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Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking

When you need to get up and speak do you feel butterflies
in your stomach?  Sweaty palms? Dry mouth?  Shaking knees
and hands?  You are not alone.  Fear of public speaking is
No. 1.  Death is No.4.  So most people would rather get a
root canal and pay their taxes than speak in front of an
audience.

Here are a few techniques to help you reduce your
nervousness and present like a pro.

1. Before you begin, drink some tepid water, take a few
deep breaths and visualize your success.

2. The audience wants you to succeed – so just treat them
as your friends and speak in a conversational manner.  You
don’t use notes when you speak to your friend, so don’t use
them now.  At the most, you may use some note cards that
include some key words for you to remember.

3.  You can relax yourself as well as your audience, if you
remember to SMILE!  Everyone is more at ease when they see
your smile.  Better yet, find some humor in the situation
and get everyone to laugh, including you.

4.  Practice, practice, practice.  Getting familiar with
your material by speaking often  This really helps reduce
your tension.

5. Find ways to speak – volunteer as a committee chair,
lead a meeting,  attend networking meetings so you can
introduce yourself often and get comfortable hearing the
sound of your voice and words.

6. Then ask yourself the big question:  “What’s the worst
thing that could happen?  No, you won’t faint, or , forget
what you plan to say.  Remember when you speak to any
audience, it is about them, not you.  So be present with
them as you would when speaking to your friend.

7. A great way to calm yourself is to arrive early and greet
people as they enter the room.  This is a way to relax
yourself and encourage others to feel friendly towards you
before you even start your speech.

8. Think about what you are going to wear. Choose clothing
that makes you look good and feel good.  Most people
delineate their thoughts visually and your audience will
form an opinion about you after looking at you for 30 seconds.
My mother always encouraged me to “dress up” before taking a
final exam – she said, “If you want a high grade, then look
the part.”

9. If you really want to be a masterful speaker, hire a
speech coach . . . like me.  No serious athlete or
professional speaker would get very far without a coach.

10. And, finally, focus on having fun   President
Theodore Roosevelt said, “If you can’t find a way to make
public speaking fun, why do it?”

___________________________________________________________
Sandra Schrift 13 year speaker bureau owner and now career
coach to emerging and veteran public speakers who want to
"grow" a profitable speaking business. I also work with
business professionals  and organizations who want to
master their presentations.
To find out HOW TO MAKE IT AS A PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER, go to
http://www.schrift.com/success_resources.htm
Join my free bi-weekly Monday Morning Mindfulness ezine
http://www.schrift.com/monday.htm