If you’ve felt any of these when speaking in public you’re almost certainly suffering from the affects of what’s commonly known as stage fright – caused by the fear of public speaking.

And given just how often this can hit even the most capable of people when having to speak in public, it’s not hard to see why the fear of speaking in public is the number 1 fear for so many people.  And that means that more people are less afraid of dying than they are of having to speak in public.  Can you believe that!

In reality, probably just about everybody who has to get up and speak to an audience feel the effects of nerves to some extent.  However the successful ones (and there are many) are those who have got used to these feelings and know how to overcome them and eventually are even able to use that nervous energy to their advantage.

So what are some of the best tips to help people overcome this fear of public speaking?

Overcome Public Speaking Fear – Tip 1

Firstly, just realising that many people actually go though this sickly feeling just before speaking – and then succeed is useful knowledge.  The kick in of adrenalin doesn’t have to be the end.  If you can get used to that feeling – just a bit – then you can also recognise it as part of the game.  So the more you experience the effect the less debilitating it can become.

The feeling of fear that you are experiencing is called ‘fight or flight’ syndrome and this is something that you have inherited from back in the stone ages.  Back then, when man was faced with a dangerous situation such as being attached by a wild beast, he had to either fight the beast for survival or quickly flee – to avoid being  attacked.  Adrenalin was automatically produced to give him the energy to fight or flee the situation.  So whenever he was faced with danger – an injection of adrenalin was the body’s automatic response.

However, in modern days, we still have a similar response, not just to actual danger but also to perceived danger.  And when you are about to stand up and deliver a speech you often go through the emotion of perceived danger – due to the nerves and anxiety you may feel.

Overcome Public Speaking Fear – Tip 2

Also, the fact that adrenalin is pumping through your body at that very moment means that you are energised – for many it’s a feeling of sickness – and they often give up – but for others that initial feeling is quickly overtaken by the high of getting the audience behind you and being centre stage.  Ask any stage actor and they’ll tell you just how often they go through both these feelings.

The reason why you may feel sickness is because when in fight or flight mode, the body draws the blood from the stomach to transfer it to the muscles so that they are ready to act quickly and work more effectively. The energy created by the adrenalin is then utilised in a positive way to help you give a more dynamic performance.  One way to release the energy is through your voice.  You can do this by speaking slightly louder and slower than normal.  You will probably need to do this anyway when speaking to a group – so that they can hear you more easily.  You can also transfer the energy into your body language, using your posture to give you a stronger physical presence.

Overcome Public Speaking Fear – Tip 3

Prepare yourself before you speak. That means knowing what you’re going to talk about, ie your material.

Being clear about what you want to say can really help you control your nerves.  Make sure that you have a strong structure to your speech – with a definite opening and clear middle and a strong ending.  Your opening should give the audience a strong motivation to listen to you.  You need to grab their attention so keep your sentences short and punchy at the start – as this will sound more dynamic that a long rambling sentence.  The main body of your speech also needs to be succinct.  Remember, less is more – so keep it simple.  Aim to have no more than three main points to your speech.  This makes it easier for you to stay on track and easier for your audience to follow.  And end on a strong note – with a final sentence that the audience will remember.

Overcome Public Speaking Fear – Tip 4

Know your audience and if possible speak with some of them beforehand.

The more you understand your audience, the more you can adapt your material so that it is relevant to them.  To develop a greater understanding of your audience it’s helpful to create an audience profile by considering some of the following questions.

What level of expertise will your audience have? By considering this, it will help you to pitch your speech appropriately to the audience needs.  If for example they not very knowledgeable then you may need to provide more concrete examples to help get your ideas across.

What is your audience’s current attitude towards your topic? By considering this, you will develop a greater awareness of any more negative opinions, that your audience may have.  By being aware of them beforehand, you can prepare for any difficult questions that your audience may ask.

To be continued …

So can anything be done to ease the feeling of terror? Or is it something you are just going to have to live with? Well this may not seem so reassuring at this point, but, its good to have a little nervousness before you speak in public. In fact it could be safe to say that the time to start worrying is when you do not feel nervous before you stand up, because that’s when complacency can creep in.

What causes public speaking anxiety?

So how do you know when you are nervous or suffering from anxiety? In other words, what indicators do you have that say to you “I am nervous”? do you have the sweaty hands? The pounding heart, a dry mouth, a wobbly voice when you speak, do you feel really hot? They all seem bad enough don’t they? But if you are experiencing these symptoms then relax – you’re normal. Everybody will experience some if not all of these to some degree.

Lets look at this rationally and see if we can negate these feelings of public speaking anxiety you are experiencing. What’s happening here is that your body is trying to protect you. You are experiencing what’s known as fight or flight. An animal instinct that’s there to keep you alive, it’s kind of left over from when we came down from the trees.

Picture the scene, it’s 10,000 years ago and you’re walking through the woods. A sabre tooth tiger jumps out from behind a tree, and your brain says “oh my god I’m going to die!”. So it sends a signal to a gland in the body and adrenalin rushes into the muscle and the blood. Your senses and your ability to react heighten so that you can either hit the tiger harder than you have ever hit anything or run away faster than you have ever run. Hence “fight or flight”.

Of course we don’t have sabre tooth tigers now, what we have is your boss saying to you “I want you to do a presentation”. You start to feel anxious, wondering how you can get out of it and your brain thinks “uh oh, we’re going to die” and the whole process starts over, after all your brain is trying to protect you.

How to overcome public speaking anxiety

All of the feelings you experience are the result of adrenalin but we put them down to nervousness or anxiety.

The power of positive thinking

If you hold your hand out in front of you and tense the muscle in you lower arm, you will see your fingers tremble. This is what is happening when you think you are suffering from anxiety.The adrenalin causes the muscle to tense and your fingers tremble.

From this point on when you see your fingers tremble you have to say to yourself “that’s not nerves or anxiety, that’s adrenalin – fantastic!” because you need the adrenalin to give your presentation more energy and power.

The power of controlled breathing

The feeling hot is because the adrenalin is making your blood pressure rise, the wobbly voice is because you are shallow breathing.

So try slowing down the breathing, taking nice slow breaths in and out through the nose.

As you start to take more air in your heart rate will start to slow down. Aim to take three or four deep breaths a minute. As you start to control your breathing you will start to control the wobble in your voice because the voice needs air to work and shallow breathing will keep the body ticking over but not support the voice.

Try these tips next time you you have to speak in public

Think of these two important points. When you have watched a presentation or speech that is going really badly and the speaker is really nervous, how have you felt? You have probably felt really sorry for them and been pleased that its not you up there. So you have empathised.

Secondly, when you stand in front of us we believe that you are an expert and that know what you are talking about. So you have two things going for you before you start. We want you to do well because watching you suffer makes us feel bad and we believe you are an expert.

Keep that in mind and the adrenalin flowing and presenting starts to become fun. Trust me.