Anyone else have a fear of public speaking, but force yourself to do it anyway? Drop your best tips, I’m compiling a list.
Ice shower before, memorize the lines, pretend you’re in a movie
Wrote an essay about it 🫡 https://www.wysr.xyz/p/public-speaking-and-panic
Not a fear of mine, but do get a bit nervous sometimes Preparation helps a lot I try to make eye contact with one person at a time so it’s more of a conversation than a speech (If possible, I also try to get interaction early with a question or two) I also chuckle at the absurdity of the situation 😹
Amy Cuddy’s Power Pose. TLDW https://youtu.be/r7dWsJ-mEyI
I'm getting super nervous just before speaking. I tell myself that I'm prepared and it will work out. Eye contact helps. Breathing also. Got a stutter so there are certain words I try to avoid
I hate the “just do it” model as motivational advice but this seems to be the way. Start with brief talks to your cats then dinner parties then TED. If you have a local toast masters, go. Everyone is working on it so it feels a little safer than a seminar. It’s like the #1 human fear. You’re not alone
When you first get on stage if you’re felling nervous say “wow I’m really nervous” you will feel better and the audience will connect with you
best motivation i made myself: your goal is to pass information. no clownery, just pass the information, read it off paper if you have to, and then get off the stage. worked since high school.
Such a weird tip, but I funnel all nervous energy/anxiety into focusing on consciously moving my hands very slowly, speaking more slowly etc The outcome is that the more nervous I am the more confident I appear
Haven't done any in-person public speaking since pre-pandemic, and yeah I get a lot of anxiety leading up to it. My main practical tip is to pause often and longer than you think is normal. It signals you're comfortable holding the space.
If you get nervous about the audience, imagine them on the toilet. No joke. Everyone shits.
Such good advice so far. Helps to see how universal the feeling is. 🙏🙏🙏
This is a good one too. No one is judging you anywhere near as harsh as you judge yourself @mrjanebbinghaus https://warpcast.com/mrjanebbinghaus/0xffff2e
Go out and do Karaoke. It'll help you break the nervous tension by putting yourself in the most embarrassing position in front of people, and owning it.
Breathe between every sentence. It feels _extremely_ long to you, but very normal for listeners. If it's a short talk, you probably want to go beyond just "memorization": Beyonce doesn't just "remember" the words of her songs, she's like 10000x past that. You want to move past "thinking of the words".
Feeling you, Adrienne and all. Was a shy, fearful one, and practiced my way through all the way to becoming a teacher in a technology Academy on a prior job. Usual overnight success over a decade 😊 Preparation, and practice many already suggested. A helpful detail not yet read: Be early (schedule permitting)...
Practice is everything. First thing in the morning, video record yourself every day in the week leading up to the event. Painful, but your speech will be much better for it.
Try reframing how you think about the situation. For example, I tell myself that it's not about me but about my audience, what do they want and how can I best provide that? Paulina has great insights on reframing. https://stevepavlina.com/blog/2023/05/harnessing-the-power-of-reframing-to-enhance-your-personal-growth/
I think it comes down to that I don’t consider it public speaking, it’s just talking I simply have some info in my brain that someone wants to know, so I am having a conversation to share it I have lots of experience talking every day & I was allowed on this stage for a reason, so I know what I’m talking about
In my case I forced myself to join a chirigota so I have to be dress up and sign funny songs in public with a group of friends. Being in a team removes most of the anxiety because you can be in the rear row, so you feel protected. Also singing in public forces you to learn how to better communicate and rehearsal.
Practice the talk with no slides or prompts while your in the car. Imagine you’re just explaining the topic to a friend. Usually this helps you refine the content to flow more naturally than a rigid slideshow Do this 5 times and the presentation will feel like a conversation just with lots of sweating
Script it, put it on a teleprompter app on your laptop or smartphone and then practice it to fine-tune 1. Speed and 2. Change the words used if you feel it isn't smooth in they way You speak it.