Overcome public speaking fear

Public speaking nerves are very common, because standing up in front of an audience is not a normal every day event for most of us. The emotions that this fear stirs up can also be magnified, especially when the audience maybe our friends or peers and we have limited presentation skills experience.

But there are times when you just have to face these events, like speaking at weddings, conferences, company meetings, school events and social gatherings, so it’s good to know there is something that you can do about your speaking in pulic anxieties, presentation anxiety and speech nerves.

Much of the anxiety, knowingly, or not, comes from our fear of being rejected by the group or looking foolish or incompetent. These fears make sense when viewed from a primitive survival point of view, where thousands of years ago having the support and respect of a group around you was key to your survival.

For me, public speaking breaks down into 3 main segments:

• How you feel (inside yourself) about delivering the speech

• The quality of your speech

• Who the audience are

Presentation anxiety – stay calm delivering a presentation

Using hypnosis and self-hypnosis for managing public speaking anxiety is a great way to calm your mind and allow you to regain control of your emotions. Many people who do get anxious about public speaking tend to imagine every scenario that could possibly go wrong and then try to look for ways to minimise these scenarios from happening – almost like they are trying to prevent life from just being the way it is.

The truth is – if something strange happens, it just happens, you may forget your words, you might blush, you might be brilliant – by accepting that you’ll be OK regardless of what might happen, is the first step in controlling your public speaking nerves.

A small amount of anxiety is good for public speaking; it keeps you focused and ensures that you are prepared; it also shows that you care about the outcome – but panic attacks tend to spoil the occasion!

Using a range of techniques including hypnosis, NLP and EFT we can work on your public speaking confidence, releasing all of the ‘worry’ energy that you may have, replacing it with a calm knowledge that whatever happens, you’ll be fine, because, when you are calm and your emotions are in control you know that you’ll perform better too.

I have a lot of public speaking experience so I ensure that as we control your fear of public speaking I transfer as much of my knowledge across to you too.

Being prepared for your speeech

You know what you have to say – so there is not much I can help you with here – except to say that preparation is key. Mark Twain wrote “It takes me three weeks to write a good impromptu speech” and many of the best speakers we see around us prepare and practice until they are comfortable with the content, this comfort also helps reduce their public speaking nerves.

Buy some books on writing and delivering speeches or presentations, one of my favourites is “Lend Me Your Ears” by Professor Max Atkinson.

Nervous about the audience?

When you are writing your presentation take some time to consider the audience and what they want from you and your speech as there can be huge differences in their expectations.

If you are speaking at a wedding, the reality is that most people are not expecting too much, they are there to honour the Bride and Groom and your speech is just a formality that they have to sit through (tough words, but true) and when I think of the best wedding speeches I ever listened to, they weren’t professional, they were just loving and honest and that was the appropriate thing.

To put the wedding speech into perspective – if an audience is paying to see you, what are they expecting to get? Knowledge, entertainment, awareness, personal growth, you had better be very clear on what they are expecting and ensure that the quality of your work delivers value.

Most public speaking falls somewhere between the wedding and the paid event and here it is important to consider that people take in information in different ways, some like to see pictures and see stories laid out in front of their eyes, some people prefer to listen and hear about things explained in detail, whilst, the last group enjoy exploring feelings about the events. Try to ensure that the language you use covers all personality types and not just your preferred way of learning.

Using NLP techniques I can help you to understand the differing personality types and explore the best way to deliver your content across a mixed audience.

Treatment for public speaking fear

I have a lot of experience making public speeches myself and have worked with many people to overcome public speaking fear – give me a call and we can talk about your concerns and how we can reduce any anxiety you may have.