How can I become a better public speaker?

Let me start with saying that speaking in public is at the top of the list of fears!

A common physical reaction to having to speak in public is a release of adrenaline and cortisol into our system, which is sometimes compared to drinking several cups of coffee.

Even experienced speakers feel their heart thumping very excitedly indeed. This sensational reaction to speaking in public is certainly not only felt by novices, and even some of the great professional actors and entertainers suffer with real physical sickness before taking the stage or podium.
So you are not alone. Speaking in public is genuinely scary for most people, including many whom outwardly seem very calm.

Our primitive brain shuts down normal functions as the ‘fight or flight’ impulse takes over.

A very useful acronym to help you put your fear in a different perspective is:
FEAR is:
False – Evidence - Appearing- Real

Keep in mind that feelings are not facts. Check the facts before you act (like running away and hiding) on your feelings.

One way to overcome your fear is to use a self-evaluation activity to break down your fear into manageable components. It's simple to do and it really does work! Here is an example:


Tell yourself exactly what you are afraid of.
• “I am afraid of speaking in front of a large group.”

Explain to yourself why you are afraid.
• “I am afraid because I think everyone will laugh at me.”
• “I am afraid something will go wrong.”

Tell yourself why you shouldn't be afraid.
• “I have never seen a speaker get laughed off the stage.”
• “No one has ever laughed at me during my previous presentations.”
• “If something does go wrong, I can fix it.”

Close with positive thoughts about yourself.
• “I am a smart and well-prepared person.”
• “I can give a solid presentation and impress my audience.”

Understanding our fears is the first and most important step to conquering them.

As the saying goes, don't try to get rid of the butterflies - just get them flying in formation.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP OVERCOME YOUR FEAR
• Know your material inside out. Remember the quote: prior preparation prevents poor performance. It could also say that: prior preparation presents perfect performance.
• Know the room – arrive early and check out where everything is. Walk around and look at things from the audiences view.
• Make contact with your audience before you speak. It’s wonderful to have made friends that you can connect with while speaking.
• Use good relaxation and breathing exercises. Watch how you speak about yourself. Change: “I am so nervous”, to: “I am really excited.” What you say is what you get. Change the nervous energy to enthusiasm.
• Have some cough lollies to warm and moisten your throat. When drinking before a speech: don’t eat or drink dairy products; it often clogs up your voice. Drink only water at room temperature, it’s better for your voice than cold water. And…don’t try to calm your nerves with alcohol!
• Never apologise. Don’t worry about missing a point – move on. The audience does not know what you have prepared and will not miss it. If they do, make light of it (laugh at your self) and correct it.
• Focus/concentrate on your message or idea – not how you communicate it. Don’t start to think about the lady who is yawning.  Remember how you sometimes yawn even though you are interested and listening to a speaker.
• Remember: the audience is on your side. They want you to succeed. They want to enjoy themselves. All you have to do is DO IT!

In addition you can find some common relaxation activities which you can practise beforehand. And…then just do it! The more often you do it and confront your fears the more you will find ways to counter act it. And, like me, you may actually start to enjoy it.

The above answer by Grace is detailed and sound. Hopefully there are some good ideas in there that you can apply immediately!

It's also worth observing that self-consciousness or performance anxiety are closely linked to confidence and self-image. Having worked in University counselling services for many many years, I often met with people making the transition from teenage-hood through to adulthood. It may be often unsettling but it is certainly normal!

Sometimes talking stuff over with a skilled experienced helping professional (Psychollogist, registered Counsellor, etc) can help too.

I think that Grace and Bruce have offered you excellent advice.

What works for me when I get to give a talk at a scientific conference is to rehearse it many times though not to the extent that I have memorised it - that helps me to be confident.

It might help if you practised your presentation with a friend who understands the topic - s/he will be able to give you constructive feedback about which parts come across clearly and which might need attention - that will help to build your confidence.

Often apparently small things can make a difference - in my case I find the word “statistics” hard to pronounce - I just stammer it, so I avoid it in a talk - similar small things might apply to you.

Adding to a point that Grace made: make sure that you have a glass of water nearby when you are giving your talk. If you lose the thread of your talk (which happens to everybody from time to time) you will be able to have a sip of water while you compose your thoughts - that is a completely natural action which your audience will not notice.

Good luck!

This may sound strange but I'll say it anyway - maybe you don't need to get over your anxiety in order to do a good speech. As others have said it is very natural and common to feel anxious when we do something that is outside of our comofrt zone. Anxiety sometimes tells us about what matters to us - so you want to do well and then you get anxious which we assume is negative and bad and so son but it is actually entirely natural and you might even be surprised to know that a moderate level of anxiety when you give a speech is likely to help you perform well. Too relaxed and you may not prepare nor turn up on time etc and if you struggle with feelign anxious and get really panicky that will make it hard to do well too. If you practice making room for anxiety - letting yourself feel anxious rather than fighting it or trying to control it you might just notice something interesting - that you have more attention to pay to what you are doing.

What I am describing is from an approach called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - you can read more about ACT here:
http://www.sydneyactcentre.com.au/www.sydneyactcentre.com.au/What_is_ACT.html

A good book about confidence and anxiety is “The confidence gap” by Russ Harris.

One last thing - many years ago I ran groups for people who had a lot of social / perfomance anxiety - and part of the treatment was to do speeches and be videoed and then eventually to give a speech in front of a group - the one thing I can honestly say from working with 100 -200 people in these groups was that they always rated themselves as looking much more anxious than the people watching. So someone would rate their anxiety 9/10 and the people watching either couldn't fetect any anxiety or very mild anxiety at most. Good to know hey?!?!