If speaking in front of an audience is a task that strikes fear deep in your heart, no worries, you are not alone. This fear of public speaking phobia you experience is common and is shared by a large percentage of the general population. Many professionals who make a living speaking in front of an audience even experience the same fear.

An irrational fear

This fear is termed as Glossophobia, and is considered to be an irrational fear as this phobia is not in proportion with the danger. It is very unlikely that you will be put up for public lynching if you deliver a poor speech and make a fool of yourself.

Most people fear public speaking as they feel they might do something ‘stupid’ to embarrass themselves or be evaluated unfavorably. Sometimes self imposed pressure for perfection can also be the reason for speech anxiety. A bad experience in a similar situation in the past can also result in this fear. Overall, the fear is without valid reason and most of the tormenting demons are self conjured.

Apart from the emotional anxiety, often physical symptoms manifest themselves through sweaty palms, dry mouth, trembling hands and/or legs, shaky voice, racing heartbeat etc. In more sever cases nausea, panic attacks, feeling faint are common.

Dealing with your fear

There are a number of things you can to do to deal with your fear. One of best ways to overcome your fear is by thorough preparation and practice. These actions boost your confidence tremendously. In your preparation keep a note of the following points

1 – Find a topic that interests you, if the topic choice is out of your hands find an approach to speaking about it in a way that you find interesting.
2 – Know exactly what message you want to deliver.
3 – Know your audience and adapt yourself accordingly to deliver your message across to them.
4 – Time your practices and integrate good habits like enunciating words, eye contact, controlling your voice to be loud enough for everyone to hear, etc into your preparation.
5 – Practices in front a mirror, friends, family or someone you are comfortable with.
6 – Practice breathing exercise to help you learn how to focus.
7 – Have a safety net, by carrying small notes with the outline or points of your speech written on them.
8 – Use audio-visual aids in your speech.

Lastly do not concentrate on yourself, what people are thinking about you, how you look or how well you are talking etc all this have been covered in preparation and practice. By the time you are ready to give your speech or presentation you should be focusing on concentrating your energies to connect with your audience and getting the message across. Learning to focus on a single-mindedness task takes time to achieve but can be accomplished with practice.

Summary

Fear is useful; it drives us to achieve greater perfection if we understand it. Glossophobia is a common fear experienced by many people. And this fear, if utilized properly can motivate us to prepare, practice and perform in excellence.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

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.

Check out www.getapplausenow.com