All of us had at one time or the other experienced different degrees of this fear of speaking to groups, with symptoms ranging from sweaty palms and shaky voice to more serious signs of nausea and feeling faint. There is no easy way overcoming fear of public speaking. But only a determined effort to follow a few simple steps can help you fight it.

Know your enemy

The best method of disarming fear is to examine it thoroughly. Why do you have the fear of speaking to an audience? The reasons generally are the fear of failure and also the fear of making a fool of yourself in front of people important to you. There is plenty you can do to deal with this fear.

Step one: Preparation

Take or make time to prepare thoroughly. Know exactly what you are going to talk about and what message you want to convey to the audience. Do not memorize what you plan to say, it never is a good idea. But have a strong grasp of the overall speech layout. Know who you are your audience so you can prepare accordingly to get your message across.

Step two: Practice

Practice by reading your speech out loud, so you can also adjust your tone. Practice in front of the mirror, it forces you concentrate more as you are forced to focus on how you look as well, and it teaches you to make eye contact. If you can, record your reading and listen to the playback or else standing in a corner and speaking out loud works well too.

Get a friend/family member or someone you know and practice in front of them making eye contact.

Step three: Visualization and control

Get a feel of the stage, on which you are to deliver your speech, before hand and visualize how you will go about delivering your speech. Visualization is a powerful tool in public speaking exercise; make the best of it in practice. Sometimes it helps to sooth anxiety by visualizing intimidating situations as small and unimportant. Visualize in whatever way it helps you.

Control your breathing and try to focus on your task at hand before a speech. Control your urge to speak immediately, take your time and count to ten before you begin your speech.

Carry a small note with brief points or outline of your speech plan, you may or may not use it but the security it provides can boost your confidence.

Summary

Everyone has experienced the fear of public speaking ‘Glossophobia’. This fear stems from the anticipation of being humiliated. A few simple steps of preparation, practice along with visualization will help you deliver a great speech. Having a backup plan, such as carrying small speech notes can help boost confidence for a satisfying performance. Hope this helps in overcoming fear of public speaking.

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If you want to improve your speaking techiques, then you should check out how this former manager who had fear of speaking turn his presentation into a roaring success with his company's management and what techniques did he use that made him change his job and become a public speaker today.

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