Does Public Speaking Make You Nervous? Here’s How You Can Overcome Your Fear!

Mental HealthJune 13, 2021

Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking and it is more common than you thought it to be. Also, even if you think it will be impossible for you to go up that podium and speak out; there are easy yet practical ways to drive away your irrational fear and self-talk your way into being a slightly nervous but confident speaker.

People are concerned about several things; that they would be frozen before a room full of people who are all ears to listen to the speech you are about to make or you would say something silly or forget your speech you were about to make. There are other concerns such as not being interesting enough for the audience and more. So, here are some of the best hacks you can use to become the best speaker version of yourself and ditch the nervousness.

Preparation is the Key

Most seasoned speakers will tell you that you need to prepare yourself well to avoid the pitfalls. It is also important to clearly enunciate each and every point you utter. Also, more often than not people are unable to pull off impromptu punches.

So, it is important to practice all the crests and troughs of your speech. Also when you are well prepared you’ll be able to present your speech well. You know your speech so well that even when you stumble, you’ll be quick to recover.

Change the Negative Talk into a Positive One

Stage fright is perhaps all in the mind, but it may manifest in physical ways, hello clammy hands and sweat beads on your forehead. So, it is important to get the negativity out and change it into positive talking. If you continue to speak negatively yourself, you’ll end up believing the negative thing and make it your truth.

If you are telling yourself, what if I forget? Rephrase the question and tell yourself, ‘I’m going to be great at this.’ Positive affirmation as these will help you get into a more positive bent of mind and hence make a better speaker and a less nervous speaker out of you.

Visualize The Good Things

Sometimes when speaking to yourself does not help, try visualizing a positive outcome. When you imagine yourself delivering a perfect speech before a sizeable audience, you start believing that you will be able to deliver the speech without flaws. Imagine everything right down to the last detail, complete with humor, confidence, and intelligence.

Be Fair to the Audience

Although you may think the worst of the audience that they may trash your speech, it is time you give them the benefit of doubt. It is also because the world is willing to give you the benefit of doubt and not hang on to every mistake you make at the stage.

It May Not be Perfect

Well, you have to brace yourself that everything won’t turn out to be as smooth as you envision. Things can go wrong along the way. Your projector may stop working, your microphone may start making weird noises. However, if you know your content by heart, don’t worry, you can stumble and yet you can save yourself from making a massive fall.

Say, your microphone stops working altogether, crack a joke and start speaking more loudly. The humor may not come right at the onset, but eventually, it will come to you. And the people responsible will correct the technical snag and you will get over the minor hiccup and move on with your speech.

Don’t Rush, Stay Calm

Don’t rush through your entire presentation as if there is no tomorrow. Give yourself the time and then eventually you’ll pick the pace and be comfortable at it. As you may be wary of the audience sitting before you, the audience will also try to size you up.

So, take it slow and steady, remember it is very important to find your own comfort zone. And as soon as you start getting cues from the audience, chuckling at your jokes, and clap at your potent points, you’ll grow in confidence and find the punches to make you move on and deliver one of the best speeches of your life.

Remember when you are delivering a speech it is the first few minutes that is crucial, you’ll be most stressed at that time; but if you breathe through the initial moments, you’ll come up with trumps. It is okay to be nervous, but it is certainly not okay to think you are not cut out for it. Every perfect public speaker started somewhere and made their own set of mistakes before finding their groove; just wait for it and you’ll find yours.