How To Overcome Fear Of Public Speaking

Public Speaking is one of the most important leadership skills and that is why it is taught in all leading b-schools and management institutions as an essential subject. There are some people who are borne public-speaker and do not hesitate a bit performing in public, and at the same time there are many who have got an inherent psychological problem for it and can not overcome the fear of public speaking easily. If you look at the facts, you will realize that this skill is not only limited to speaking in public, but renders greater benefits in every other aspect of career prospect.

Here are some tips which can help you get over this lacuna in your persona and make you get ahead in life, without such self created restriction.

Confidence – Lack of it is creates most of the problems that an individual faces in his/her career ride. If you are confident of what you are doing, you do it fearlessly, come what may. The good thing about this factor is that you can develop the confidence in almost any age, by practice. If you have strong hold on the topic you have got to speak on, you will feel quite confident to do it in public. But, if you lack the depth of the topic, you would need to take external help during your presentation and chances are that you would stagger and lose the momentum. Even if you don’t, this notion may culminate into fear and result into failure.

Therefore, it is wise to practice well before holding the podium. Rehearse your speech twice, thrice and even tens of times if needed so that you can narrate it spontaneously before one and all. See if you can get some extra knowledge on the topic, other than that scribed in speech. This will enable you to answer any questions that might arise from your audience. Thus, this preparation would help you muster sufficient level of confidence to make it a win-win situation.

Personality – We see that there are people who have very good knowledge of their subject but still fail to speak in public. Some times people develop an inferiority complex within the self and this of their impression reflects in their performance, too. They are filled with the apprehensions such as ‘how would I look to others’, and ‘what would others think of me’, or something like ‘my clothes are not really good’, ‘I do not look really good’, etc. etc. These feelings get too intense during public appearance and turn into fear of public speaking.

This inferiority complex is nothing but a poor mentality which comes up mostly when we have not learned to respect ourselves. This situation can be helped by accepting the fact that others do not really have this much time to think about you only. They might not be so much interested in you or your appearance as much you think they are. This can be proved by the observing how much we think of others appearance, clothes etc. Not much in deed. So is true for others, too. Off course, this situation can also be improved by introducing changes in your personality, dressing sense and similar changes.

Manage the Strain – Those who are not used to of public speaking ventures often develop a strain in their minds when they have to do it occasionally and intensify the situation. You need to understand that you are not going to do something Herculean. It is simply like talking with a group of same people like you. They are the very same people with two legs, two hands, two eyes, two years, and on and on, isn’t it? So why fear. Meditation, and some selected breathing exercise can also be of help in such situation and help you muster your confidence and energy to get it done.

Assess the Situation – Often it helps to have a clear idea of the situation and know the realities. Who the audiences are, what the significance of your speech is, how others have been doing it successfully, what you are expected of, etc. Having this knowledge handy you can prepare well to grab the attention of your audience. It is also good to assess your fears and what they are made of. A fair assessment of the situation will also provide you ways to solve it and can help you overcome your fears of public speaking.

All above suggestions are based upon the assumptions of possible fears that people who are not accustomed of this trait may face in general. However, it is wise to take yourself in hand and question your own psyche or reason yourself about the importance of those fears and their consequences. This self assessment would be a great help to overcome fear of public speaking.

Picture- St. Gallen Symposium