Fear is a freeloader
He stakes you out, he takes his time and makes friends with you. He moves in and takes up square footage in your home. He eats your food, sleeps in your spare room and never cleans up after himself. He drains you, but you don’t even realize what’s going on and you feel like the relationship is unbreakable (that he’ll always be there). You’re used to him and even comfortable with him always by your side. Everyone who sees you sees him with you even when you don’t acknowledge his presence. You provide for his needs and make sure that he has a roof over his head and a bed to sleep in. He feeds off of your willingness to keep him in your home. He affects all of your relationships and makes you feel that this lifestyle is standard.
Strike
Fear strikes at will. He can paralyze you in a moment without notice. He affects your nervous system and all the other systems simultaneously. He raises the heat taunting you and binding you to inactivity or else you’ll embarrass yourself tremendously. When the moment has passed and you can behave normally again his best work is in his ability to calm you down and draw the attention away from him and to you. As a result you go on believing you’re the problem and he continues to go undetected. You even declare it, “I hate public speaking” or “I have terrible stage fright”. All the blame rests with you.
Truth
The truth is you don’t have to keep the freeloader around. You have rights! When will you exercise your right to act solely on your own without Fear affecting how you behave? After all, it is your home! He doesn’t pay you rent or buy you groceries. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t do anything that benefits you in anyway.
The move
It’s time to kick him out. You have to confront him in all truth. Yes, you’ve been together for longer than you can remember. No, you don’t know how to behave on your own and that’s a bit scary because it’s unknown territory, but you have to do it for freedom’s sake. Don’t think about what it will be like when you confront him. What you can’t comprehend is that the anxiety and overwhelming concern about what the confrontation will be like (when you actually kick Fear out of your house) is actually the result of his influence.
Freedom
Once Fear is removed you’ll have to make a lot of adjustments to living life free on your own. You don’t remember ever living like this before. Free. Get excited! Get up and get free. Get comfortable being you. Enjoy yourself.
-Focus on freedom not fear-
It’s all about you. It’s not about the speech. FDS is here to help develop you.
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Understanding Fear: Explore how fear affects the speaker and learn the psychology behind it.
What to Do About Fear: Proven techniques to manage and reduce anxiety before speaking.
Avoiding Fear-Driven Speech©: Learn how to prevent fear from hijacking your message.
Speaking with Confidence Every Time: Master the techniques to speak confidently in any setting.
Speaking in Your Power & Authority: Identify and harness your personal strengths to speak with authority.
The Power Grab©: A unique approach to taking control of the room and leaving a lasting impact.
Transitions – The Most Important Underestimated Piece of a Presentation: Understand why seamless transitions are key to a successful presentation.
