Public Speaking: Foe or Friend?

To some people, the thought of public speaking conjures up such fear and anxiety that the idea of dying is a welcomed and often suggested alternative. They get so nervous when even thinking about public speaking you can actually see they are visibly shaken. Sure, we have all heard ways to make public speaking more tolerable, from imagining that the audience isn’t there or picturing them in their underwear, but do those actually really work? The thing is for the most part these little tricks don’t work very well and honestly there are a lot of people who I speak to that I do not want to picture in their underwear. How then, do you overcome a fear of public speaking?

Working in an HR Outsourcing company I often go out to my client’s place of business and conduct HR workshops. One of the workshops I conduct is on public speaking. When I was in college my first year I had to give speeches in almost all my classes each semester and was terrified for a week leading up to the big speech. As I progressed through classes giving speeches became easier and easier. I try and tell that to people in my workshops. The best way to overcome your fear of public speaking is to keep doing it no matter how much anxiety it gives you. Being prepared is the second best advice I can give. Practice your speech a few times a day leading up to big day and time yourself to see how long it is going to be. Try and make it around the same time every time you practice it. Don’t rush through the speech so you can be finished faster either. Take it at a nice easy pace and make sure you speak loud enough for people in the back to hear.

Once you have spoke in front of a public audience a few times you will find that it gets a little easier each time you do it. You will be able to speak in front of an audience with total confidence and the best employees are confident ones who are not afraid to stand in their own skin.