Are you terrified of public speaking? Read below to find out how to overcome and conquer your fear of public speaking to win over any audience.

More people are terrified of public speaking than natural disasters, aging, loneliness, violent attacks, or even death. The latest findings from that 74% of people suffer from fear of public speaking (Glossophobia).

The good news is that people have been studying and refining public speaking skills now for over 2,500 years. There are specific tools and methods you can implement to overcome your fear of public speaking and shine as a confident leader on the stage.

While the fear of public speaking is a top fear that many people experience, public speaking is one of the most important skills you can develop to achieve success. Good presenters connect with others to have an impact that influences the behavior and actions of their audience.

Basically, public speaking is one of the most powerful ways you can reach and inspire action in others yet to the average person, the idea of public speaking is worse than the idea of dying

The good news is that people have been studying and refining public speaking skills now for over 2,500 years. There are specific tools and methods you can implement to overcome your fear of public speaking and shine as a confident leader on the stage.

For the most part, fear is an important and useful tool for survival.

We are all hard-wired with triggered fear responses to protect ourselves from danger. For example, if a tiger is hunting you down, your fear serves to help you act quickly to flee and find safety. In this imminent danger scenario, your mind and body’s built-in responses to

Even in the case of public speaking, a small dose of fear can help you stay on topic and sharpen your mind to deliver an amazing performance, so long as you know how to control your fear response using your conscious mind.

This is because when you experience fear, your mind and body gain the benefits of protective mechanisms to ensure your survival, much like the mother who lifts a car over her head to save her trapped child (known as hysterical strength).

The real downside of fear is when it escalates beyond your conscious control and starts to shape your thoughts, behavior and actions in limiting and self-destructive ways.

Fear of public speaking can become a major roadblock to success in your career. This fear limits your ability to persuade and influence others and your ability to stand apart from the competition. A fear of public speaking holds you back from being able to reach a greater number of people and build trust.

And let’s face it, since roughly a third of the population would rather be dead than give a presentation, it’s safe to say that developing your public speaking skills will help you stand apart from the crowd and achieve great things.

The secret to conquering your fear of public speaking is to understand the process of fear that occurs in your mind and body so you can limit the influence of the fear and harness the benefits.

Even though public speaking does not entail an imminent threat of danger, your mind has identified public speaking as a learned threat and that same auto-response of fear is triggered as though a tiger is charging at you.

These biological symptoms are part of your unconscious built-in response to fear based on your perception of a threat. You cannot control your unconscious built-in response to fear, however, you can control your conscious response to fear.

When you experience fear, remember that your unconscious mind has picked up on the perception of danger and triggers reactions to protect you. Often, escalated levels of fear that hinder your desired functioning occur because your conscious mind becomes panicked by the biological symptoms of fear that you cannot control.

If your conscious mind is busy worrying about biological symptoms that are triggered by the feeling of fear, then your fear continues to grow and grow to become a hindrance that stops you from acting the way you want to – such as being a confident speaker that captivates the audience during your presentation. When you experience an escalated fear of public speaking, direct your conscious mind to acknowledge how the built-in response to fear operates and logically consider the danger involved in the situation you are facing to gain control of your fear.

Remember, the built-in biological responses that are triggered when you experience fear can be a good thing, these are a powerful protective mechanism for your survival. Fear only becomes a hindrance if your conscious mind panics.

The good news is that as you practice conscious acknowledgment of your fear and the biological symptoms of fear, you form a habit that enables you to retain more and more control in the face of fear in any situation.

Practice conscious control by following these 5 simple steps.

Remember that fear is a useful tool to help you survive. Your mind and body will get a danger alert to help you remain safe. Your conscious mind is still in control so long as you acknowledge the fear and how you will use it.

It’s normal to feel pressure and increased stress when you experience fear. Do not panic when you start to feel these symptoms of increased sweating, rapid heart rate, tightening of muscles or otherwise. Remind yourself that this is part of the protective mechanism of fear that can help you stay focused throughout your presentation.

Take a few deep breaths and honestly assess how afraid you really are. Focus on going through the conscious process of assessing the stakes involved to address any disproportions to your perception of danger involved.

Fear is a reaction to your perception of danger. If you are feeling an escalated fear of public speaking, understand that your conscious mind has the power to overcome this through self-development, coaching and practice. The worst thing you can do is give into the fear because that reinforces an on-going cycle. Instead, face your fear with preparedness and start with small presentations.

Practice makes perfect! The best way to face and overcome an escalated fear of public speaking and to deliver a more confident performance is to practice in a “laboratory”. This gives you the opportunity to practice giving presentations and lowers the stakes so you can practice managing that fear in a less threatening environment.

Use the handy infographic below to walk yourself through these 5 steps whenever you are hit with that fear of public speaking.

Now that you are consciously aware of how fear works, what you control and what you do not control, it’s time to implement action steps.

Despite your fear and the biological effects of that fear on your mind and body, you do have the ability to deliver amazing public speaking – all it takes is a conscious effort.

For example, watch in the video below where I walked a woman with stage freight through conscious exercises overcome a lifelong fear of public speaking in just 11 minutes.

The key exercises to take away from this powerful example is how to consciously unpack the fear that you experience. Use your “thinking” mind (a.k.a. your conscious mind) to deconstruct your fear and bring it back down to a manageable and useful tool instead of an escalated hindrance.

Most importantly, remember your motivations for developing public speaking skills.

In the video above, “Leonore from Montreal” works as a nurse and has delivered presentations designed to help people be healthy – a noble and worthy reason for a presentation that most audiences would want to hear – however she didn’t acknowledge this when she would give presentations. Instead, when she would give presentations for work, she would just try to “get through”.

“Getting through” is only one small and initial component of getting over your fear of public speaking. The ultimate goal is to become a great speaker so you can truly connect with your audience and win the room. You do this by acknowledging that your audience wants to hear what you have to say because you’re offering useful and helpful information. Once Leonore understood that the audience did want to hear what she had to say, and that her presentations help people, she was able to manage her fear and be confident on the stage.

Fear makes you focus on how you feel, but great public speakers focus on how the audience feels.

1. Practice: Don’t wing it when you are already coping with fear of public speaking because you won’t gain the benefit of heightened focus that accompanies your trigger response to fear. Instead, practice your presentation in front of others so you are well prepared.
2. Speak from the heart: Keep your language simple, speak with honesty and be as clear as possible. When you are truly passionate and want to help others, you will connect with your audience and make an impact.
3. Embrace the positive elements of fear: Use your conscious mind to maintain control of your fear so you gain the benefit of small doses of fear before a presentation – like heightened focus.
4. Maintain good posture and regular breathing: Even though you cannot control your unconscious trigger response to fear, your conscious mind does have the power to regain control. If you focus on maintaining your breathing level and keeping your posture straight, your conscious mind will send signals to your unconscious mind that help to reduce feelings of fear AND make you more confident. Win-Win.

Speak from the heart: Keep your language simple, speak with honesty and be as clear as possible. When you are truly passionate and want to help others, you will connect with your audience and make an impact.

Speak from the heart: Keep your language simple, speak with honesty and be as clear as possible. When you are truly passionate and want to help others, you will connect with your audience and make an impact.

Embrace the positive elements of fear: Use your conscious mind to maintain control of your fear so you gain the benefit of small doses of fear before a presentation – like heightened focus.

Maintain good posture and regular breathing: Even though you cannot control your unconscious trigger response to fear, your conscious mind does have the power to regain control. If you focus on maintaining your breathing level and keeping your posture straight, your conscious mind will send signals to your unconscious mind that help to reduce feelings of fear AND make you more confident. Win-Win.

Your public speaking skills will continue to develop and grow as you consciously face your fears and implement action steps to conquer those fears until one day, your fear of public speaking melts away and you find yourself perfectly confident and calm speaking to a crowd. And that is when the fun begins.

You can find out more about how to become a great public speaker here. (*this is to link to other blog in series)

In the meantime, review the steps to regain conscious control when you experience fear of public speaking and take action steps to prepare and practice giving presentations.

There are only about 25% of people who are brave enough to tackle public speaking so take heart, just by reading this and looking for solutions you are already ahead of the pack.

Remember, practice makes perfect. Keep at it and you will conquer your fear of public speaking.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave