Fear of public speaking -- it's more widespread than we suspect. My daughter, in fact, was an A student in college whose last required class was public speaking. She was so anxious about facing an audience she called me to say, "I may have to drop out of college; I just can't do this dad. Public speaking makes me physically ill."
I spent hours on the telephone with her over several months helping her overcome these fears, as best I could, and toward the end of the semester she called to say, "Dad, I gave my last speech today and everybody told me, including my instructor, what a good job I did. You know what?" "What?" I asked. "I love talking about nutrition," which is what her final speech was about -- eating to be healthy rather than putting "packing material" into your stomach.
I had to speak for at least sixty seconds, but every second felt like a minute. Time seemed to slow down as my normally sexy voice came out in a quivering squeak! I searched my audience faces for any evidence that would indicate what they were thinking about me. How could I, great conqueror of all, be reduced to a pipsqueak in a mere moment?!Definition of pipsqueak - A person considered to be insignificant.Luckily enough the basic facts that were required for this mini introduction speech was ingrown knowledge. Just when I thought it was all over the teacher asked me to tell the class something interesting about myself. All of a sudden with cheeks quivering, butt shaking, and eyes widened by fear I became the most boring person in the class. I just could not remember anything!
As I mentioned previously: you are not alone if the thought of speaking in public scares you. Giving a presentation is worrying for many people. As we saw before, presenting or speaking to an audience regularly tops the list in surveys of people's top fears - more than heights, flying or dying.As an illustration, I quote two popular sayings which feature in many presentations about giving presentations and public speaking:
Jerry Seinfeld once said:"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."Mark Twain said this:"There are only two types of public speakers in the world. 1. Those who are nervous and 2. Those who are liars."A very useful acronym to help you put fear in a different perspective is: FEAR is: False - Evidence - Appearing- Real Keep in mind that feelings are not facts. Check the facts before you act (like running away and hiding) on your feelings.
You've probably heard this many times but why not take up several lines saying it again? A number of studies have shown that some people fear public speaking more than death, a fact I sincerely doubt, but that's what the studies say. Do you think the dead feel that way about public speaking when they're contacted by a relative on some psychic's radio or television show and have to answer questions albeit inside the psychic's head in front of a live national audience?My college speech professor, Mr. Plache, used to talk to us about what he called "the awkward phase of change." What's not easy in the beginning probably isn't supposed to be because, just like learning to ride a bicycle or drive a car, you have to go through the "awkward phase of change" before the activity becomes second nature and you become an old pro at it.
Such public speaking phobias are closely associated with the kind of panic attacks they are known to cause. As is well known, any sort of intense nervousness might become the reason for a panic attack. Phobias such as public speaking phobia (closely associated with Agoraphobia, or the fear of crowded places) therefore often act as triggers for such attacks.It is often wrongly perceived that the fear of public speaking is restricted to situations where the affected party needs to address a crowd of unknown people. Not quite so. On a number of occasions, it has been observed that these individuals are also equally unequipped to speak in a board meeting or in a presentation where, technically speaking, they are addressing a far smaller and known group of people.
On most occasions, it has been found that people suffering from public speaking phobias suffer from a deep fear of failure, or 'looking like a fool' in front of others. As a result of this constant, recurring terror, they are often left speechless or horribly stuttering or stammering. What follows is a cycle of events. The more they stutter or stammer or draw a blank, the more daunted they feel and the further they goof up. This continues until the speaker completely breaks out into a panic attack or hurriedly rescues himself from the agony, by ending his speech.
The body of your speech,you organize your examples, quotes, facts, and statistics toward the response you desire. The body is where you present your points and proofs, making sure they all connect and move forward and connect to your concluding remarks.The conclusion of your speech is, I believe, one of its more strategic elements. If well-handled it will be remembered and you will leave your audience with a lasting impression.
As explained, almost everyone who is afraid of speaking in public is ultimately scared of being unable to do so, therefore the easiest way of making them 'un-afraid' is by diverting their mind from their apprehension. A number of people use a click pen or a paper clip to keep themselves occupied during a speech. Keep clicking the pen or keep trying to straighten the paper clip and all that extra energy that your anxiety burdens you with will fly straight out of the window.
I spent hours on the telephone with her over several months helping her overcome these fears, as best I could, and toward the end of the semester she called to say, "Dad, I gave my last speech today and everybody told me, including my instructor, what a good job I did. You know what?" "What?" I asked. "I love talking about nutrition," which is what her final speech was about -- eating to be healthy rather than putting "packing material" into your stomach.
I had to speak for at least sixty seconds, but every second felt like a minute. Time seemed to slow down as my normally sexy voice came out in a quivering squeak! I searched my audience faces for any evidence that would indicate what they were thinking about me. How could I, great conqueror of all, be reduced to a pipsqueak in a mere moment?!Definition of pipsqueak - A person considered to be insignificant.Luckily enough the basic facts that were required for this mini introduction speech was ingrown knowledge. Just when I thought it was all over the teacher asked me to tell the class something interesting about myself. All of a sudden with cheeks quivering, butt shaking, and eyes widened by fear I became the most boring person in the class. I just could not remember anything!
As I mentioned previously: you are not alone if the thought of speaking in public scares you. Giving a presentation is worrying for many people. As we saw before, presenting or speaking to an audience regularly tops the list in surveys of people's top fears - more than heights, flying or dying.As an illustration, I quote two popular sayings which feature in many presentations about giving presentations and public speaking:
Jerry Seinfeld once said:"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."Mark Twain said this:"There are only two types of public speakers in the world. 1. Those who are nervous and 2. Those who are liars."A very useful acronym to help you put fear in a different perspective is: FEAR is: False - Evidence - Appearing- Real Keep in mind that feelings are not facts. Check the facts before you act (like running away and hiding) on your feelings.
You've probably heard this many times but why not take up several lines saying it again? A number of studies have shown that some people fear public speaking more than death, a fact I sincerely doubt, but that's what the studies say. Do you think the dead feel that way about public speaking when they're contacted by a relative on some psychic's radio or television show and have to answer questions albeit inside the psychic's head in front of a live national audience?My college speech professor, Mr. Plache, used to talk to us about what he called "the awkward phase of change." What's not easy in the beginning probably isn't supposed to be because, just like learning to ride a bicycle or drive a car, you have to go through the "awkward phase of change" before the activity becomes second nature and you become an old pro at it.
Such public speaking phobias are closely associated with the kind of panic attacks they are known to cause. As is well known, any sort of intense nervousness might become the reason for a panic attack. Phobias such as public speaking phobia (closely associated with Agoraphobia, or the fear of crowded places) therefore often act as triggers for such attacks.It is often wrongly perceived that the fear of public speaking is restricted to situations where the affected party needs to address a crowd of unknown people. Not quite so. On a number of occasions, it has been observed that these individuals are also equally unequipped to speak in a board meeting or in a presentation where, technically speaking, they are addressing a far smaller and known group of people.
On most occasions, it has been found that people suffering from public speaking phobias suffer from a deep fear of failure, or 'looking like a fool' in front of others. As a result of this constant, recurring terror, they are often left speechless or horribly stuttering or stammering. What follows is a cycle of events. The more they stutter or stammer or draw a blank, the more daunted they feel and the further they goof up. This continues until the speaker completely breaks out into a panic attack or hurriedly rescues himself from the agony, by ending his speech.
The body of your speech,you organize your examples, quotes, facts, and statistics toward the response you desire. The body is where you present your points and proofs, making sure they all connect and move forward and connect to your concluding remarks.The conclusion of your speech is, I believe, one of its more strategic elements. If well-handled it will be remembered and you will leave your audience with a lasting impression.
As explained, almost everyone who is afraid of speaking in public is ultimately scared of being unable to do so, therefore the easiest way of making them 'un-afraid' is by diverting their mind from their apprehension. A number of people use a click pen or a paper clip to keep themselves occupied during a speech. Keep clicking the pen or keep trying to straighten the paper clip and all that extra energy that your anxiety burdens you with will fly straight out of the window.
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