Over the past 15 years, I have been Chairman, CEO and President of three publicly traded companies on NASDAQ. So public speaking has been a necessary and frequent event for me.
Overcoming the fear of public speaking was the most difficult challenge I have ever faced in my life. I have taught "How to Take a Company Public on NASDAQ" and "The Many Changes a Private Company Must Make When It Becomes a Publicly Traded Company" to MBA candidates in Graduate School at Vanderbilt University.
I have also been a guest lecturer at many seminars hosted by Raymond James and J.C. Bradford, Investment Companies that take companies public and/or help arrange for private placement capital and debt. Being on stage in front of an audience has been a major part of my life. While CEO of a company I took public with Raymond James and J.C. Bradford, I was the Chairman of an Industry Group that had over 1,500 member companies. I had to speak at every conference we held as an Industry Group. The average audience was about 2,000+.
Whether you are speaking in front of a few people or 2000+, the feelings before speaking are usually same the same; you never really get over the fear of public speaking, but there are many ways to quell it. I conquered, or maybe better stated, control my stage fright and fear of public speaking through numerous training programs, coaching sessions and other on and offline means including a visit to a psychologist. That was fun...NOT. I fully understand the difficulties most people face when tasked with speaking to a small or large group of people or performing as an actor. Especially when speaking in front of your peers.
Whether you are acting or speaking to a group of strangers or your peers, the fear of being in front of people and having to say something you think the audience wants to hear can cause the exact same physical and emotional challenges; a racing heart, sweaty palms, shaking knees, quivering voice, even down right emotional trauma. I have actually witnessed someone literally passing out within 5 minutes of their scheduled time to speak. They actually did speak, but the emotional trauma and mental toll from that speaking engagement would last a lifetime.
I intend to help people get over their fear of stage fright in numerous ways, emanating from my personal experiences and when necessary referring people to some of my mentors and trainers. This website is intended to be comprehensive, to the point and hopefully help hundreds if not thousands of people perform on stage without fear. Please bookmark his page and visit often as I intend to post regularly.