Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking
by Sandra Schrift
Published on this site: May 5th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
When you need to get up and speak do you feel butterflies in your
stomach? Sweaty palms? Dry mouth? Shaking knees and hands? You are
not alone. Fear of public speaking is No. 1. Death is No.4. So most
people would rather get a root canal and pay their taxes than speak
in front of an audience.
Here are a few techniques to help you reduce your nervousness and
present like a pro.
- Before you begin, drink some tepid water, take a few
deep breaths and visualize your success.
- The audience wants you to succeed - so just treat them
as your friends and speak in a conversational manner. You
don't use notes when you speak to your friend, so don't
use them now. At the most, you may use some note cards that
include some key words for you to remember.
- You can relax yourself as well as your audience, if you
remember to SMILE! Everyone is more at ease when they see
your smile. Better yet, find some humor in the situation
and get everyone to laugh, including you.
- Practice, practice, practice. Getting familiar with your
material by speaking often This really helps reduce your
tension.
- Find ways to speak - volunteer as a committee chair,
lead a meeting, attend networking meetings so you can introduce
yourself often and get comfortable hearing the sound of
your voice and words.
- Then ask yourself the big question: "What's the
worst thing that could happen? No, you won't faint, or ,
forget what you plan to say. Remember when you speak to
any audience, it is about them, not you. So be present with
them as you would when speaking to your friend.
- A great way to calm yourself is to arrive early and greet
people as they enter the room. This is a way to relax yourself
and encourage others to feel friendly towards you before
you even start your speech.
- Think about what you are going to wear. Choose clothing
that makes you look good and feel good. Most people delineate
their thoughts visually and your audience will form an opinion
about you after looking at you for 30 seconds. My mother
always encouraged me to "dress up" before taking
a final exam - she said, "If you want a high grade,
then look the part."
- If you really want to be a masterful speaker, hire a
speech coach . . . like me. No serious athlete or professional
speaker would get very far without a coach.
- And, finally, focus on having fun President Theodore
Roosevelt said, "If you can't find a way to make public
speaking fun, why do it?"
Are you ready to take your business to the next level? Get more
clients and consistent monthly income? Judy Cullins, book
coach, and Sandra Schrift, speaker coach, invite you to join
a "Business Marketing Achievers" small group coaching
beginning May 25th. We are looking for 12 committed people
who are ready to use speaking and writing to catapult their
business. For more details, contact Sandra at 1-800-340-3683
between 9-6pm pst. Hurry! This group will fill quickly. For
details and to register go to: http://www.schrift.com/group_coaching.htm
Sandra Schrift 13 year speaker bureau owner and now career
coach to emerging and veteran public speakers who want to "grow"
a profitable speaking business. I also work with business professionals
and organizations who want to master their presentations.Get more
speaking skills at our "Summer Sizzle" webpage: http://www.schrift.com/summer_sizzle.htm
Join my free bi-weekly Monday Morning Mindfulness ezine
http://www.schrift.com/monday.htm
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