imagine being on stage and you're so overcome with anxiety that you just
freeze yeah it's a real fear so much so that the fear of public speaking
paralyzes people statistics show that 74 percent of people suffer from stage
fright communication apprehension also known as speech anxiety is most people's
number one phobia chances are since you're tuning into this lesson you're
ready to face this fear head-on and overcome your fear of stage fright I'm
here to help you do just that with tips on how to avoid getting too nervous in
public speaking
What's up Explearners! Mary Daphne here of myexplearning.com where we
believe a richer life begins with better communication now today we're talking
about how to start a speech without getting too nervous and how to calm
yourself down during your speech even if you've forgotten something this is
important if we want to have a clear head and a calm mind it'll allow us to
embrace the spontaneity that comes with any live performance so let's jump right
into it number one shift the focus to the
audience don't treat the speech as an assessment of your intellect or your
knowledge instead treat it as a way to add value to the audience's lives you
should focus your energy on ensuring what you're saying is articulated as
clearly as possible if the audience understands what you're saying then
you've done your job you can even check in with the audience during your speech
to assess their comprehension ask questions like raise your hand if this
makes sense or before I proceed does anyone have any questions about what I
just said so by shifting the focus from yourself
to serving the audience you transform the speech from an uncomfortable
confrontation into an act of public service you feel
good and the audience appreciates the value you are providing them number to
channel the nervous energy as passion when giving a speech most people are
gonna feel a strong sense of nervous energy and that's completely normal but
this can be distracting and even cause you to do things like shake or have a
warbly voice but if channeled the right way that same energy can actually be use
to your advantage let it give you strengths let it fill
your muscles and your diaphragm use it as fuel for the speech you're about to
give in the book originals Wharton Business School professor Adam Grant
talks about how trying to calm yourself down when giving a speech is actually a
waste of energy because think about it your heart rate is up so you capitalize
on that every time you catch yourself feeling worried or nervous or scared
remind yourself that a feeling like that is a source of power instead of saying
you're nervous say that you are pumped that energy is
your ally on stage so let it reveal your passion
number three prepare okay you've probably heard this one before I'm sure
and it should seem obvious but you would be amazed at how often people reach the
stage without properly preparing crazy I know most of the time this is because
they were just too darn nervous or scared to prepare they procrastinate and
procrastinate and procrastinating because they didn't want to even think
about the moment when they would need to stand in front of a live audience it's
pretty scary but this starts a vicious cycle by not practicing you feel less
prepared and feeling less prepared makes you more and more nervous and the more
nervous you get the less likely you are to practice and that spiral continues
until you guessed it speech day when you have become a pleat bundle of nerves for
this reason it really is so important to nip this one in the bud
and practice early and often start simple just read through it a couple of
times then try speaking it out loud and eventually you can try it in front of
the camera or a group of friends the important part here is frequency the
more you do it the more familiar with the content you become and the better
you will feel trust me on this once it becomes almost automatic there's no way
or reason to feel nervous because it will be as simple as breathing so let's
recap three ways of lowering your speech anxiety what focus on serving your
audience and delivering them value rather than on what they think of you
number two embrace the sensation of nervousness use it as a source of energy
and fuel for your passion number three practice early and often
aren't explorers thanks for tuning in and I hope you found this lesson
valuable remember that progress is not linear and it's not the same for
everyone so practice even if you practice just one of these steps you're
in a good spot and most important be kind and patient with yourself and enjoy
the journey add these steps to your Explearning communication tool kit try
them out and make them your own if you enjoyed this lesson remember to like
comment and share it really helps support the Explearning community and all
the hard work we put into this channel and if you haven't done so already
subscribe to join our tribe of Explearners I will see you in the next lesson
Happy Explearning !