Effectively Speaking

Posts Tagged ‘Audience’

Fear of Public Speaking - A Newly Developed Case

June 7th, 2009 | Public Speaking

Hi Folks,

A subscriber to the Effectively Speaking Newsletter recently contacted me about a newly developed fear of public speaking. With his permission I am sharing his question along with my response with you.

David.

————————-

David

I recently joined your newsletter and have been reading your articles on overcoming fear of public speaking. Previously, I didn’t have problems speaking to groups - in fact I spoke in public many times. Unfortunately, during a recent presentation I lost my place. In addition, I neglected to bring my notes. Panic set in and I was unable to complete my presentation. If that was not bad enough, the sense of panic sets in every time I have to speak now. To this point, I have only made brief announcements to one of the groups that I belong to.

Do you have any other suggestions that might help me?

Thanks

P.

Hi P.

Thanks for writing. I’m sorry to hear of your (new found) struggles with public speaking.

Here are a few thoughts.

First of all I think you have a good approach of allowing yourself to get just a bit out of your comfort zone. By giving the announcements you are allowing yourself to experience some successes - that’s great.

The articles that I sent you include some thoughts on losing track during a speech. Read those and make sure that you keep them in mind.

In addition, keep in mind what I have to say about your audience. They are not your adversary. They really do want you to succeed. The next time you have to speak (even just to make an announcement) keep in mind that they are not there judging you. If you struggle they will do everything they can to help you succeed.

I spoke to a group of law students last year about speaking in public (can you imagine, people who are going to be arguing cases for a career and they are afraid to speak in public). I pointed out that even their audience was not watching them for failures. The opposing side might be… but not the real audience. The audience, I explained, was the jury and/or the judge. The students could ignore the opposing side and go about presenting the information that they needed in order to help the jury and judge make the correct decision.

Now my point is that if the audience is supportive in an adversarial environment such as a courtroom then it is certainly going to be supportive in your environment. If you make a mistake or stumble don’t worry about it; just correct yourself and move on.

I realize that you are already doing this, but I would reinforce that you have notes with you whenever you speak. You may not need them, but they will help reduce the panic.

Finally, you might want to take a look at the course I created at http://www.EffectivelySpeakingMembers.Com. It goes into overcoming your fear of public speaking in a lot more depth.

As you pointed out, you were able to address a group in the past. It’s your recent experience that caused you humiliation and therefore psychological pain. You subconscious is programmed to avoid pain… both physical and psychological. It has decided to associate public speaking with pain and therefore avoid it. In dealing with your fear you will want to deal with both the conscious and subconscious. Realizing that you were successful at addressing groups in the past is a good place to start. Allowing yourself the small moments of success with the announcements is another. Keep working at it and you will succeed.

I wish you all the best as you strive to overcome your fear of public speaking.

David

Posted in Fear of Public Speaking, Public Speaking | Tags: Adversary, Audience, Comfort Zone, Imagine, Overcoming Fear, Panic Sets, Presentation, Public Speaking, Speaking In Public, Successes

Find Out How Easy it is to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking

June 6th, 2009 | Public Speaking

Dear Future Public Speaker

Are you ready to take that first step - that first step that will move you towards
conquering your phobia?

Like you, thousands of others have come to Effectively Speaking to overcome
their fear of public speaking. The good news is that they have found what they
are looking for - you can too.

EffectivelySpeaking.Com has numerous articles on giving effective presentations. There are articles on various speech techniques including voice inflection and gestures, strategies such as rhetorical questions and using humor, along with skills such as captivating your audience and creating an appropriate structure. All of these articles can help you become a more effective public speaker.

BUT WAIT…

If you’re like most people, you just want to get started on overcoming your fear - I understand.

That’s why I’ve put together my personal secrets to overcoming fear into 5 key articles. Simply join my membership area so that you can start downloading them - it’s absolutely free.

The articles are:

• Overcoming Fear to Deliver Excellence in Public Speaking

• Are We Choosing To Fear Public Speaking?

• Dealing With Stumbling Blocks

• How to Handle a Mind that Goes Blank

• Sweat and Blushing and a Quivering Voice, Oh My

(sign me up now)

These articles will get you started in conquering your phobia fast. I will also provide you with a short course on speaking skills. Each day you will get a short (approximately 5 minutes long) audio segment. As you develop a greater understanding of how to construct a speech you will find that your anxiety subsides.

I can’t tell you any more about it here - it’s sort of an “unadvertised bonus” that I snuck in.

Finally, I will send you my newsletter. It will have articles that will further
help you to:

• Overcome your fear

• Learn new speaking skills

• Start realizing the many benefits that so many individuals who can speak in
public have.

• Keep up to date with what’s happening at EffectivelySpeaking.Com

(sign me up now)

A Powerful Example To Get You Started

Now you may be thinking to yourself – my fear is much worse than anyone else’s. It can never improve.

Well that may be true, but I have had numerous people tell me that only to be shocked when we started to work together. They would let me know that they never
realized how quickly and easily they could start overcoming their phobia of speaking in public.

For instance, one area that we often talk about is
paradigms. Now “paradigm” is a fancy word used to describe your outlook or your perception of your situation. The problem is, we are extremely subjective. When reacting to a situation we don’t think of whether we are perceiving it accurately, we just accept our interpretation as reality and move on.

Now I know… You’re the most objective person around –
especially when it comes to your fear of public speaking. I understand.

But what If I could share with you a paradigm that might be wrong? Would you be willing to truly examine it and change your viewpoint? If so, then you could be well on your way to conquering your fear.

One area that speakers often misinterpret is the attitude of their audience. They consider the audience to be judging them – watching for every little slip up and
mistake. Speakers’ imaginations often run wild with thoughts of the audience running through a mental score card – oh, the audience member thinks, “s/he stumbled over three words and had to gather her/his thoughts for ten seconds. Obviously I’m not going to pay attention to her/him.”

However when the same speakers are asked to think about their own attitudes as audience members they realize that there is a disconnect. As audience members they weren’t keeping a mental score card - they were simply trying to learn the information that the speaker had to share. In fact, rather than judging the speaker they were more likely to try to assist if s/he stumbled or forgot her/his place.

Is that the way it is with you? Are you expecting your audience to judge you? In fact, do you know that
they are judging you? Chances are they’re not (silently) criticizing nearly as much as you perceive them to be.

Starting to change your paradigm about your audience and some others common misperceived areas has provided immediate relief to countless people who have visited http://www.EffectivelySpeaking.Com.

You might be thinking, “Okay, I have a misperception about my audience.” I’m not sure that I can change it. Just how much effort does it take? Do I even want to change it?”

I understand – and that’s why this site is here. I want to share with you just how easy it is to start changing your paradigms as well as some other ways of dealing with
your fear. I have carefully created five reports that will help you start conquering your phobia of public speaking. Please join my free membership area so that you can start downloading them right away.

(sign me up now)

Are you ready to conquer the phobia of speeches? Why not start where so many
others have (and had success)?

Here are just a few of the many testimonials that I have received from readers
just like you - readers who found help at EffectivelySpeaking.Com.

Since I received my first e-mail from you and reading the information on your website. I have seen improvement in my nervousness already. Public speaking is already improving.Thank you so much.

April (Markham)

I was anticipating a nervous evening for myself, as I would be speaking in front of 50 - 60 people in a church setting.I received David’s reflection on fear and felt encouraged
to read about the fact that the nervousness we feel as public speakers is often not noticed by the audience.

I was concerned that the rapid heart rate that sometimes accompanies public speaking would become a distraction from the experience I was trying to create for the congregation. Much to my surprise, I thought of his words as I began to speak and the initial nervousness just melted away. I was able to speak with boldness, clarity, and confidence.

I am grateful for David’s words around fear, for the fact
that I just happened to read them at the appropriate time, and for the reassurance they offered me as I went into a potentially scary situation that turned out to be a blessing instead.”

Andrea Bliss-Lerman (Andover, Ma)

I reviewed some of the material last night and I am very impressed with your writing style.

L.A.H. Jacksonville, FL

David,This is great stuff!!!! How can I get more.

Tom F.

After reading your newsletter and articles for the first time, I find it comforting to know that help is finally at hand. It makes it easier to prepare for a public speaking event if you have interesting material to share with the audience.Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts through EffectivelySpeaking.Com.

Michelle Cott (Sydney, Australia)

Just like you, each of these individuals feared public speaking and came to
EffectivelySpeaking.Com for help. Just like them, you too can start
receiving help - right now.

There’s absolutely no risk. You can quit at any time and I will never sell, trade, rent or in any other way release your email address to an unauthorized third party.

Now you can make the choice to leave this site and do nothing - but is that
what you really want to do? Do you really want to wait longer? Do you want to
continue with the paralyzing pain that occurs every time you have to give a
speech? A year from now do you still want to be overwhelmed with panic everytime you just think about speaking?

Make the choice that will get you help right now…

Get the information that you need and find out how much easier it is
to overcome your fear than you ever thought possible. Simply provide
me with your name and email so that I can send you this crucial information.

To your speaking success

– David Mudie.

Tired of the Paralyzing Fear
of Public Speaking?

Visit http://www.EffectivelySpeakingMembers.Com
and find out How Overcome Your Fear with Less Effort Than You Ever Thought Possible.

Posted in Fear of Public Speaking, Public Speaking | Tags: Audience, Effective Presentations, Humor, Overcome Fear, Overcoming Fear, Phobia, Public Speaker, Public Speaking, Speech Anxiety, Speech Techniques, Sweat, Voice Inflection

Maybe the Fear of Public Speaking Doesn’t Sound So Bad After All

May 13th, 2009 | Public Speaking

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia?

I recently came across an article about phobias. There definitely are a lot of them - but I have never read about hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.

You can see the article here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/10/nphobia110.xml

Now we can get completely overwhelmed (perhaps even phobic) about the number of fears that are out there. Alternatively, we can draw some comfort from them. After all…

If everyone is afraid of public speaking then we must all be among good company.
Overcoming your fear of public speaking makes sense because it will give you a skill that most people don’t have.
If the fear of public speaking is the most common phobia then it is also most likely the most overcome phobia. More people are dealing with this phobia than any other as well. You have more people out there with whom you can share ideas and thoughts about it.

<!–more–>

The article also points out that people do overcome phobias. The last point is definitely good news. Phobias seem overwhelming to people (hey, that’s why they’re phobias) – yet with the right help, we can conquer them.

You can start by deciding that you are going to move outside of your comfort zone. Start by taking a small controlled risk. Use the information that I have shared with you to compose and present a small speech. As I’ve said before, you don’t even have to let your audience know that it is a “planned speech.” It could be an introduction, a toast, or some other small action that allows you to set a goal and see some success.

Personally, I don’t have a clue how to overcome hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (ironically, the fear of long words), but I do know about overcoming the fear of public speaking – together, as a community, we can work together and conquer your fear.

Posted in Fear of Public Speaking, Public Speaking | Tags: Audience, Clue, Comfort Zone, Fear Of Long Words, Fear of Public Speaking, Fears, Good Company, Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, Jhtml, Lot, Lt, Overcome Fear, Overcoming Fear, People, Phobia, Phobias, Risk, Telegraph, Toast, Uk News