Despite the fact that humans are characterized by being sociable animals and use language to communicate at all times, it is still very common to feel fear when speaking in public. That paralysis when on stage, the nervousness felt in the body that causes everything trembles including the voice, increased sweating, staring at a specific point in the audience, all are common symptoms of this phobia and that occurs because that is the way the human body responds to any danger.
Although this particular fear does not represent a threat to the survival of the individual, what worries is how the public will react to the speech that is wanted to give, either with a mockery or with disapproval, and therefore, the body responds primitively before something that, subjectively, can hurt; faced with this situation, which everyone will face at least once in their lives, it is worth preparing for, so below are five useful tips for losing the fear of public speaking:
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Practice makes a master
The best way to overcome a fear is to face it, so practice the speech before people with whom you have the confidence to speak (friends, family, acquaintances) and who are the ones who help to improve posture, speech, and development in a stage. The more times you practice your speech, as well as in front of larger and larger audiences, the more fluency you will gain on a stage.
Control the nerves
Note that there is no talk of eliminating nerves because they will always be there; what we must avoid is that they take control of the body and for this, it is necessary to breathe deeply several times before going on stage, this allows oxygenate the brain, calms the primitive impulses to flee in the face of danger, and clarifies the ideas.
Not memorizing the speech
One of the serious consequences of learning a speech by heart is that when you lose the thread of it due to carelessness or a situation that interrupts concentration, it is practically impossible to pick it up from where you left off, which will cause even more nervousness and activate the defense system that will paralyze the speaker. Unforeseen events are always going to happen, interruptions are always going to occur and therefore, it is much better to be clear about the general ideas that you want to capture with the speech and let connections be made between them and other ideas that are occurring at that moment; these connections are not being said to be spontaneous, applying the first tip in this article will make them flow almost unconsciously.
Break the ice at the beginning of the speech
A phrase, an anecdote, a joke, any news related to the speech, or a witty question can be very useful when you start to speak. Just as a warm-up is necessary to start a physical activity, breaking the ice with any of these resources allows you to warm up, calm your nerves and cause the audience to also relax and focus on paying attention to you.
Pay attention to the audience
This is a very important point, and perhaps the one that generates the most fear; by dividing the audience into parcels and focusing attention on each of them for a certain time, it is possible to observe if the speech is arriving, which parts of it are interesting and which parts are not; all this will serve as clues to change the speech in the future so that it is attractive in its entirety. The audience is on the edge of their seats and the experience is more comfortable.
Do you have any opinion on this topic? How else can we confront the fear of public speaking? How do you control your nerves before any event?
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