‘Confident public speaking’ comes from bad experiences, and it highly depends on how you see yourself as inside your own mind. The recipe for how to become fearless as a public speaker involves a careful mix of passion for your message plus a large sprinkling of authenticity. If you break out in a cold sweat or even feel butterflies when you think about standing in front of others for a presentation or interview, you are not alone.
Fear of public speaking is estimated to affect 75 percent of adults. This fear of public speaking many times drags individuals back, although they may have wonderful ideas in their heads, and the more this fear is suppressed, the huge mental monster it becomes. You do not believe in yourself — that’s the problem. T
he problem is that the little you gets in the way of the bigger You. There is no such thing as being a poor speaker — lacking in confidence and charisma. You already are a magnificent speaker without any fear at all. But, you in You is the worst possible speaker that exists. It may be easier to give in to our fears, but you will accomplish much more in life and feel a greater sense of pride for facing them.
For some people, with just a little effort they have the ability to conquer these fears. For others, it takes a lot more work and some tips or tools for masking these mental pressures. So, Here, are a few resources and mindset tricks to help you conquer the jitters when you go on stage to speak.
Expect to be nervous.
Even experienced speakers get nervous. Don’t try to eliminate your jitters. Turn them into energy you can use to boost your delivery.
Tighten the deadline.
When you have time to immerse your thoughts in what could go horribly wrong during your presentation, you build up a mountain of fear. The only way to make it over the mountain is to cut a path right through it. Give yourself a tight deadline to prepare. Busy yourself with crafting slides and rehearsing. Leave little to no time to obsess over the details. While bringing it all together, revel in your time-management mastery. This creates a new, healthier pressure: the pressure to perform well on a tight deadline. If you’ve given yourself just the right amount of time, you’ll feel confident in your ability to get it handled on deadline. Fear is replaced by confidence, with extra bonus points for increasing presentation productivity.
Make Eye Contact.
Making eye contact is the first and foremost step to be able to speak confidently in public. Avoiding eye contact will have your audience drift away and leave them uninterested. It also reflects nervousness on your behalf. Making eye contact with your audience is a sure way to make them feel involved and adds to your confidence when you are able to see that your audience is truly interested in what you have to say.
Carry a memo of what you want to say.
Make a small card with some of the main pointers of your speech so that you do not miss out on the important things you have to say. Use the card only for promoting yourself and at all cost avoiding “reading” out. Keep the memo handy only for the purpose of reference, all the while maintaining eye contact and interacting with your audience.
Confront your WCS.
Your Worst Case Scenario (WCS) is the nightmare [“What if my mind goes blank/everyone realizes I’m an idiot / I fart onstage]” that keeps you fearful of speaking in front of other people. Instead of playing it over and over again in your head, write it down. Describe it in all its tragic glory, down to the last humiliating detail. Now read it over. Does it look like a rational outcome? Read it again. Read it until it becomes bland. Eventually, you’ll be so bored by your WCS, it won’t have a shred of clout in your mind while preparing for your presentation.
Be prepared if you make a mistake.
No matter how professional someone is and how long they have spoken, everyone makes mistakes. And the mistakes actually make people appear more human and come across as more relatable. But, when we become uncomfortable with slip-ups and gaffes, then our audience becomes more uncomfortable as well. So try preparing a comment like, “I guess those swan dives off our family loft as a child did have its repercussions.” It helps you suppress some of your speaking fears when you know you have one or two “get out of jail free” cards on hand. So no matter if speaking is your number one fear or you just want to come across with more confidence, the cold sweats and internal butterflies will soon be a thing of the past.
Book another presentation.
So, you just survived a work presentation? Get over it. Nobody is writing an epic screenplay about the experience. It’s time to book another one. You’re going to get better every time, so take every opportunity to practice. Eventually, you won’t need tricks to feel presentation-confident. You’ll own it for yourself.
