How to Overcome the Fear of Speaking in Public

1.   Firstly, you should know that the fear of speaking is not the fear of speaking itself. You know that there are many things that you can say, so the speaking part itself is not a problem. Your problem is something related to the act of speaking. Maybe you are afraid that you will mess up on stage, forget your words, or pronounce something in a funny way and become the butt of YouTube jokes. Or, maybe you are afraid that people will walk out when you start speaking, or doze off, or not applaud you. You have to sit and analyze what your cause of fear is. This actually helps in dealing with the situation.

2.   Everyone feels jittery, at least a teensy-weensy bit, when they have to walk up on stage and face those people who are staring at them. But, you should realize that this kind of nervousness is universal. Most of these people, as soon as they hold the microphone, find all their fear subsiding. You just have to walk up to the stage, hold the mike and begin… you will find your fear going away.

3.    Practice well. If you are paranoid of getting on stage, then rehearsing it in advance will help a lot. If you know your speech backwards and are confident about it, you won’t be afraid too much. You may also try to hold a mock show at home with your family and friends attending, just to get over the fear.

4.   Do not worry about messing up with the words. There is only a very remote chance of that happening. The trick is to speak from the mind, to really feel what you are saying. If you are truthful about what you say, you will not lisp.

5.   Dress well. Be neat. It all works!

6.  When speaking, if you suddenly feel jittery, look at the place where people you know are sitting. Just looking at them can help a lot. From personal experience, if feel a bit nervous when speaking, I look for people who are visibly responding to what I say… nodding their heads or something like that. Speaking directly to them is also something that can help build that confidence on stage.

Try these tips. You will find that your stage fright is not as bad as it seems.