Speaking in front of a large crowd can be greatly intimidating for a number of reasons. It is completely natural to feel overwhelmed by this sort of situation, especially when you are not very experienced in the area. Nonetheless, there are always steps you can take to improve your situation, get over your fears, and massively improve your skills. You’d be surprised what some simple tweaks to your everyday routine can do, both for your self-confidence and for your public speaking abilities.
Today, we are looking at five solutions you can apply if you’re having problems with anxiety caused by public speaking.
- You don’t have to be perfect
The first and most important thing to understand is the fact that nobody’s perfect. The second thing is that you don’t have to try to be perfect either. Striving for perfection is just a lot of stress for no good reason. All you have to do is be honest with yourself, find good points to approach, and be observant of the audience so as to communicate efficiently.
- Find something you care about
The subject you approach in your speech is vital for success. Find one that you care about, that you have a passion for, and that gives you the opportunity to expand, thus covering a lot of points. You will eventually feel at ease when talking about something you naturally pay attention to because you will gradually stop being self-conscious.
- Repetition is key
Repeating makes you remember. Try various techniques to find the one that works for you. Maybe using a mirror can help you determine some of your body’s movements that you were not aware of before. It can come in handy to apply certain techniques used by actors when performing on stage. You could even take a public speaking or an acting class.
- Don’t interpret reactions
When you are nervous, you tend to see things that are not based in the objective reality in front of you, but in your fear-based thinking. For example, you might interpret someone looking at their phone as bored or uninterested, which will make you question whether you are doing a good job, when in fact the glance at their phone had nothing whatsoever to do with you or what you were speaking about. The best thing to do is to focus solely on the message you are trying to convey.
- Mentally prepare
It is extremely important to prepare in advance. This mental preparation can be unique to everyone. However, you might like to try visualizing the entire event going perfectly in as much detail as you possibly can. Imagine how it will feel before, during, and after you make the speech. When you do this process, try to notice the not-so-positive aspects, or feelings that might come up and change them, in your mind’s eye, into positive scenarios.
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