I was like that a few years back. Or actually I must say when I was in 5th grade I was very very very shy. But then things changed. I started looking at myself as someone who knew what he was saying and doing. It started with the boost I got from winning the “Artist of the year” and when I got the award for “Highest achievement in maths”. The confidence and the push I got from that really did help me a bit in going against the fear of speaking in public. What would a 5th grader know about public speaking? Well I went to an American school in Oslo, so there we had classes where used to give speeches on various things so I must say it was quite a fun experience.
But yes back to the topic. Here is how you can overcome public speaking
- Be YOURSELF
Lots of people forget that, they get on stage and try to be someone they are not. Be yourself because no one else can be that! - Engage the listeners
If you get on stage and call out to the audience or engage them into an activity, then the whole focus will be on them. This is the best trick ever. I used it when I sang on stage at an “all girls concert”, all I did was I went on stage and as shy as I was I said on the mic “Ok anyone want to sing this “song” with me? So all of a sudden it was THEM who were nervous not me 🙂 - Be incharge
When you are speaking for a large group of people, try to be incharge. If you can fake it, you can make it. With that I mean, try to talk about subjects you know very well about. Do not bring in facts that you just made up on the spot. Do your homework and voila.. you are the MAN (or woman for that matter) - Know your audience
Good speakers know their audience. Know their calibre and know how good (or bad) they are. Its easier to impress 100 non-graphical people by telling them a few things about how graphics design works but it won’t be as easy to say the same things to experts in graphics design. So know your audience and remember..do your homework!
What about you? Are you good when it comes to public speaking? What’s your fear?