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."
You are not alone. Speaking in public is truly scary for most people, including many whom outwardly seem very composed. Our brain shuts down normal functions as the 'fight or flight' impulse takes over.Presentations skills and public speaking skills are very useful in many aspects of work and life. Effective presentations and public speaking skills are important in business, sales and selling, training, teaching, lecturing and generally entertaining an audience.
Fear of public speaking? Gone. It was as if, she said, this fear had never existed.Public speaking class. We were to give a three to five minute speech about ourselves. They were OK, nothing to get excited about, and then Byron R.'s turn came. Since that April spring day I've heard many speeches, but I've never seen anyone as nervous as Byron, which was surprising to all of us because he was one of the school tough guys, or so we thought.
By the time Byron finished, he had literally torn off strip after strip of the notes he'd brought to the front of the class and eaten it strip by strip. By the time he finished his speech his digestive tract was busy digesting the paper he'd written on. Of course with each strip he'd torn, wadded up, placed in his mouth and swallowed, Byron became more flustered because he was trying to do was read his speech and, of course, the words were disappearing and he ended up, at the end, with nothing to read from. I'm sorry to say none of us were able to contain our laughter although to see the school tough guy go through the agonies of delivering "a few words" about himself were, frankly, satisfying. He didn't seem like such a tough guy by the time he fidgeted back to his seat.
At that moment I felt the determination swelling up in my chest. This was going to be a semester of terror and I just couldn't allow myself to live through that. At that moment I vowed I would cure my Public Speaking anxiety before my next speech. I did not know how I was going to make it happen, but I knew I had no other choice.I remember being in a marketing class where a guy dropped out of school because he had to do a presentation. If you are failing in a class or denying a promotion at work because you suffer public speaking nervousness, then contact me. My determination to find a solution to my public speaking anxiety was rewarded that same weekend I made my vow. By the following weekend I had cured my public speaking anxiety completely. Yes, 100%.
Despite the terror you experience in front of an audience you can become a confident public speaker. You can experience the same freedom and normalcy that you feel when talking to your friends in front of an audience. So please, my friend, do not miss out of life or suffer a life of ruin because of fear of public speaking. There is no joy there.The fear of public speaking is one of life's most stressful experiences. It is not uncommon for people to be utterly terrified of public speaking to a crowd. A number of individuals would rather fall dead than walk up on a stage and address a gathering. In fact, it needn't even be a gathering. For some people, even the concept of a thousand people being able to hear or see them speak, either by means of the radio or through television, can make them break out in a cold sweat.
What helped me shake my nervousness was a statement made by Dale Carnegie to the effect that, in the old days, when messages were delivered by telegrams, people who received the telegram were far more interested in the MESSAGE than they were the guy who delivered it. In other words, get your mind off yourself and onto your message, he indicated, and you will see giving a speech isn't about you.Speaking about you, however, I can tell you that as your audience we want you to succeed. Those frightfully embarrassing moments when you're shaking, your face is flushed, you don't know what to do with your hands, you're fidgeting, we are having a difficult time watching you suffer. You have, in effect, distracted us from what you have to say and made the speech more about yourself, and that always makes an audience feel uneasy.
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.
The conclusion of your speech is not synonymous with the fact you've stopped talking. Here it's your job to wrap up and sell your presentation with a conclusion like an archer who sends the arrow directly into the center of the target he or she is aiming at, that center being your audience's interests.I don't know who first said it but I'm sure my former college speech teacher read this somewhere before imparting its wisdom to his freshman public speaking class and the statement goes like this:Public speakers are known by their entrances and exits!
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