Are you afraid to stand up in front of an audience and give a presentation? Most people are, including some professional speakers. There you are, unguarded, vulnerable, and relying on your memory and your personality to move the audience to think in a new way, act in a new way, and hopefully not throw rotten fruits and veggies at you!
There’s a word for the fear of public speaking – glossophobia. Nearly half of adults are affected by it, at least a little bit. Why it’s so common isn’t known yet, except researchers postulate that it could be rooted in the primal fear of being seen by predators. You never know who might be lurking in that audience, just waiting to pounce!
In reality, audience members want speakers to succeed. They’re on your side, not against you, so instead of imagining everyone as naked, try imagining they’re all your very best friend, that person you could say anything to and they would still love you. Use your imagination to serve you when you get ready to speak, not sabotage you, and you’ll set yourself up to be successful in enlightening your audience, and moving their hearts and minds, if that’s part of your purpose.
We human beings have a lot of feelings about all aspects of our lives, not just speaking, and many of them can be confusing and confounding when they sneak up on us. The daily Wellbeing Widom Tiny Bites podcast dishes up tools and ideas based in neuroscience and neuroplasticity to help you cope with whatever life throws at you. The “Tiny” part of the podcast name is real – each episode is 90 seconds long or less, so you can get your learning on and get on with your day!
Do you feel like the center of attention, and not in a good way? Here’s a Tiny Bite for that!
Need help shifting your focus from fear to success? Here’s a Tiny Bite for that!
Confused about your feelings and whether they’re right? Here’s a Tiny Bite for that!
There’s an association for professional speakers that celebrates the spirit of the founder, Cavett Robert. In a world where the idea of getting the biggest piece of the pie seems to be the prevalent goal, Cavett Robert proposed a new way of looking at it: everyone working together to grow a bigger pie. Use that idea as a way to ease your speaking anxiety next time you’re called on to make a presentation. Your goal is to serve as much pie as the people in the room can consume, and so your focus is on serving the attendees instead of fearing them. Your session participants won’t even think of throwing rotten fruits and veggies at you!
PS...know someone planning a meeting, retreat, or conference who needs speakers? Please share my contact info with them, and thank you!
