Lose Your Fear of Public Speaking

It is necessary to speak well, and good public speaking is, perhaps, even more necessary because of the repercussion that our words can have, and how far our reach extends. However, paradoxically, we are not prepared nor educated for this. Thus, it is worthwhile to prepare ourselves and rehearse beforehand in order to gain confidence in our speech and in what we are going to say.

Currently, with the implementation of teleworking due to the Covid-19 crisis, a new relationship model with our employees, suppliers or customers is more frequently seen. The arrival of video calls in our day to day and doing most of our work remotely. Something that we were not too accustomed to, has now taken control in our lives.

Surely, on the occasion when you have had to give a public presentation it made you feel certain nervousness, feeling observed in front of a number of people, even more so if those people are unknown to you.

Public speaking is intimidating; the brain feels intimidated as we feel in danger when we are observed. Most people are afraid of public speaking. It causes stress and anxiety. This is normal, but it can be controlled if we prepare ourselves well and learn to conquer the fear of fear.

The human brain is developed to protect us. In this way, when faced with a specific stress situation such as public speaking, we are faced with a double response.

1) Run away or,

2) Fight

If we decide to face (“fight”) the public presentation, many people are likely to feel unwell: stomachache, excessive sweating, and palpitations, even in extreme cases, anxiety attacks. How can we work to overcome these fears?

Let’s discuss 5 techniques that will help you lose that fear:

1. First, accept the fact that feeling fear is normal.
2. Discover the cause of your fear of public speaking, most of the time it is irrational. Convince yourself that you are an expert and people want to listen to you!
3. Learn communication techniques and get inspired by others (for example, TED Talks)
4. Transform your fear into enthusiasm, studies show that they are very similar emotions.
5. Keep in mind that THE GREAT speakers are also (or have been) afraid at some point. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steven Spielberg, Elon Musk, and Tom Ferris have al confessed on several occasions to being somewhat shy and intimidated when speaking in public. Even Marilyn Monroe confessed to being very shy!

One last piece of advice that, despite being very simple, is very effective; always have some water to drink nearby. In stressful situations we can get a dry mouth and we should avoid that uncomfortable feeling, besides, a little water in a stressful moment can help us calm down.