You’ve spent countless hours putting together the most ideal speech – fascinating, lively, enjoyable and attention grabbing — and the moment you get near a stage or podium you start to fall apart! Anxiety of public speaking is all too common amongst the professional and social arenas and tackling your nerves may seem an inconceivable objective. There are however great ideas and strategies included with training programs that can really assist and getting over the fear of public speaking can be attained!

Understanding the fear of public speaking

The initial step in beating any fear is to try to be aware of what causes our reactions to things such as public speaking, flying, spiders plus all sorts of other apparently irrational fears. Fear of public speaking is just one of a group of anxiety associated illnesses referred to as social phobia but it is probably the one that affects lots of people. The way our bodies respond to these situations stems from signals in the mind, triggering physical symptoms including:

Dry mouth
Excessive sweating
Palpitations.
Blushing.
Trembling.

In more severe cases, a full-on anxiety attack can happen, where an overwhelming feeling of anxiety takes over.

Controlling your nerves

The main point that you must remember is that you are not alone if you suffer from a legitimate fear of public speaking. There are very few of us who feel comfortable about getting up on a stage or speaking before a group of people, but the good news is that with an efficient public speaking training course, you can discover to use your nerves in a positive way. Breathing and meditation are large factors in coping with your anxiety about public speaking, and learning how to use your nerves to your advantage can often be the initial step in overcoming the anxiety.

Preparation and practice

Spending time getting ready for a public speaking event is, obviously, important and can go a very long way to help if you suffer from the dreadful fear of public speaking. This does not mean that you have to devote many hours practicing your speech in front of a mirror. After all, there may be times when you are asked to make a last minute presentation or your audience will be asking questions afterwards. Learning to defeat your anxiety and lose your fear of public speaking completely involves having the ability to stand in front of a group of people without the advantage of practicing beforehand. Your preparation for this kind of situation is not, therefore, writing screeds of notes, it’s more an issue of understanding how to prepare yourself in your mind!

Fear of public speaking is a widely acknowledged problem, and there are numerous sources of help and training available. A great public speaking training course should address not only the basics concerns over nerves and anxiousness, but will examine the factors behind the worry, and assist you with your individual needs.