The hit TV series, "Fear Factor," has nothing on giving a speech. In fact, according to The Book of Lists, standing up in front of an audience and giving a speech can be the most fearful experience a person can have in life. But it doesn't have to be that way. With this 10-step guide, you can confidently give a speech anywhere, anytime.
You’re assigned to give a speech to a group in your church. It’s two weeks off but already you’re starting to feel nervous. You can’t get the upcoming situation out of your mind. The anxiety mounts as the big day approaches. Maybe you should just say you can’t do it. And at the last minute how about just saying you’re too sick? You spend a great deal of time and dutifully write down what you plan to talk about, word for word. And you rehearse and rehearse, thinking it will alleviate your worries. But it doesn’t. Your family and close friends tell you everything will be fine. But you know it may not be OK. And as each day passes you become even more anxious. You picture the hall again and again and being introduced and walking up to the podium – all eyes on you. Then the inevitable “what ifs” start. What if I get so scared I faint? What if my knees shake so much that everyone sees it? What if my voice starts trembling and I can’t talk? What if I forget everything? The list is almost endless. You can’t sleep the night before your speech. And as you get ready your heart is already pounding. You think, “Oh God, what am I going to do?”
Does any of this sound familiar? Why is this particular fear so acute and so unfounded? The primary reason is that you, as a speaker, don’t want to be embarrassed – especially in front of people you know. And ever afterwards perhaps people will remember how badly you failed. It is a stigma that no one wants to carry around like heavy, depressing baggage. The fear of speaking to even a small group, say at work, can be much worse than if you were speaking to a large crowd at an event where no one really knew you. So, it is no solace if only a relatively few people will hear you.
Your author knows first hand about being frightened at the prospect of public speaking. But I got help. For two years, I took a professional speech class and gave a speech every week. With the instructor’s expert training I am able to pass on these “fear-less” secrets to you. Oh, and what were my results you may ask? Well, I wound up heading an industry speakers bureau, gave at least 50 speeches a year for the next ten year, became a motivational speaker, TV show host, DJ, and years later at that same industry convention I gave a long and humorous introduction for one of the country’s top celebrities.
Here are my 10 “fear-less” speaking secrets:
Don’t Write It Down. One of the pressures of giving a speech is thinking that you have to write it word for word and rehearse it that way. Only very formal speeches such as the State of the Union address have to be prepared in this fashion. The vast majority don’t. For one thing it usually makes the speech stilted and boring. Jokes or humorous stories, if they are included at all, come across awkwardly. The speech isn’t conversational and the audience feels a distance from the speaker and the message. And having to read something word for word greatly increases the chance of stumbling and stammering.