Imagine this: You’re spending your early morning at the office planning the rest of your workday.
Then, your manager calls for a quick huddle where it’s revealed that you have to pitch an idea in a meeting that will be attended by your direct report and some members of upper management.
Upon hearing this, you find yourself going blank, with palms sweating and heart racing at the prospect of presenting in front of a group of people.
We get it. Given the choice, many would choose to do anything other than addressing a crowd or presenting in front of an audience.
The good news, though?
You don’t have to face the prospect of speaking with doom and gloom.
With the right mindset and strategy, you can conquer your fear of speaking into an asset you can count on regardless of the setting!
Building Your Confidence
Dale Carnegie, in his book, “The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking,” said that most students—he’s inclined to believe—and adults experience state fright when it comes to public speaking.
Even professional speakers, he said, have admitted that they never completely shake off all of the stage fright, as it usually persists at the beginning and first few sentences of their presentation.
Despite this, Carnegie emphasized that “a certain amount of stage fright is useful” because it’s nature’s way of preparing speakers to meet challenges. Hence, when your pulse heightens and your body becomes alert, as long as you keep yourself in check, you’ll be capable of thinking faster, talk more eloquently, and speak with greater intensity.
Said another way, you can harness stage fright and the fear and anxiety that come with it to become a better and more persuasive speaker.
Of course, we understand the desire to lessen your anxiety and stage fright as much as you can.
So, how exactly can you go about it?
Here are a few pointers:
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Do your research so you can assemble your thoughts and ideas.
The biggest source of stage fright and anxiety lies in being unprepared. After all, it’s hard to communicate your ideas when you haven’t had the time to prepare and build your arguments.
This being the case, the best way to dispel your fears is to prepare thoroughly by doing your research, structuring your thoughts on the topic, and making sure the insights you’re about to share are logical and coherent.
Presenting becomes less of a daunting task when you’ve prepared what you have to say beforehand.
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Practice. Practice. Practice.
All that preparation will go to waste if you don’t practice and rehearse your talk.
Why?
Preparation is just the initial step. For you to fully overcome your fear and build your confidence, you need to become familiar with the motions and the feeling of presenting.
A rehearsal is also beneficial because it allows you to experiment with how you’re going to present yourself and talk about your topic.
Presentations or public speaking engagements aren’t just about sharing your ideas and insights, after all. It requires you to curate, develop, and hone your mannerisms and delivery.
While a rehearsal in front of a test audience or among your trusted peers can’t compare to the actual presentation, this will go a long way in priming you to shake off the nerves and jitters you’ll feel when you finally present.
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Shift your focus.
One of the best ways of overcoming your fear and building your confidence is to change how you view yourself as a speaker.
According to business presentation coach Benjamin Ball, think of yourself as a teacher instead of a presenter.
Also, instead of focusing on yourself and being conscious of your performance as a speaker, remind yourself that you are speaking to help your audience. This way, you’ll become less nervous and more focused towards imparting your knowledge.
See?
Speaking in front of an audience doesn’t have to be a nerve-racking ordeal for you to get through!
With the pointers we shared with you, you’ll be able to prepare yourself and build the confidence you need to craft and deliver a killer talk.
Oh… and before you present, here’s one last tip to keep in mind: Tell yourself before your presentation that YOU CAN DO IT.
Nothing builds confidence more and lessens anxiety than when you hype yourself up!
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Thursdays: Speak on the Shoulders of Giants”
In a meeting with one person…
… a boardroom with five people…
… or a huge venue with hundreds of people…
—whatever the situation or setting, it’s very important to learn and eventually master the art of public speaking.
No matter what, you always need to effectively get your message across.
What good is a presentation with awesome content if you don’t deliver it properly?
Every Thursday, we publish different tips, insights, and secrets on how you can improve your presentation skills to captivate your audience and lead interesting discussions.
The need for great presentation skills applies EVERYWHERE.
(Small meetings with your team, big meetings with your boss, an important marketing pitch, speaking engagements for events with a big audience, etc.)
Learning these skills is not just for the corporate world. Being in other industries such as the Arts, Information Technology, Medicine, and Education while knowing how to communicate and present well will definitely give you an edge.
Have that advantage.
Hope you find this week’s public speaking tip interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Thursday’s “Speak on the Shoulders of Giants!”
Cheers,
Henry Desai
Managing Director
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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