A fear of public speaking is something that many people suffer through during their career. Some people try to avoid speaking in public at all costs but sometimes its just not possible especially if its part of your job. Plus, there is no reason to want to avoid public speaking because it really doesnt have to be something that is scary. It can actually be quite fun. And being good at it can help your career, too. I cant think of a better way to climb the career ladder than by being someone who is able to stand up in front of your peers and managers and speak intelligently and confidently. An employee who can do this will get noticed and for the right reasons. Lets focus on the fear of public speaking in a work setting and specifically how you can become a confident and effective speaker. Heres how I went from being someone who needed to read off cue cards word for word when speaking in public to someone who can speak comfortably in front of a group with little to no notes (and enjoys doing it!): 1. I stopped trying to memorize everything. Instead, I learned the material I was covering and became less reliant on notes. I stopped writing out speeches and presentations word for word and trying to memorize it and started using short bulleted statements, only listing the main points and simply verbally expanding on each point when I glanced at my notes. By not having to memorize everything, I eliminated the chance I was going to forget something. 2. I stopped worrying about speaking publicly. I used to worry a lot about public speaking. When I was a kid I used to worry about the yearly poetry contest my school had where we each had to memorize a poem and recite it in front of our class. Here is an example of where I HAD to memorize my presentation. I stopped pretending that reciting a poem in front of my class was the end of the world and decided to have fun with it. Twice I got to compete in front of the school after winning my class competition. The moral of the story? Dont create a stressful situation for no reason. Its normal to feel apprehension but dont turn it into a do or die situation when it isnt. 3. I let my personality come out. Whenever possible I like to inject a bit of humor when Im speaking publicly (within reason of course) and always try to sound enthusiastic. I just try to deliver my presentation as if Im speaking with friends in a social setting. In other words, I just try to act normally and convince myself that presenting isnt a big deal. Because it isnt. 4. I started to enjoy public speaking! Once I started to feel more comfortable speaking publicly, I started enjoying it. I also noticed that when I was in school, the more I enjoyed presenting the better I did. My fear of public speaking disappeared. Once in the work world, I looked forward to opportunities to speak publicly and got more and more opportunities to do so. If you decide that you hate it, of course youll have a fear of public speaking. Plus, I started getting opportunities from my manager to present in front of senior managers and pretty soon I found myself on a first name basis with these same managers who previously didnt know who I was. In my experience, the first step in conquering a fear of public speaking is to loosen up and relax. Then start to learn your material rather than memorizing it or feeling like you need to write out word for word scripts of everything you are going to say. Look for opportunities to offer to speak publicly about things you enjoy so that when the time comes to present something out of necessity (ie. work-related presentations) you will already have some experience under your belt. Public speaking is difficult but looking forward to it rather than dreading it goes a long way to becoming better at it. |
