Feb

How to Overcome Public Speaking Jitters

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The biggest fear in the word isn’t snakes or fear of heights or even dying. It’s actually a fear of public speaking. So then how can a person begin getting over public speaking fear if they get jittery when asked to deliver an important speech?

Effective speaking and presentation skills are very important in most career fields in our modern times. Most careers and universities will require employees and students to give some type of presentation sooner or later.

If you are afraid of public speaking, you could be less effective at getting your point across, or it could even get bad enough that you simply avoid situations where you might need to make a presentation. This might even build up over time resulting in shyness and social anxiety. And that can keep you from getting promotions at work or getting the grades you deserve in school classes.

First begin by looking at things in a different light. When people are afraid of delivering a speech they often have goals like, “I must overcome my fear of giving speeches.” This thought pattern is not healthy because it implies that you are not good enough as the person you already are.

Try to instead turn your attention to something positive. You might consider changing “I must overcome my fear of giving speeches” into something more like “I want to deliver my presentation effectively and confidently.” Once you have a good goal, write it down on a sheet of paper. Take some time to read the statement out loud to yourself in the days leading up to your presentation and imagine how you will feel and behave when your goal become a reality.

By focusing on the negative like “getting over a fear of public speaking,” you might also be setting into action a self-fulfilling prophecy. You tend to bring into your life whatever you focus on whether it’s “fear of public speaking” or “being a relaxed and confident speaker.”

Try to understand that it really is all in your mind. There’s nothing to fear. The more mental energy you focus on “fear” the bigger the problem will become in your mind. When you instead focus on what you do want you will be fueling “confident speaking” instead of “fear of speaking”.

You might also consider doing other things like EFT therapy or joining Toastmasters, an organization that helps people to improve their public speaking skills and presentation confidence.

I honestly hope that you have found this valuable in bettering your speaking confidence. Don’t forget to keep your thoughts focused on what you want. Good luck on your next speech!