Overcoming Glossophobia: Tips for Public Speaking Success

The fear of public speaking is also known as glossophobia. It’s considered one of the most common phobias, affecting around 75% of people. 

People fear public speaking for a number of reasons (this list is not all inclusive):

• Fear of rejection
  • Being embarrassed or rejected triggers anxiety and nervousness 
• Unpredictability
  • Not knowing how the audience will respond or how well you’ll be able to share your message elevates the anxiety and nervousness
• Prior experiences
  • Bad speaking experiences not properly processed afterward leads to a increased fear of repeating the experience 
• Social anxiety disorder
  • Some people experience social anxiety disorder which causes anxious or fearful feelings in even normal situations involving others
    • Presenting heightens that preexisting anxiety 

Purposefully spending some time on the following exercises will help disengage your fear of when public speaking:

• Practice
  • repeat the same presentation over and over, without being judgmental about the result, simply work to become comfortable with expressing the message
• Know your topic
  • Be or become so familiar with the details of your topic that you don’t need notes to remind you
• Focus on your material, not the audience
  • You set the tone for your presentation, not your audience
  • Direct your energy toward your subject and your audience will be excited about the subject with you
• Visualize your success
  • Always think to yourself, “watch this!” when getting ready to present your topic
• Challenge specific worries
  • Most concerns about your presentation have no merit, no power over you
• Engage the audience with questions
  • Ask the questions the audience may have about your topic and provide them with the answers, this will keep your audience engaged and keep things from becoming awkward

Some experts will suggest medication for your significant distress over public speaking. I say give it some devoted concentration on the ideas above and Contact me to apply the FDS Dojo Method to fighting fear. I’ll help you identify your specific issues and help you develop a game plan for your situation.

Focus on Freedom not fear