Public Speaking Anxiety Tips

Glossophobia, i.e. the fear of public speaking, haunts scores of people across the globe, and it would be least surprising if you are one of them. The fact that you have to stand in front of a group of people and talk about something may seem pretty easy task, unless you find yourself in the spotlight with a number of eyes staring at you. The first thing that's likely to come to your mind would be 'am I looking all right', followed by 'what do I do next', followed by 'what will they think if....' and so on. All these things happen in the flash of a second, and the very next moment you realize that your palms have become sweaty and you experience butterflies in your stomach. Such is the condition that you just feel like dashing off the stage, away from all the gazes, right then. That's what a public speaking anxiety attack is all about. If you are familiar with all this, and don't want to experience it again, then the tips and tricks given below will help you overcome fear of public speaking the next time you step on stage.

Tips and Tricks

The foremost thing that you need to keep in mind is that 'nervousness doesn't show' unless you make it obvious. Sweaty palms, butterflies in the stomach and other such anxiety symptoms are only felt by you, they don't show on your body. So you can just relax your mind and body, instead of worrying about what will people think if they realize that you are nervous. Given below are some public speaking tips and tricks which will help you make sure that you keep all these anxiety symptoms at bay, and make your presentation a smooth sail.

• Make yourself comfortable with the surroundings - the place wherein you will do the presentation as well as the people in front of whom you will be doing it. Going to the venue a bit early will help you get used to the setting and mingle with the audience. That will ease your nervousness to a significant extent.
• Being prepared well in advance is a definite advantage as last minute preparations do nothing good, but add to your nervousness. The fear that you may make some mistake or forget something is the prime cause of public speaking fear. Practicing what you will be saying and doing on the stage beforehand will eliminate all such worries.
• One of the important public speaking techniques is to resort to various relaxation tips to keep yourself relaxed. When we become nervous, our breathing tends to become shallow, and this in turn adds to the anxiety symptoms. It is very important to breathe properly. If you feel that things are going out of hand, just take a pause for a second or two, take a deep breath and continue.
• When you start talking, you will come across a number of faces in the audience - some will remind you of your ruthless school teacher while others would be pretty friendly. Look out for such friendly faces, and make eye contact with them. This will add to your confidence by eliminating your doubt that the people sitting in front of you are ruthless people out to catch you on your slightest mistake.
• Only speak on topics in which you have expertise, trying to get into something which you don't know will only make you vulnerable to goof-ups. As we said earlier, the audience doesn't know that you are nervous - it is something that you and only you feel. Therefore, the onus is on you to be confident and that can only be done when you have expertise in what you are talking.

In order to deal with public speaking anxiety, tips given above will surely be of great help for you but at the same time you need to understand that a bit of anxiety will always be there and the onus will be on you to turn it into positive energy. Lastly, it will be your experience which will act as the best healing method for your anxiety of public speaking. In the beginning you may experience sweaty palms and butterflies in the stomach, but with time you will become an expert orator - with no fear of public speaking whatsoever.