5 Ways To Manage Your Public Speaking Fears
Peeking through the curtains, I see the audience starting to pour into the room. As they take their seats and mingle with the people sitting next to them, they have no idea I’m pacing backstage like a weirdo with my headphones on. My adrenaline is pumping - hard. It’s almost impossible to stay still.
The speaker in me says, “You’ve been preparing for this moment for over a decade. Get out there and serve your people. You WILL change lives today. Do what you do best, girl!”
The introvert in me says, “Hurry, if you slip out the back door now maybe they won’t notice…”
And then I hear IT - the host grabs the microphone, settles the crowd and begins my introduction, “Today we have a very special…”
Well, there’s no turning back now…. Here goes nothing….
It’s the same cycle every time I speak
Whether it’s an auditorium of 250 US Sailors, a meeting room full of business owners, a conference for creatives, or gymnasium packed with 2,000 high school or college students… wrestling with the public speaking fears will forever be part of the equation. The nerves associated with speaking never really go away. However, the more time that goes by and the more small wins you accumulate, the easier it becomes to manage those public speaking nerves. The more you understand the psychology behind WHY you’re afraid and the more often you take the stage despite what your subconscious is telling you, the easier and more manageable each repetition of public speaking gets.
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After working with hundreds of smalls business owners to craft their stories and harness the power of public speaking to grow their businesses, I’ve found a common thread. We ALL get nervous when it comes to public speaking. Maybe it’s not a crippling “I can’t do this” type of fear that stops you from taking the stage. Maybe it’s more of a nervous feeling in your gut causing you to question the value you’re about to deliver. Either way, I want to share with you the top five practices that help me manage my nerves and deliver presentations with confidence.
How to manage Your Public Speaking Fears
1. It's not about you.
The fear of public speaking usually sounds something like this, “I don’t want to look like a hot mess. What if I screw it up?What if I fall down? What if they don’t listen to ME?” Sound familiar? We get so wrapped up in how WE are going to mess it up that we forget about WHY we’re speaking in the first place…. To serve our audience.
You are speaking to make an impact, deliver a transformation or educate others. Believe it or not, you’re hardwired to serve others before you serve yourself. That’s why we put the oxygen mask on others before ourselves on airplanes. When those pesky nerves start creeping up, focus on serving your client and the impact your talk will be making for them.
STOP BEING SELFISH by letting the fear of how you’ll look in front of others get in the way of transforming their business or even their lives. If you’re passionate about your message and focus your energy on enriching your audience, it’ll get much easier to forget or overcome the self-doubt that you’re feeling.
2. Put in the work.
There is nothing more unsettling than being unprepared. Don’t do that to yourself! Trust me -- you don’t want to “wing it.” If you value yourself, your work, your audience and future opportunities put in the work to make every speaking opportunity a success. The more prepared you are, the more confident you’ll feel. Be sure to prepare your presentation, practice it, prepare for the event… and then practice again and again…. and again. Feeling confident in your presentation will help eliminate some of the nervousness generated by public speaking fears.
We recently covered How To Prepare For a Speaking Engagement on the Speak to Scale Podcast in great detail. I suggest tuning into this episode for a deeper dive into presentation prep.
3. Paint the picture.
While you’re practicing… let’s kick it up a notch and visualize your ideal outcome for the event. As you’re working on your talk, visualize yourself on the stage. When you look out into the audience, what do you see? What is the ideal situation? What expression is on your audience’s faces? How does the delivery of your talk feel? What does the applause sound like at the end? The more vividly you picture the experience, the more likely it is to be processed like a memory. Paint the picture of success for yourself before you even step foot on to the stage.
4. Talk ain't cheap.
In fact, it can be incredibly costly. The things that you tell yourself are powerful. Make them count. I want you to write down all the negative thoughts you’re telling yourself about speaking. Yep… grab a pen.
“I’m going to screw it up.”
“No one cares what I have to say.”
“I’m going to be boring.”
Now…. rip them up and rewrite them as powerful statements that empower you.
“I’m prepared to confidently deliver this presentation.”
“My audience is excited to learn from me.”
“My presentation is highly engaging and the audience will be ready to connect when I’m done.”
You can be your biggest cheerleader or your worst enemy when it comes to public speaking fear - choose wisely, my friend.
5. Put yourself on autopilot.
Rather than stressing all of the little details for every event, create a pre-presentation routine that allows you to focus on what really matters: serving your audience. To this day, I still use the same pre-presentation routine. This may sounds silly… but I even listen to the same playlist before each speech. My routine allows me to intentionally complete specific tasks that help me grow my business. The systematic approach helps me remove the anxiety of “did I forget _____” and just get in my ‘zone.’
Check out How To Prepare For a Speaking Engagement for practical tips on how to create your own presentation prep routine.
Whether you’re speaking to five people or five thousand, I want you to feel confident stepping on to the stage knowing your message will leave a positive impact on your audience. You have something important to say. Get out there and share it!
