Conquering Public Speaking Anxiety
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Nothing gives you more confidence than knowing that you know your material well and that you can answer any question thrown at you. Part of feeling the anxiety is the fear that you will not be able to say anything in front. Scenarios such as forgetting one’s lines, choking at the middle of a speech or just plain not being able to answer the question in an open forum will probably be entering the mind. Anxiety results from these thoughts.
Study everything about the topic that you are going to talk about. Make sure that you have the right statistics and information.
Make the mirror your audience
Practicing in front of the mirror may seem stupid but it can be a great way to conquer your public speaking anxiety. Mirrors will reflect how you look and how your facial expressions look like when doing the speech. This will help you in schooling your features and in making your expressions appear confident and in control.
Do a dry run
If you can manage it, doing a dry run in the place where you are going to make your speech is a great way to get used to the idea of speaking in public. Knowing that you have already done it even in a dry run will help ease the discomfort and anxiety on stage. If practicing on stage is impossible, you can say your lines at home. If you are using power point presentations and other visuals, it is also good to do dry run using these visuals so that you can determine the timing involved for each.
You can also do a dry run in front of people you are close with. This will help ease the anxiety that you may be feeling about your public speaking engagement as you are already in a way able to speak in public even with your family and friends as the audience. In addition, they can also help you make the speech better by giving comments and suggestions. In fact, through their help, you can even improve on your presentation more.
Conquering Public Speaking Anxiety
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