a more meaningful experience for both yourself and your listeners. By paying attention to body language and managing reactions from the audience during a presentation, speakers can build trust with their listeners, adjust their content tactics, and create engaging interactions for a successful speaking experience.

Top Takeaways

Proper body language and audience reactions can play a crucial part of how public speaking is perceived by both the speaker and the audience.

Presenters should maintain eye contact, good posture, and appropriate gesturing to convey messages of presence, articulation, confidence, and knowledge.

Reactions from the audience can be unpredictable so speakers should prepare to recognize trends in responses in order to adjust their content accordingly for a successful speaking experience.

Coping Strategies for Success

Developing positive coping strategies to help alleviate the fear of public speaking is an important step in overall confidence and success.

As frightening as the prospect of speaking in public may seem, having a few effective tools in one’s toolbox can make it much easier. The first step is accepting that feeling anxious or nervous when engaging in public speaking is a normal response.

Everyone feels these emotions at some point. This can mean taking on a more positive attitude towards the procedure, allowing one to move forward from a perspective of acceptance instead of fear.

Additionally, it helps to actually practice speeches out loud – even for those who are experienced public speakers. Practicing will not only help with comfort levels but also increase knowledge and enthusiasm of the material being presented. In terms of honing communication skills , posture is key! Keeping one's back straight projects professionalism, enthusiasm, and confidence. It will also give the audience the impression that the speaker is “in charge”.

It’s also beneficial to open with an attention-grabber by telling a short story or interesting anecdote related to your topic; this will help to draw in listeners. Using props may also help to break up any monotony and keep listeners engaged throughout the speech.

Thirdly, if something goes wrong during the talk such as forgetting lines or getting off-track , take a few deep breaths and take it as an opportunity to improvise – just as long as it’s done in a professional manner.

Lastly, if all else fails, incorporate some lighthearted joking into the presentation - this can ease tense energy and help create healthier interactions between performers and listeners. Of course, no two people have the same experiences when confronted with the fear of public speaking so what works for one may not work for another; ultimately it’s about finding what works best for each individual person and building upon that.

With these tips in mind and determination, conquering one's fear of speaking publicly should become ten times less scary! To conclude this discussion on coping strategies for success, next we will look at how we can tie all these ideas together into a holistic approach - our section on conclusion.

• According to the National Institute of Mental Health , approximately 73% of people self-report some level of fear when it comes to public speaking.
• A study from 2018 found that 65.5% of participants rated their fear of public speaking above 5 on a scale from 0 to 10, where 10 is the highest level of fear.
• Research indicates that up to 60% of people experience anxiety or terror in social situations such as public speaking.

Public speaking can be a daunting prospect for many people, making it difficult to express themselves or their ideas.

However, there are ways of conquering that fear and gaining the confidence to speak effectively in public.

The seven proven strategies discussed here can help anyone who wants to improve their public speaking skills .

Preparation and practice are essential components of success. It can also be beneficial to break large presentations into smaller chunks, draw from personal experience, and make use of visual aids.

Additionally, focusing on an audience-centered approach, as well as developing an attentive presence, can help speakers command the attention of their listeners.

Only by carefully considering all these components together will any speaker create a successful presentation that allows them to express their message clearly and confidently.

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

What resources are available to help me manage my fear of public speaking.

When it comes to managing your fear of public speaking, there are a number of resources available to you. First and foremost, working with a professional coach may be the most effective way to help you face your fear. A coach can provide personalized guidance and teaching on how to become an effective speaker . They can also help you develop strategies to combat your nerves before, during, and after presentations. In addition, organizations such as Toastmasters International and the National Speakers Association offer courses and seminars to help people learn the skills necessary to be successful in the public speaking arena. You could also join local meetup groups or communities for those interested in public speaking, which can provide support and peer feedback. Finally, there are many online resources such as books, ebooks, videos, podcasts and apps available which teach techniques for calming yourself before presenting and provide tips for giving great speeches.

Additionally, online forums aimed at helping those conquer their fear of public speaking can act as virtual support systems where members encourage one another with words of advice or discussion about difficult topics.

What tips can I use to overcome my fear of public speaking?

There are several strategies you can use to help you overcome your fear of public speaking. 1. Recognize that everyone is afraid of public speaking to some degree. Knowing that your fear is normal and shared by others can help you feel more comfortable with the idea of presenting in front of an audience. 2. Understand why you are afraid. Being aware of your triggers, such as worries about being judged or looked down on , can help you develop healthy ways to respond in these situations. 3. Prepare thoroughly. Creating a well-structured talk and rehearsing your material ahead of time will ensure you have confidence in the information you are sharing and less anxiety around giving the speech itself. 4. Practice mindfulness and breathing exercises before giving your talk to relax and help ground yourself in the present moment. 5. Speak slower than usual to provoke less anxious thoughts during your presentation and maintain an even narrative throughout. 6. Visualize success. Positive self-talk and visualization can reduce nervous tension before and during your talk by reminding yourself of successes from past presentations or imagined outcomes from a successful one ahead of time. 7. Reach out for support from friends, family or colleagues who may be able to provide encouragement, feedback or tips for improving future talks.

What techniques can I use to become a more confident public speaker?

1. Know Your Audience: Knowing as much as possible about who is in your audience and what they expect from you will help you feel more comfortable and confident when presenting. This means doing research on the group before you speak, so that your material is on-point with their interests. 2. Prepare Thoroughly: Spend plenty of time preparing for your presentation, rehearse it until you are comfortable with the material and the delivery. Once you’ve been through multiple practice sessions, you should be able to deliver your speech or presentation without any hitches. 3. Use Visual Aids: Having something visual to look at while speaking can help to lessen any anxiety or fear you may have. Visual aids such as slides , images, and charts can also assist in communicating your message more clearly and engaging with the audience better. 4. Practice Breath Control: Practice deep breathing before speaking in order to control any feelings of fear or anxiety. Inhale slowly to the count of three, hold it for two seconds, then exhale slowly for three seconds. 5. Take Time To Relax: Do some relaxation exercises before giving your presentation in order to calm down and boost confidence levels. This can include stretching exercises or visualization techniques that allow you to focus on the positive aspects of public speaking rather than being afraid of negative outcomes. 6. Try Out Different Voice Tones And Gestures: Try varying up the way you use your body language, gestures, tempo and voice tone when delivering your speech in order to inject more energy into it and keep people interested in what you’re saying. 7. Rehearse With Friends And Others: Ask close friends and other trusted individuals to provide feedback on how you can effectively communicate your message in a confident manner while keeping it interesting for the audience.

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Fear of Public Speaking

After training over 20,000 class members, our instructors have discovered a few simple truths about stage fright and speech anxiety. Once you understand these secrets, you too really reduce this fear.

Below are a few facts about public speaking fear that can help.

What Is Public Speaking Fear?

Stage fright is still one of the most prevalent anxieties in the world. In fact, psychologists created a specific term for this particular social phobia. They call it glossophobia — which is a form of social anxiety disorder.

Basically, this performance anxiety occurs when a person has to stand in front of a group and deliver a presentation. Since the symptoms of this fear are so common, presenters often have questions about why it’s there, where it came from, and how do you get rid of it?

Most people feel like they are the only ones out there who experience butterflies in the stomach, a shaky voice, or shaky hands. However, just about every speaker has some sort of nervousness when presenting in front of groups. The person may have had a bad experience at a previous speaking engagement. Now, when he or she stands to speak n front of any number of people, the person may feel a lot of nervous energy. If the speech is in front of a large audience, he or she may experience a full-blown panic attack.

As a result, a lot of people who feel that stage fright will avoid public speaking situations altogether. These people can miss out on big opportunities. If public speakers don’t do something about the anxiety, it can escalate and turn into a debilitating phobia. With all that being said, though, here is some really good news. As far as anxiety disorders go, this one is really easy to conquer.

Where Does Public Speaking Fear Come From?

Anytime you try something for the first time, you will feel nervousness or anxiety about that thing.

Remember back when you got on a bicycle for the first time?

Or the first time you tried to drive on the freeway?

The reason why we tend to remember situations like riding a bike or driving a car for the first time is that, in those situations, we felt an imminent threat to our safety. But to a lesser extent, we feel this nervousness constantly when we try something new.

For instance, when I got my first Smart Phone, and I went to the App Store, I was really nervous about downloading that very first “Free App.” I was scared to death that I’d end up with a recurring charge on my phone bill that I’d never be able to get rid of. Years before this, I felt the same way the first time I entered a credit card number into a website form.

So, nervousness is normal when we try something new.

By the way, the amount of nervousness that you feel will depend a lot on how safe you feel. The more imminent the threat to your safety, the more nerve-racking the activity will be. Your fight or flight response will kick in.

For instance, my heartbeat increased more dramatically the first time I went bungee jumping than it did the first time that I bought a book on Amazon. I had to take a few deep breaths before managing to push through the fear and jump off a platform high in the air. However, that was not the case with the online purchase. Sure bad things could happen if my credit card got stolen. But, there was no fear of death.

Public Speaking Fear is NORMAL (and Part of the Growth Process.)

Often, this fear is created in school as we grow up.

I’ve had hundreds of people attend my public speaking classes and tell me that they’ve ALWAYS had this nervousness. I’ve heard stories of that time in 1st grade when they had the singing recital solo and their voice cracked. Or when they were standing in front of the class doing the math problem and choked.

The most common story, though, is the time they had to give the book report to a group of non-judgemental high school students. (Sarcasm.)

Because of these early situations, when we stand up in front of an audience and speak, even if we do okay, we may still consider it to be a failure. The more this happens, the more nervous we will be in future speeches as well.

Many times we might be performing well in our business speech, but if we just THINK that we did poorly, the anxiety will still show up.

If Your Stage Fright Doesn’t Reduce Over Time… Change What You are Doing!

As I mentioned before, nervousness is normal when you begin to speak. However, if it remains over time (or gets worse,) you’re not growing. Try changing what you are doing.

For instance, if you’ve been driving for years, and you still break into a cold sweat when you drive on the freeway, something has interrupted you confidence building process.

“ Wait, that’s absurd! No one can drive for 15 years and not gain confidence. Over time, driving becomes second nature. ”

Well, only if that new driver continues to practice and grow. If he/she avoids driving and only drives once, maybe twice a year, that fear may remain. In fact, that fear can even grow more intense over time.

The same thing happens with speakers. Instead of practicing, we often avoid opportunities. In other cases, we use crutches to make us feel more comfortable.

Some Things We Do to Reduce Nervousness Actually Make Us Nervous.

The way that most people prepare for a speech actually adds to nervousness versus reducing it. Here are a few of the common things that people do to try to reduce stage fright but that actually CAUSES FEAR .

Starting with the PowerPoint slideshow.

PowerPoint slides are visual aids for the audience — not cheat notes to remember what you’re going to say next. When a presenter starts by creating the PowerPoint deck, he/she will likely create a speak-click-speak-click-speak-click presentation that will be pretty boring. Basically, the presenter is using the slides as cue cards. By the way, once the speech starts to go poorly, the nervousness will increase even more. In Fearless Presentations ® , we help participants prepare what they want to say first and then help them design visual aids that made delivering the presentation much easier.

Trying to Memorize a Speech.

When a presenter tries to memorize a speech word-for-word and rehearse timings, a number of things can occur that actually cause the nervousness to increase. Things like forgetting part of the speech, speaking to fast and running short of material or speaking to slow and running out of time, and not to mention the time and effort it takes to memorize a speech. Frustration will often set in, and the confidence of the presenter can be harmed. In Fearless Presentations ® , we show presenters a very simple step-by-step process to design a speech where the presenter can adjust the timing at will if the requested length of the speech changes at the last minute.

Over Rehearsing.

We suggest that a presenter rehearse a “well designed” speech once, maybe twice, and then deliver the presentation. Over-Rehearsing can cause a present to slip into the Memorizing the Speech pitfall.

Relying on Notes.

Presenters often feel more comfortable initially if they have the crutch of prepared notes in front of them. However, public speaking is a communication between the speaker and the audience. So when the speaker’s attention is constantly being diverted to the notes in front of him/her, that connection, the rapport, is broken. The person standing in front of a crowd will lose eye contact when he or she refers to notes. The audience reaction will be more sedate as well. This just makes the speaker more nervous. The nervousness will begin to show in the speaker’s body language as well. This whole process is a negative reinforcing cycle that just causes more public speaking anxiety.

Listening to Well-Intentioned Co-Workers or Friends.

When we feel uncomfortable, we might turn to a friend or coworker for coaching. The challenge with this is that most people are very quick to pick up on mistakes, but not so quick to pick up on successes.

Remember how above we talked about how success leads to confidence and failures lead to nervousness?

Well, our friends and coworkers will often tell us all of our mistakes so that we can correct them. So we end our coaching session with a series of perceived failures.

So the next time we stand up to speak, if we catch ourselves doing some of these things, we often panic. A trained public speaking coach helps the presenter do a good job the first time and then builds on successes.

This technique works much faster (and more comfortably) than the “wait until someone fails and then tell them about it” technique.

If you are doing these things, all the relaxation techniques in the world won’t help. In fact, deep breathing when you feel this anxiety may be counterproductive if you are feeling shortness of breath. The great thing is that just by changing a few things that you do to prepare, you can reduce many of the fears of public speaking. Below we will cover some simple ways to become a good public speaker. You will experience more positive audience reactions which will lead to new ways — a different way to speak in front of people. When you do this you will create a more positive outcome and reduce nervousness.

So How Do You Get Rid of Public Speaking Fear?

Just as a recap, some public speaking fear comes from (1) childhood memories. Some fear comes from (2) past challenges speaking in the business world . And finally, some nervousness comes from (3) faulty preparation.

Fearless Presentations ® helps presenters fix each of these three challenges.

First, we help you have a series of public speaking successes by changing the way that we PREPARE for a presentation. Our step-by-step process makes writing and delivering presentations much easier.

Once you have a series of success after success after success with zero failures in between, the anxiety fades away… just like it faded after a few successes driving your car.

Your memories of past failures, whether from childhood or the business world are replaced by memories of recent success.

The Fastest Way to Overcome Stage Fright Is to Lower the Risk of Failure.

When we lower the unknown factors, we lower the threat and the fear diminishes. In fact, sometimes it even goes away entirely.

Anytime you do something somewhat dangerous, your body will react. Your heart rate will increase. You may get sweaty palms or a queasy stomach. Things, like riding a bike, driving a car, flying in an airplane, or firing a handgun, are all somewhat dangerous for people without any experience doing these things.

If you’ve ever seen a four or five-year-old kid riding a bike, you can typically see the tension in the kid’s face. It’s the same with a teenager with a driver’s permit. That very first time that your plane took off and you felt that tickle in your stomach, you likely grabbed the armrests a little tighter. And police officers practice day after day to get proficient at firing their handguns because they want to be extremely confident.

The point is that fear is normal. However, if you practice in the right way, the fear will go away .

Step-By-Step Process to Reduce Fear

In each of the examples above, people who experience anxiety typically follow a simple step-by-step process to reduce the tension. Sometimes, this process is pretty passive such as flying in an airplane. However, most often, this process is very active (like learning to fly a plane).

To conquer each of these fears, a simple four-step process can be used.

• First, Start with an Attitude of Want : You have to want the skill that is being developed. You don’t have to have a lot of confidence in the beginning, but you often do have to have a bit of courage. Courage with success leads to confidence.
• Second, Break the Activity into Component Parts : Most people try to complete an entire activity flawlessly all at once, but if a mistake is made in the process, fear develops. It’s easier to grow in a step-by-step manner.
• Third, Master the Component Part : Practice each component until confidence in that specific part grows. String a series of these successes together, and the self-confidence in that overall skill grows as well.
• Repeat the Process : As a person masters a component part of a process, confidence grows. It becomes much easier to practice the next part… and the next. The speed at which we pick up a new skill in the area increases as well. It’s like a snowball in that it’s a little challenging to get started, but as you roll it over and over, it gets bigger more quickly.

One of the interesting things that happen is that once we go through this cycle once, the first phase, The Attitude of Want, is much easier to move through because we’ve already had success . As we complete the process over and over having success each time, the fear that originally kept us from moving through the first phase decreases dramatically.

Most People Fail to Reduce Stage Fright Because They Practice the Full Skill All at Once.

Most nervous speakers fail to break the skill into component parts. They try to master the entire skill all at once.

That would be like taking a four-year-old to the BMX dirt bike track and pushing him down the steepest hill. Or like taking the 15-year-old driver to downtown New York City her first day behind the wheel. Or like sending a rookie police cadet into the middle of a big drug deal.

But that’s what we do with public speaking. We jump in front of our peers, or the board, or a big client and we wing it. I’d like to suggest a better way…

The Fearless Presentations ® Public Speaking Class Eliminates Public Speaking Fear.

To overcome public speaking fear, confident speakers break the skill into component parts and then master each part.

Fearless Presentations ® helps each presenter have a series of public speaking successes by changing the way that we PREPARE for a presentation. Our step-by-step process makes writing and delivering presentations much easier. Once you have a series of success after success after success with zero failures in between, the stage fright fades away…

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How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking and Give a Great Presentation

T hat Dilbert comic is pretty accurate. Gallup says 40% of people fear public speaking — and some people fear it more than death.

Jerry Seinfeld interpreted this as meaning that at a funeral, more people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.

Via Nerve: Poise Under Pressure, Serenity Under Stress, and the Brave New Science of Fear and Cool :

A wide variety of studies have crowned fear of public speaking – or glossophobia, for sticklers – as our king of all phobias; according to a 2001 Gallup poll, more than 40% of Americans confess to a dread of appearing before spectators. (In some surveys, fear of public speaking even outranks fear of death, a fact that inspired Jerry Seinfeld’s famous observation that at a funeral, this means the average person would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.)

How do you get over public speaking fear?

I’ve given great talks at MIT, UCLA, the University of Pennsylvania and other places. Here are 6 tips from experts and research to help you do the same.

1) You’re Not Perfect – And That’s Normal

In Scott Berkun’s excellent Confessions of a Public Speaker he points out that anytime we talk it’s a bit of a mess.

Even the unedited speeches of great orators like Martin Luther King and Churchill have numerous errors.

People know this and are naturally forgiving.

Berkun references Michael Erard’s book Um :

They [mistakes] occur on average once every ten words…. If people say an average of 15,000 words each day, that’s about 1,500 verbal blunders a day. Next time you say something, listen to yourself carefully. You st-st-stutter; you forget the words, you swotch the sounds (and when you type, you reverse the lttres — and prhps omt thm too). The bulk of these go unnoticed or brushed aside , but they’re all fascinating, as much as for why they’re ignored as why they’re noticed.

Take your errors in stride. The audience will look to you to decide how serious a blunder is and if you’re cool, they probably will be too.

Via Confessions of a Public Speaker :

Know that your response to a mistake defines the audience’s response. If I respond to spilling water on my pants as if it were the sinking of the Titanic, the audience will see it, and me, as a tragedy. But if I’m cool, or better yet, find it funny, the audience will do the same.

2) How To Prepare

Obviously you have to prepare the material. But how can you prepare for the fear ?

Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking , and an introvert herself, is now a professional public speaker.

How did she overcome public speaking fear?

She practiced in front of small, supportive groups to desensitize herself.

From my interview with Susan :

I really had to desensitize myself to my fears of public speaking. I did that by practicing in very small, very supportive and very low-speed environments where it didn’t matter if I screwed up. And eventually you get used to the strange feeling of being looked at, which used to make me feel horrified. You become accustomed to it over time and your fear dissipates.

3) Know The First Minutes Cold

The Art of Public Speaking makes an excellent point: work especially hard practicing your intro .

Not just because it grabs the audience and sets the tone, but research shows having the beginning down cold can help with jitters.

Anxiety levels drop after a few minutes so having the intro well-rehearsed gets you through the toughest part of the talk.

Via The Art of Public Speaking :

4) Reduce Stress Ahead Of Time

Scott Berkun also has excellent tips for making sure things go well — which makes sure you don’t have to worry about things going well.

5) What To Do If You Do Screw Up

Scott Berkun recommends looking for a face in the crowd that seems supportive.

That’s your emotional base. Look to that person for support to keep you moving forward and build from there.

If all else fails — you know the audience hates you and your point of view — seek out the person who hates you the least… If you are going to get a first smile, a nod of support, or a round of applause, it’s going to come from him. Once you find that one person, use him as your base. Don’t ignore everyone else, but know where to look for support.

6) Cheat: Make Friends Ahead of Time

Yes, there’s a way to cheat your way through public speaking fear.

Berkun recommends talking to a few audience members before the presentation, and referencing them by name during the talk.

This has three benefits:

• Now the audience members aren’t all strangers to you.
• Those people feel special and engaged when you mention them.
• The rest of the audience feels like you’re part of the group.

Request the names of three people to interview who are representative of the crowd you will speak to. See if your fears are real or imagined. Then, when giving your talk, make sure to mention, “Here are the three top complaints I heard from my research with Tyler, Marla, and Cornelius.” Including the audience in your talk will score you tons of points.

What sums up the thrust of all six tips?

Spend a lot of time preparing and make every effort to connect with your audience personally.

If you forget everything else, keep that in mind and you’ll still see dramatic improvements in your ability.

Need more help?

• Here’s more on how to give a great presentation .
• Here’s how to boost confidence and be fearless .

Join 45K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here .

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This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree .

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Top 10 Fears of Public Speaking

March 9, 2021 Jason Teteak

This is Part 1 of a 3-part video series on how to conquer your fear of public speaking.

• Part 1 – [You Are Here] Top 10 Fears of Public Speaking
• Part 2 – Face Your Fear of Public Speaking
• Part 3 – Make Public Speaking as Easy as Brushing Your Teeth

Everyone has heard the statistics:

The fear of public speaking is worse than the fear of death.  Is that really true?   Is the fear of public speaking a reality? And if it is true, is it really possible to overcome that fear?

A Gallup poll confirmed that the greatest fear of 40 percent of Americans is public speaking.  It comes as no surprise that many of the people who consult me for help in making presentations express such concerns. The problem is, y ou can’t conquer your fear until you first understand what it looks like and how to detect it…

I’ll never forget when one of my future clients came up to me after my very first Presto presentation and said…

“No other advice you give me will matter until I can overcome my fear, once it sets in, I can’t think about anything else.”

The place to start is understanding where your fear comes from .

Where does this fear of public speaking come from?  What are its components?

If you say, “I’m afraid of sharks,” it may not be the animal itself that’s your problem but the whole scenario you conjure up when thinking of a shark attack, the fear of being taken by surprise, of seeing the menacing look in the shark’s eyes, of knowing how powerless you’d be to defend yourself, of being injured or killed.

After speaking to thousands of people about their presentation fears, I have heard all sorts of reasons why people are afraid of public speaking.  On the surface, I often hear things like…

“I’m afraid of making a mistake in delivering the presentation: stumbling over words, forgetting what I meant to say, inadvertently skipping over a portion, or misspeaking in some other way.”

“I’m afraid of being humiliated by appearing inept, awkward, and uneasy to my audience. That not only would be personally embarrassing but also would undermine my credibility as a presenter.”

“I’m afraid of failing at my main purpose: connecting with the audience and delivering the message effectively.”

What about you? What are you afraid will happen up there?  Sometimes just the idea of speaking in public causes severe anxiety and sleeplessness.  Often the fear is based on a previous bad experience.

Some speakers tell me they’ve been so anxious during a presentation that they’ve suffered a loss of memory or “blackout” and couldn’t even recall their performance.

When you really dive into the bottom of the fears that you just wrote down, it turns out that almost all of the fears of public speaking boil down to ten common reasons , when you analyze these reasons, you can figure out which one is your main culprit.

We’ll do that for you in just a second, and when you figure that out, it can open up a whole new world of public speaking for yourself. That can open up doors for you.

The good news is that no matter what your fear is…there’s some easy fixes to overcome it and get up there and “public speak” with the best of them. I’ll share those with you in parts 2 and 3 of this blog.

As I go through this list, see if you can figure out which fear is the actual culprit for you and your fear of public speaking.

Top 10 Fears of Public Speaking 

1. Fear of failure…

2. Fear of inadequacy…

3. Fear of leadership…

4. Fear of competition…

5. Fear of embarrassment…

6. Fear of selling…

7. Fear of people…

8. Fear of futility…

9. Fear of self…

10. Fear of success…

1. Fear of Failure

The fear of failing can be paralyzing – it can cause us to do nothing, and simply stop moving forward. But when we allow fear to stop us from moving forward, we can miss some big open doors.

It can get so bad that we decide to not try at all, or we even subconsciously bombard our very own efforts because we’re trying to avoid an even bigger failure later on.

2. Fear of Inadequacy

It’s so easy for us to come up with reasons why we’re inadequate isn’t it? We try to keep ourselves inspired whenever we feel a little shaky.

We might even come up with reasons we feel others are inadequate just so we don’t feel so bad. How much time do you spend trying to keep that feeling of inadequacy away? Trying to keep your self-esteem above water?

3. Fear of Leadership

Mastering public speaking requires some element of leadership .

We are leading an audience. And, as a leader, you have to speak to your team. How can you expect your audience or team to take action if you can’t speak in front of them confidently? The more you do it, the more confident you will be. The more speaking you do, the more confidence you will have in most any situation.

4. Fear of Competition

Competition is a part of life, but it’s a big challenge for those who haven’t faced it much before, or who have faced it and haven’t seen positive tables of success. Many times a fear of competition is really a fear of perfectionism.

Athletes are a great example, and we as public speakers can learn from them. Most of the time, an athletes fear is about avoiding poor results whether prior to or during a performance. Athletes often fear the negative consequences of a poor or less than perfect performance. Athletes worry about letting their team or coach down. They worry about disappointing a parent or not performing up to a parent’s expectations. They worry about many things that are often not under their direct or immediate control and a lot of this worry is unnecessary.

5. Fear of Embarrassment

Making mistakes is part of life. But making mistakes in front of an audience often brings a sense of embarrassment . Fearing this embarrassment will invariably cause you even more humiliation. Embarrassment happens when you believe that others see you as a fool, stupid, or not-relevent. To put it simply, embarrassment is a feeling of rejection.

6. Fear of Selling

For most small-business owners, the “selling process” is a challenge . Especially when it comes to pitching their product or service.

Many entrepreneurs struggle with “selling” and it shows up when they speak in public, it shows up as a lack of confidence in themselves or their product, fear of failure and fear of closing the deal. The good news: these fears can be overcome with the proper attitude, training and practice.

7. Fear of People

Another name for this is social anxiety. It’s the fear of social situations and the interaction with other people and it can cause feelings of self-consciousness, judgment, evaluation, and scrutiny.

If you seem fine when you are alone, but you’re anxious in social situations , then “fear of people” may be the problem. In the United States, epidemiological studies have recently pegged social anxiety disorder as the third largest psychological disorder in the country.

8. Fear of Futility

Have you ever feared that your efforts will be futile?

Have you ever said to yourself: “I’m just one person, what can I do?”

That’s the fear of futility, and I’m here to tell you that as a public speaker, there’s a ton that you can do …(more on that later)…

9. Fear of Self

The fear of self is often an intense  self-fear that is groundless . It’s really just fear of “putting your self ” out there. And just like with all the other fears we’ve discussed, there’s some simple fixes.

10. Fear of Success

The Fear of failure and  the fear of success   are often related and have the same anxiety symptoms.

But, the fear of success is deeper, and often more subconscious. That’s because success is more complex than failure. It can be more comfortable to stay in a familiar situation, even if it doesn’t feel great on the surface.

But achieving success often means you are entering uncharted territory . You are putting yourself out there to be scrutinized and criticized, and exposing yourself to new pressures and demands.

Have you ever found yourself on the verge of a big success, and noticed things starting to go wrong? The tiniest details irritate you. It becomes hard to concentrate. You find yourself procrastinating over things you know will lead to success. It’s only human to wonder whether you’ll be up to the challenge. A small anxious part of you would rather not take the risk.

It can also happen on stage.

You say something stupid in an important presentation like, “ What’s wrong with me today ?”   You get into arguments with you’re an audience member , who wonders why you’re being so “touchy.”

All of these are classic symptoms of fear of success – a condition that is all the more dangerous because it’s so unexpected.

So, what do you do about all these fears?

We’ll answer that in part 2 and 3 of this blog series, but before I go, I want you to answer this question for yourself right now…

What’s Your #1 Fear of Public Speaking?

About Jason Teteak

International Public Speaking Coach, TEDx Speaker and Best Selling author Jason Teteak has taught more than one million people how to flawlessly command attention and connect with audiences in their unique style. He’s won praise and a wide following for his original methods, his engaging style, and his knack for transferring communications skills via practical, simple, universal and immediately actionable techniques.

Or as he puts it “No theoretical fluff”. Teteak has flipped the model and changed the approach to great Public Speaking for even the most seasoned veterans. Connect with Jason on Twitter

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