Rapid heartbeat, a dry mouth, sweating, feelings of nausea, tension in your muscles, shaky hands or shaky legs, and a quavering voice. Does the aforementioned sound familiar? This can be the situation even when just thinking about standing-up in front of an audience? Let’s have a look at why people may feel like this and what can be done to alleviate the pain!
In the ever-increasing digital world, the need for company executives and others to find themselves needing to be audience facing has increased rather than decreased. Therefore, it becomes essential for those people to be able to comfortably and confidently deliver an impactful presentation without feeling uncomfortable, nervous or worse still petrified.
What Is Glossophobia? (Fear of Public Speaking Explained)
Let’s use the official terminology: Glossophobia. It is one of the most common fears on the planet, it is biological and completely natural as the human mind is still programmed to activate the flight, fight or flee response. The human brain is programmed to know something up and then creates a physical response in the body via adrenaline.
The significant problem for everyone is that our brains don’t know the difference between standing in front of 200 people and standing in front of a predator. Both trigger the same fight, flight or flee response. Our heart races, our palms sweat and our mind goes blank. That is not a personal fault, it is biology; our brain is doing what human evolution has trained it to do.
The big issue is that the biology (developed during early human existence) is yet to catch up with boardrooms and conference stages. So, the response that once upon a time needed to keep us alive now is now complicating our ability to confidently deliver a dynamic presentation.
Why Fear of Public Speaking Happens
Most tips and hacks that most people may use to help overcome the problem at hand, focus on treating the symptom, not treating the cause. Breathing exercises help us manage the moment (and are very effective in the moment) but they do not fix the underlying issue that your brain has decided that public speaking equals danger and not a great opportunity.
To create effective and lasting change, we have to retrain our brains to change the association between imminent danger and public speaking.
How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking
Practise Through Repetition
We will not overcome a fear by only reading about it. We will overcome it by doing the thing, repeatedly, until the nervous system gets the message that that it is perfectly safe. Let’s begin gradually, perhaps a team meeting, a few choice words at a celebration event or giving a short update to a colleague. Building up a number of small wins will help towards developing a positive psychological pattern. If you want to build your confidence further, these ten tips to improve public speaking skills can help.
Let Go of Perfectionism
Over preparing for the wrong things, memorising every word etc. actually makes anxiety worse, because one slip can potentially derail the whole presentation. Instead, it works better if you know all the key points well, then you can relax and let the delivery breathe. Confidence comes from increased clarity. Memorising puts too much pressure on the speaker.
Reframe the Physical Response
That racing heart before speaking? Elite performers do not tend to get rid of that, they relabel it. Nervous energy and excited energy feel almost identical in the body. If we convinced ourselves that we are not nervous and the adrenaline response is that of excitement the negative nerves begin to dissipate. Creating a mantra to repeat internally; “I am not nervous, I am excited” has real impact as will your performance.
Focus on the Audience, Not Yourself
Fear thrives when you are obsessing over how you look and sound. Shifting the focus to the audience and what they need, and the value you are providing for them, helps the self-consciousness loses its grip.
For more advice on connecting with your audience, read my previous blog how to connect with an audience.
Final Thoughts on Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking
Fear of public speaking is not something that needs to be eliminated entirely. It is something that one can outgrow through repetition, reframing, and relentless small wins.
It is not the case that anyone needs to necessarily be fearless. What is needed is for the presenter to be functional and clear thinking; before and during the time that they are on stage. Let’s look fear directly in the face and turn fear into fluency!
