Understanding Public Speaking Anxiety
Public Speaking and the Fear of Blushing
I used to be a blusher. When I spoke, when I liked a boy, or when I made a mistake—I turned red. My blushing reached its peak as a teen and resurfaced during menopause, when frequent hot flushes sometimes collided with embarrassing situations. After menopause?...
What Sparked Your Fear of Public Speaking – and What Should You Really Learn From It?
I was working with a banker recently when I asked him a simple question:“Can you remember when your fear of public speaking began?” At first, he couldn’t think of anything specific. But toward the end of our session, a memory surfaced. He said:“I think I...
Let’s Talk About the Fear No One Talks About
Let’s be honest—public speaking freaks a lot of us out. But here’s the thing… no one really talks about it. Over the years, I’ve asked large audiences, “Raise your hand if you’ve never been nervous about public speaking.” At most, a few hands go up....
Three Personality Types and One Fear – Public Speaking!
Laid-back Luke, Perfect Penny, and Sensitive Sarah all share a fear of public speaking. In this article I have used three personas to explain how different personality types can share this common fear. None of these personas represent a real person, but they are all typical...
A Three-pronged Approach to Dealing With Public Speaking Anxiety
If previous attempts to tackle your fear of public speaking have failed, this article is for you. It explains why learning public speaking skills, practice (preferably in a safe environment), and mindset shifts can work together to help you overcome a fear of public speaking....
Why it is OK to be a nervous speaker!
The number one goal of people who do my Fear-less public speaking course is to become a confident speaker. Their number two goal is to get rid of the nerves.With a bit of work, anyone can become a confident speaker, but getting rid of...
Becoming a more confident speaker takes two things – courage and practice
Today’s blog post has a simple message. Everyone wants to become a more confident presenter. But confidence is not something that just happens. It takes courage and practice to become more confident. Confidence is the number one thing people who fear public speaking want to gain. “I want to...
Public speaking anxiety in the corporate world – and how the stories we tell ourselves can make it worse
I have a client, let’s call him Ben, who has recently started his dream job. He is a strong presenter, passionate about his work, is getting great feedback from his manager, and knows he is the right person for the job. But despite all this,...
Three stages of anxiety applied to public speaking – how you can intervene at each stage to stop the panic.
I am always looking for new ways to help people reframe their anxiety about public speaking, so I was thrilled to come across this TED talk by Lisa Damour – “3 steps of anxiety overload — and how you can take back control”. She explains the...
How to avoid the dreaded public speaking mind blank – and what to do if it happens!
Ever had the experience of going blank in front of an audience? Forgetting what you were going to say and starting to panic? Or had an ‘out of body experience’ where you could hear yourself talking (even waffling)?! You may have felt like a horrified...
Suffering From Public Speaking Anxiety? Here’s What Others Just Like You, Have to Say About their fear.
I have written this article for people who want to do something about their fear of public speaking but need encouragement to take that first step. Many people hesitate because they know that taking a course will require them to do the thing they dread....
Fear of public speaking? Your job could be the problem.
I encourage people to talk about something they know and care about when they do the first speech for one of my courses. It requires little preparation, but more importantly, it eliminates one possible source of anxiety for people – having to talk about something...
How to Survive Giving a Special Occasion Speech (And Even Enjoy It!)
Most courses I run have at least 1 or 2 people attending because they have a wedding speech looming. I also have clients who are still haunted by a ‘disastrous’ wedding speech in the past. For example, someone recently told me that he was nervous...
How a Lack of Confidence Can Stop a Good Public Speaker From Being Great
Skilled speakers exude confidence, right? Not necessarily. Many reasonably good speakers suffer from intense self-doubt, which ruins the experience of speaking for them and holds them back from becoming great speakers. If you are an anxious speaker, you have probably decided you are rubbish at...
If You Are Avoiding Public Speaking You Are Not Alone – But You Are Not Doing Yourself Any Favours.
I run courses for people with public speaking anxiety. In the pre-course questionnaire, 80% of participants say that they avoid public speaking if they possibly can. They turn down opportunities, get ‘sick’ on the day, ask others to step in for them, and even turn...