Embracing Fear as the Fun of Speaking
Googling “fear of public speaking” yields 30.5 million hits. The first page of results tells us how to fight, conquer, manage and overcome the fear of public speaking.
I say we should embrace our fear, sit uncomfortably with it, and then as public speaking coach, Rich Hopkins, says Speak Anyway.
Whenever I am about to give a big presentation or compete in a Toastmasters contest, I feel like that guy in the movie Alien, the one who has the creature burst out of his chest. For me the alien life force is my stomach, it's looking for any escape route it can find. It's an awful feeling, but I sit with it, breathe and think:
Nerves mean I care
When I am NOT nervous, I get really worried. It is a sign to me that I am way too comfortable or I stopped caring. I have an important message to share. I want to give my audience my best and not waste their time. Nerves are just my body's way of reminding me of that fact.
Nerves are Performance Enhancing
I always do better when I am nervous. I am more in the moment with my presentation, my ability to connect with the audience increases, and the emotional tone of my speech is more raw. I channel that fear in order to make a connection with my audience. After all, they would feel the exact same way if they were on that stage.
Fear can be FUN
The inforgraphic below reminds us that fear is natural, but what fascinates me is that we do like being scared. We go to haunted houses, watch scary movies, and endure the Kardashians because horror is fun. I think it holds the keys to speakers embracing their fear and turning it into fun.
Embracing the fear of public speaking is a way to make to make a deeper relational connection with your audience.
How do you handle the nerves before taking the stage? Post your thoughts below!
Sortable Anatomy of Fear Infographic
Public speaking is like anything else, the more you practice, the better you get. The better you get, the more prepared you become. The more prepared you are, the more confident you get. When you are confident, the fear goes away, and the little bit of nervouseness stops being about you, and starts being about your audio visuals, or the audience interaction–you know, the things we can’t control most times.
Speaking becomes fun when you know your material, you’re prepared, and when you’re confident to know that even if the power point fails you, you will deliver the content well because you’re passionate about it.
I agree. I do love the adrenaline rush though of speaking. That really comes from the fear – actually I love the release of the adrenaline after the speaking gig is over!
I also get concerned when I don’t feel nervous. If you’re a job hunter and you don’t feel any nerves before an interview, chances are you really don’t want the job.
One of my tricks far handling pre-speech nervousness is a physical warm up. I’m fairly certain most people would laugh if they saw me jumping up and down and moving my arms like a boxer before a fight. However, it calms me down, helps me ride the adrenaline rush, and makes me feel confident.
Getting rid of some nervous energy before you get on stage is a great way to avoid early slip ups, speaking too fast etc.
If there is any way I can get in a run before a big presentation, I will. It really helps get the adrenaline out and get my brain firing.
“Some people enjoy the adrenaline rush”…..amen. Public speaking, to me, is analogous to getting on the front seat of a roller coaster. Over the years, I’ve trained my adrenal glands to completely empty themselves the moment I step on stage to speak. The wave of excitement completely obliterates any feelings of fear and/or uncertainty.
Thank you for your comments, Bob. Do you ever find that the adrenaline rush is too much? I’d be curious on how you handle that wave. When I get on a roller coaster, I scream going over that first huge hill because of the adrenaline.
Hello,
My name is Kate Hubbard and I head up the content department of MastersinCommunication.com My team has created a great new resource titled: Public Speaking 101: The Top Online Resources. To view please follow our link: http://www.mastersincommunication.com/public-speaking/
Our resource lists 101 of the best public speaking related resources on the web for your readers to check out. We want to share our resource with you because your readers may benefit from it, and we believe it would make great content for your site.
Feel free to share the list with your readers. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks and have a wonderful day.
Regards,
Kate Hubbard
Content Editor
MastersinCommunication.com
kate@mastersincommunication.com
Consider it shared! Thanks for including my website on the list as well.
Hi, I am in high school and I recently acquired an extreme fear of public speaking. It started when I got short of breath, shaky, and flush during a presentation a few months ago. Before then, I never got the slightest bit nervous for speaking in front of my class. Since then, I have dreaded every presentation inf don’t of my class, I hadn’t done any presentation for more than about a minute since then. That is until today, when I faced my fear and spoke for a solid 3 or 4 minutes in a group presentation. I started off reading first and my feeling of fear left me after the first 20 seconds or so. Next, another member of my group read for a few minutes, followed by myself reading once again. This time, I got a different feeling, even though I was extremely pleased after reading the first part. I began to feel short of breath and extremely shaky. I then handed it off to my group member as I could not finish in that state. I knew I still had another part to read and by then I was perfectly comfortable again. I am just wondering why I spontaneously became so faint and shaky, when I had no fear by that point. Although I am happy to have recovered in a matter of seconds after taking a break from reading, this reinforced my fear in the sense that I am worrying that will come over me again, when there is no group member to take over. To remind you, this same “attack” is what started my phobia in the first place 4 months ago and I have not experienced it since. I have a theory it happened today because I was rushing through it and forgot to take the to get enough air. I have a monologue to present next week, and I cannot help but fear I will experience this attack. To describe it, I feel flush in the face, extremely shaky (though everyone said they did not notice any shakiness) and short of breath. I apologize for the length of the message. I appreciate any advice!