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Conquering Public Speaking: No Fear
Call it "stage fright", "performance anxiety" or just plain old "nerves", few of us are immune to the jitters when faced with public speaking. When questioned, professionals cite giving a speech as number one fear. Here are three ways to conquer fears and deliver speeches like a pro.
- See Your Success.
Practice the closing lines. Visualize receiving a hearty round of applause. Make sure when you practice you visualize yourself where the speech takes place. This helps reinforce success. It gives the psychological boost needed to stand up in front of your colleagues and peers.
- Distract Yourself.
There is a saying anticipation is greater than the actual event. When it comes to delivering a speech the most anxious moments tend to be the hour leading up to the speech. The final five minutes are the worst. When delivering the speech you will be focused on the speech that the audience disappears. To keep calm and relaxed in the final hour try a distraction. Read, finish a report, or walk to avoid an anxiety state.
- Use Your Anxiety
Release all that pent up energy in the speech. Energy has to go somewhere. Use hand gestures for emphasis. Move around the stage between points to physically reinforce transition of ideas. Keeping nervous energy bottled up tends to make a speaker rigid. This lets the audience know, just how nervous you are.
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