Steps to overcome the fear of public speaking
There are several steps of tricks to use to overcome the fear of making a mistake or looking foolish when you speak to a group:
We will cover each of these points in the following posts.
/Terry
If you have not read my professional Bio yet, stop here, take a break and go to the the About Me Page on this Blog. You will then understand more about me my background and have a bit of my professional history so you can understand this this real life story where I flailed horribly in front of a huge audience of people where I wanted them to give me millions of dollars to grow my company. Yeah. That is NO TIME to flail, crash or crater I assure you! Plus my Board of Directors were in full attendance, all 6 of them, to witness this event I will not forget the rest of my life.
September 22nd, 1991, Nashville, Tennessee. I am to speak to a group (room full) of investors to raise money to fund my company's growth and provide daily operating capital for small things like payroll, insurance, and other minor things. I would also include the term "potential investors" as well as some of the people in the audience had already invested thousands or maybe millions into my company. They were the to "check up on me". Find out how well the company was doing. Sales, the future. To test me. Feel my attitude, my resolve, my knowledge, and of course the safety of their money. Great.
So my time came and I got up on stage and began speaking for what was probably the 250th time I had given a similar talk in front of a large audience. Only this time, for some reason, I had a panic attack right about 1 minute into my speech. I am talking to the crowd and my mind is doing its best to sabotage my talk, my presentation, and now I think my life. The discussion going on in my head while I am "talking" was smattering s of "your crashing!" "Stop it"! "NOT NOW! NOT TODAY!", "You done, you wimp, goin' down!". Yep, it was that day.
Two minutes into the speech my legs were shaking so badly I thought I was going to fall! My mind is yelling at me..."Your gonna crash!". But I kept talking. Kept on delivering my prepared, practiced, rehearsed speech.
Twenty minutes later I asked the audience for questions. I knew everyone there saw me shudder and knew I tanked. Not stutter, but shudder, shake and truthfully, damn near crater, all live from Nashville! Believe it or not, people were so kind to me afterward, I actually used the crash to make new friends. Most knew I had done this type of speaking time and time again. So some people were having fun at my expense and some people were genuinely concerned.
The concerned people were the people that had money or going to put money in my company. The competition for money, or my peers were reveling and wallowing in my blood on the floor! Welcome to corporate America. If I had not practiced, rehearsed many times, memorized my speech, I would have been seen as a total schmuck! Instead I was "not on" that day and able to talk my way out of it...over time.
I did get help. I went to a psychiatrist for help. Yep, made my own appointment, went to see him and he told me some things that changed my life...forever. Never again have a flailed. Never again have I even worried about public speaking. I still do not fear it. And I can help you. Just stay tuned.
So speaking as someone who has been at the top of the corporate ladder, speaking in front of hundreds and thousands of people, and the same guy that still talks in front of small and large crowds. I know how cratering actually feels. And I know I can tell you many things that will help you defeat the fear of public speaking. In fact I am going to publish an eBook soon that will help you get rid of your fear of public speaking in 15 minutes. Yep. I can do that. 15 minutes. But that is the quick fix. Then you need a plan to relieve the fear of public speaking forever.
I sincerely want to help people overcome this fear so badly it is not funny. I also want to get my costs back, make an honest living and in doing so make sure everything I do to help people is affordable and meaningful...for a lifetime.
See you back her next week with more on this subject.
/Terry
It has been said that the fear of speaking in public is rated at #2 in human fears after #1, snakes, and before #3, the fear of dying. So it is a major obstacle for most people; I would say it affects the majority of people, male and female, all races, nationalities or other “elasticities”.
Effects of fear
What happens to many people is that–even before they start speaking–their heart starts racing, their mouth gets dry, maybe even the knees and legs shake. Some may even get nauseous or feel faint.
Then once they start speaking, the heart rate increases and beats rapidly. The person may hear his heart beat and/or her voice break and tremble. The legs or even the whole body may almost uncontrollable shake. The person may also stutter or start speaking rapidly. We all know people have a tendency to speak too fast when presenting in public.
Although some people calm down, once they get going, others may ramble through the material incoherently.
Do you wonder why many people don’t want to go through that ordeal again?
The reason most people get anxious when required to speak to a group is that they are afraid of looking foolish or stupid in front of many of their peers and important people. They are afraid that their mind will go blank or that their lack of speaking skills will lower the opinion others have of them.
Being humiliated can destroy a person’s ego and confidence. In fact, it can really ruin your day.
It has ruined one day in my life. I will never forget it. I will include this story in my next post.
/Terry
Glossophobia or speech anxiety is in its basis understanding, the fear of public speaking. The word glossophobia comes from the Greek words glossa, meaning tongue, and phobos, meaning fear or dread. So fear of the tongue. Sometimes, I think more people should have this, but not for the same reasons as we, the followers of this site have.
Many people, probably the majority, have this fear, while others may also have social phobia or social anxiety disorder. On birth, I think I won the trifecta.
Stage fright may be a symptom of "glossophobia".
Contents
* 1 Symptoms
* 2 Help and relief
* 3 See also
* 4 References
Symptoms
Symptoms include:
* intense anxiety prior to, or simply at the thought of having to verbally communicate with any group,
* avoidance of events which focus the group's attention on individuals in attendance,
* physical distress, nausea, or feelings of panic including severe physical symptoms like shortness of breath and actually shaking knees and legs and in such circumstances, possibly losing consciousness.
The more specific symptoms of speech anxiety can be grouped into three categories: physical, verbal, and non-verbal. Physical symptoms result from the Autonomic Nervous System responding to the situation with a “fight or flight” reaction. These symptoms include acute hearing, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, dilated pupils, increased perspiration, increased oxygen intake, stiffening of neck/upper back muscles, and dry mouth. The verbal symptoms include, but are not limited to a tense voice, a quivering voice, and repetition of “Umms” and “Ahhs”—vocalized pauses—which tend to comfort anxious speakers. One form of speech anxiety is dysfunctional speech anxiety, in which the intensity of the “fight or flight” response prevents an individual from performing effectively.
Many people report stress-induced speech disorders which are only present during public speech. Some glossophobics have been able to dance, perform in public, or even to speak (such as in a play) or sing if they cannot see the audience, or if they feel that they are presenting a character or stage persona rather than themselves.
Help and Relief
Some organizations, such as Toastmasters International and Association of Speakers Clubs, and training courses in public speaking may help to reduce the fear to manageable levels. Self-help materials that address public speaking are among the best selling self-help topics. Some people have turned to certain types of drugs, to temporarily treat their phobia.
It is important to note that 95% of all speakers experience some form of anxiety/nervousness when public speaking (Hamilton, C. (2008/2005). Communicating for Results, a Guide for Business and the Professions (eighth edition). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth).
This the foundation we need to go forward.
/Terry
Welcome to my Blog, Secrets to Public Speaking. The purpose of this Blog is to bring together all of the known and less known secrets to overcome the fear of public speaking and stage fright so you can become a successful public speaker or stage actor. While there are many sites dealing with the subjects of the fear of public speaking and stage fright, I have yet to see any of them teach ALL of the methods to alleviate the fear, the stress, the racing heart or the sweaty palms of being on stage either when speaking or acting.
This website is going to deliver the most comprehensive information on stage fright and the fear of public speaking available on the web today.
If you are in need of relief of the stress of public speaking or stage fright, then this is your one stop for all the information you will need to become successful performing on stage.
So bookmark this website and visit often.