Can fear of public
speaking actually make you a better speaker?
By Larry Tracy
Few elements of
modern life can be so detrimental for one's ability for self-improvement and success than
Fear of Public Speaking. Surveys indicate, however, that this is the number
one source of apprehension in the United States. The first survey to point this out
appeared in the October 7, 1973 issue of the Sunday Times of London. The findings have
been verified by countless other surveys and studies in subsequent years.
The Times survey
found that 41% of the 3000 respondents listed "fear of public speaking" as their
number one fear, while 19% listed "death."
For the businessperson, either in a small company or a
large corporation, the ability to speak coherently and persuasively is a vital skill, but
this "fear of speaking" holds many otherwise competent people back.
This can be a disaster for the sales person,
but it need not be so. Speaking skills are easy to acquire once the fear is controlled.
Note that I said "controlled," not overcome.
In the hundreds of executive workshops I have conducted, I have
found a high percentage of intelligent people apprehensive at the prospect of giving a
presentation.
Is this fear unique to modern life? Probably not.
Pericles, the great orator and statesman of ancient Greece, observed about 2500 years ago
that
"Those who can think,
but cannot express what they think, place themselves at the level of those who cannot
think."
One of the fundamental reasons smart people cannot
express what they think is the paralyzing fear of speaking in public.
If you suffer from that anxiety, rest assured you are in
the main stream of the American public. In this article, I'll provide advice on how to
make this nervousness work to your advantage so that you actually become a better public
speaker because of your fear.
Don't Kill the Butterflies
Among the physical manifestations of nervousness can be a
queasiness frequently labeled "butterflies in the stomach." Someone in the field
of speech training once said you didn't want to kill the butterflies; instead, get them
flying in formation.
I certainly agree with the basic premise of controlling,
not eliminating, nervousness. I find it disappointing when colleagues and competitors in
the field of presentation skills training promise that if you buy their book or attend
their workshop, you will never again fear speaking in public.
That is absolute rubbish. It causes people to make
overcoming "Fear of speaking" their main objective. Their objective should be to
frame and deliver their message in such a way that they persuade their audience to adopt
the point of view they are advocating.
I have seen many nervous speakers do an excellent job
because they believed in their message, and I have seen speakers so calm it seemed rigor
mortis had set in. Their calmness made them appear indifferent, and they bombed.
You want to be somewhat nervous. It releases the
adrenaline that gets you "pumped," that shows passion and enthusiasm. It is the
same as the pre-game jitters of athletes which allows them to convert nervousness to
energy.
Presenters must make the same conversion into that
positive energy which demonstrates the presenter's belief in his or her message.
A Trio of Fears and Their
Antidotes
1. Fear of the Unknown
As human beings, we tend to be more afraid of what we
don't know. For presenters, the audience is the great unknown. You will wonder: "What
do they expect of me? Do they know much more about the subject than I do, etc.?" You
will have the tendency to magnify the knowledge of the audience at the expense of your own
knowledge.
Antidote:
Convert unknown to known. The more information you gather
on the audience and the more intensive your practice session, the more the unknown will be
converted to known.
Guard against procrastination, however, because we tend to
accomplish what is in our comfort zone, and put off more difficult tasks, such as
systematic audience intelligence collection and rigorous practice. Bite the bullet, and
you will have those fears of the unknown dramatically reduced.
2. Fear of Forgetting
When told they will have to make a presentation, most
people are consumed by the fear their mind will go blank, and they will stand in front of
the audience without the slightest idea of what they are to say.
They play it safe, write out their presentation, and read
it verbatim to the audience. This guarantees failure. People in an audience want to listen
to a speaker who is connecting with them, and is looking at them, not at a script.
Antidote:
If you have practiced diligently, even a temporary
"power outage" of your brain can be handled.
The solution I have always used is what I call the
two-card tango. Place a startling statistic or interesting fact that you have had to
delete for reasons of time on a 3x5 card.
On the second card, place a bullet outline of the main
points of your presentation. If convenient, place these cards in your pocket or on the
lectern.
When the "My mind has gone blank" syndrome sets
in, merely take both cards and say to the audience "Let me digress for a moment and
share with you...." then relate the information on the first card. If you have
prepared well, your mind will kick back in, and you can continue where you left off.
If it does not, slide the second card to the front, and
look at the bullet points. Select one point and continue the presentation. Your audience
will be none the wiser.
Although I always advocate honesty with your audience, I
do not recommend that you say "I forgot what I was going to say." You may get
temporary sympathy, but audience members will wonder why they are sitting there if the
issue is not important enough for the speaker to remember what he or she was saying.
3. Fear of Unanticipated Questions.
Many people are not worried about making a presentation,
because they are "on their turf." These same people, however, are terrified at
the prospect of answering questions, believing they will be embarrassed by not being able
to answer questions.
Antidote:
Seek to anticipate the questions. If you have acquired
accurate "intelligence" on the audience's needs, concerns and problems, then you
should be able to preempt certain questions in your presentation, anticipate others, and
develop succinct answers to others.
No one expects you to be able to answer every question,
but they do expect you to be honest. Don't give a false answer to avoid the embarrassment
of saying: "I don't know." That honest phrase, followed by the words "but
I'll get that information for you," must be in every presenter's vocabulary.
When you make the commitment to get the information,
remember that you have a moral obligation to do just that for the questioner and perhaps
the entire audience.
Apply these antidotes, and you'll find that the "fear
of speaking" will be the catalyst to make you a better speaker.
This article is excerpted from Larry Tracy's book, The Shortcut to Persuasive Presentations. Larry, a retired Army
colonel, was called "an extraordinarily effective speaker" by President Ronald
Reagan. He has been cited in numerous publications as one of the top presentation skills
trainers in the US. His website is at top of Google for "persuasive presentations.
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