Public speaking is a fear as common as about eight out of ten people are afraid of public speaking and not as many people even fear dying. Some people suffer highly from public speaking fear and some suffer in a lower degree. This fear has become a worrying trend among people because public speaking has a great importance these days. Many people dread public speaking and try everything possible to get out of it.
Public speaking can actually sometimes be a real challenge. Many people feel as if it is a source of embarrassment or being a subject or ridicule. The fear of public speaking is not just limited to normal people but the persons of higher ranks such as scholars, doctors, or entrepreneurs also suffer from this fear but these are the people who overcome this fear successfully.
Everybody wants to be able to deliver a perfect speech, while standing in front of a crowd of people and this is very much possible as long as you are willing to work hard for it. It has become very important to learn how to overcome the fear of public speaking.
Firstly, you need to think that it’s not as bad as it seems. Always keep in mind that anticipation is worse than reality. It seems this bad because you tend to focus on the negatives, like the bad things that might happen or that you may seem nervous, confused or unprepared. It’s not the case. The people have come to hear you and the valuable information that you are going to offer in your speech.
You need to identify your fear, the underlying reasons, and accept it as nature’s way of helping you. Fear is your friend. Don’t fear your poor performance, which you have not yet given, and lower your self esteem. Don’t fear your preparation or that you have nothing sensible to say.
Build your confidence and believe in yourself. It will make you overcome your fear of public speaking. A mistake, in case you make one, coming from a person coming across as confident will be ignored and forgotten quickly while nervous and confuse people are picked on. Confidence will build a charismatic veil around you and people will be more interested in what you have to say.
Always prepare your speech well in advance. Invest as much time in practicing and rehearsing it as much you spent in researching about, and then writing it. Unprepared speech will always show unless you are practiced enough to bring it on the spot. Also, always watch yourself after each presentation. This will give you a good opportunity to work on where you lack.
Keywords: public speaking, fear, confidence, overcoming fear, improvement.
