The fear of speaking in public is one of the most widespread ever. If you too often find yourself speaking in public and want to find out how to present your ideas without fear, this article is for you. It contains the summary of the methods I use to present in public to large audiences without any anxiety.
How to eliminate the fear of public speaking
Fear of public speaking has a major problem, it steals your energy and makes you focus on possible mistakes. Your urge to overcome it shouldn’t be focused only on the fact that you find yourself for your job speaking in public, but especially for the goals you set yourself.
You see, today many news media are disappearing in favor of digital communication. Books take on less importance in favor of the great speed of online publications. A scientific book published today is already old, in the times of publication, there are a thousand updates.
Or think about any fast-moving topic. Imagine writing a Coronavirus book today. In 2-3 months it would be old.
TV also has an increasingly marginal weight in favor of Youtube and other video-based social media.
CDs have disappeared in favor of selling songs online. However, the concerts resist. Live activity always pleases and will always be relevant, it will always be fresh information.
Net of all this, public speaking is a fundamental skill and has unlimited power, it allows you to quickly convince an audience. And to do that you have to use the right strategy. Notice, despite the very strong power of online communication, webinars, e-learning, public communication holds up very well. A pandemic had to arrive in order to re-evaluate e-learning.
In fact, we observed an increase in sales in e-learning courses during the quarantine. Because it was the only mode available. On the other hand, distance teaching in schools was complex, but this is another chapter.
First and foremost you should primarily be motivated by your results. Half of the results I got, I did with public speaking, the rest with the internet.
The effectiveness of a winning public speech can amplify your network of contacts, promote sales but also adhesion to your ideas.
And think about it, whenever you are in front of an audience, the power is multiplied by the number of people you have in the classroom. And if even 2 or 3 people in the classroom adhere to your idea or invite you to take part in a work project, you may have changed your life.
Why is there fear of public speaking?
You may have wondered. Why are people afraid of public speaking and why it is so widespread. Today, compared to the past, people fortunately do not have to fear for their physical safety. Mortality is getting less and less. Life expectancy is increasing more and more.
It may seem unreal to you without all the threatening information we get from the media, but ultimately we’re fine. And no matter how many problems and limitations you may find, if you are in Italy you are on the lucky side of the world.
Italy ranks sixth in the world for life expectancy. What’s the point?
You can’t be afraid of too many things at the same time. In the past, the human mind was busy surviving every day. Our body is programmed to react to the need to survive.
If you were subjected to physical phobic stimuli, your mind would not have the time to think about the fears related to sociability.
The same is true for eating disorders. Think about this paradox.
Eating disorders are more frequent in welfare societies. Where there are no food problems, anorexia and bulimia increase.
This happens because your body is programmed to react to itself
very dangerous thymols, is programmed to fight for survival. But in the absence of physical problems and survival risks, your mind becomes crowded with social fears.
Will I be adequate?
Will the way I introduce myself be able to fascinate part of the audience?
Will I be able to convince?
Will people like me?
Underlying these questions are social fears, including that of public speaking. But I guess you agree with me that activating your “fight or flight” system in a social context is an excessive response.
When you speak in public – it is true – there is a stake. But there’s no mention of your survival.
There is no reason to be afraid to speak in public
At the basis of the fear of public speaking there is a main concept: social reputation.
If you prepare yourself well enough, if you work long enough you cannot lose reputation.
Sure you may be uncertain, but to lose your social reputation you really need to do something immoral or ethical.
Indeed, in my experience it is not so much insecurity that makes one lose credibility. But the security of saying something incredibly wrong. See this video (finished at Striscia la Notizia).
Seen? Did she seem like an insecure person?
He was actually very confident, good presence and good body language.
He also got off to a good start in motivating his employees but the metaphor was wrong. Waterloo is Napoleon’s disaster and certainly not his masterpiece. And this is what creates the comic effect. Or see this
We are undoubtedly facing a qualified professional. But what is the effect that great self-confidence has?
As you can see, being confident is not necessarily something that improves external perception.
How to relax before speaking in public
One of the strategies you can use to improve your public speaking is to apply relaxation techniques before going in public. There are very effective techniques that reduce stress mechanically.
I leave you here a list of techniques that you can apply them. To be well prepared, do them before speaking in public.
If you don’t have time or time to prepare before going out in public, do them once a day for a week before speaking in public.
Here are the simplest:
Progressive Muscle Relaxation: is based on the contraction and decontraction of muscle groups. Contract your arm to maximum power, hold for a few seconds and relax. Work with all the muscles in your body
Self-hypnosis techniques: they are based on concentration focused on a stimulus
Deep breathing. Here you will find a complete manual with 14 breathing techniques.
If you apply deep breathing you cannot experience anxiety. It is an almost physical mechanism. But you have to do it long enough and train yourself so that you no longer feel any anxiety.
If you prefer to be guided by my words, I have prepared a guided exercise. You can access the video below.
I advise you to:
adopt a comfortable posture
choose a place where no one can interrupt you
set the mobile phone to silent mode 
Try it out and let me know how it goes. If you want you can also write me on Whatsapp here.
Methods for arriving calmly in the classroom
Prepare well, repeat the didactic contents. Note that what is important are the values and contents. There is no time to be afraid, there is only time to think about the real protagonists of the classroom. It will be counterintuitive but the protagonist is not you. The protagonists are the participants.
Only by grasping this basic idea is it possible to overcome the fear of public speaking. The protagonist is not you. So why do you have to put all your attention on internal sensations?
Focus your gaze on various points of the audience and keep eye contact rhythmically with every part of the audience. Think about this and you won’t be able to think about fear at the same time.
Don’t think about your internal feelings, think about others?
If you can’t block your movements. Think of self-suggestive phrases like “I imagine my feet as roots sinking into the earth”. This will help you take a solid stand. Solid body posture not only transfers a greater sense of security into what you say. But it also changes your mind.
There is a wealth of research demonstrating a two-way relationship between body language and physiological markers.
Change your posture and your physiology will adapt.
Study a lot
If you study a lot you cannot arrive unprepared. This is the logic. More than thinking about anxiety, channel that energy to study a lot. In the end, even if the strategy were to partially succeed, people might recognize that there is a bit of stress, but they would value you for the content.
Better an insecure speaker. On the other hand, the world of knowledge is so large that you can’t know everything. Be sure
issimi but saying inaccurate things is worse than opening to doubt but with a lot of valid content.
And when I say study a lot, my suggestion is not just reading books. See many examples of public communication, they help you have the flexibility you need in a public speech.
Speaking in public means not only expressing oneself with confidence, but being able to handle any objection and criticality. And I assure you, after 10 years of work in the classroom I can assure you that everything happens. But by studying the communication of those involved in public speaking you will notice, that it takes a lot of training.
Just think, even people very used to speaking in public have great difficulties and can make mistakes, make public gaffes.
An unusual piece of advice I want to give you is the following:
you see a lot of comedy videos. Learning self-irony, having fun in the classroom is a key skill for speaking in public
study political communication. Although this is relatively easy. The rallies do not have a space for questions and do not have a cross-examination
see many episodes of TED, these speeches are structured on storytelling concepts and to be effective. You see lots of them. If you are afraid to speak in public
Gradually expose yourself to the stimulus
Knowing the classroom where you are going to talk helps you a lot.
If you have to speak in public, enter the classroom first.
See every aspect of it.
Explore it from every perspective.
Sit at various points in the audience and imagine yourself on stage.
Familiarize yourself with the classroom first.
Meet with the participants and talk to them individually. When you know your target you are less afraid and you will be more well liked. It also takes a long time to do this. Spend your time probing the needs of the audience.
Connect with others and ask yourself what they expect from your speech. There is no time for fear.
Contact a psychologist
If none of this works, it might also be interesting to address this fear with a psychologist. The psychologist is the reference figure for dealing with fear. If none of these methods don’t work, it’s probably best to get personal advice. If you need some advice you can send me a message on Whatsapp for advice, so I can point out colleagues in your area.
I have excellent news for you. I am creating a free system for dealing with fear of public speaking based on virtual reality
As you know, I work on projects approved by the European Commission on psychology and education in every sector. And every year we propose various projects to Brussels which, if approved, we can provide for free.
We just won one over fear of public speaking. I wrote it and it will involve 6 participating nations.
What’s the beauty?
if you want you can apply as an international delegate and travel to international meetings and events in the participating countries
you can access content to reduce the fear of public speaking for free
The project we won is called “Virtual Reality Simulator Against Public Speaking Phobia”.
It is based on the simulation of a virtual reality simulator to try to speak in public in a simulated context. In this way you will be able to rehearse your speech in great autonomy and you will have a guide that will suggest how to adapt your language.
You will be able to expose yourself to audiences of increasing difficulty and strengthen your way of speaking in public.
You can do all this without risking anything because you will try in virtual reality.
Now you are wondering how much will such a technological system cost?
It costs nothing
The project is funded by the European Commission and therefore is free for all participants. In fact, you can apply the system directly on your smartphone (and with an adapter).
The project will go on for two years and we have very important groups in partnership.
The first is Ascss Raquel Lombardi, a solidarity association from the island of Madeira. We have an important partnership with them.
