Understanding Public Speaking Anxiety
Six Tips to Help You Get the Most From Your Public Speaking Course
So, you have finally decided to do something about your public speaking anxiety and signed up for a course. Congratulations – you have taken a great first step! As a public speaking coach, I see so many people get amazing results – but not everyone...
Seven things I have learned from seven years of coaching public speaking
I have been coaching young people and adults in public speaking for seven years – initially in a school as a volunteer – and now with adults as a paid coach. When I started, I experienced imposter syndrome. I was a good public speaker and...
Why a ‘Service Mindset’ Will make You a Better Public Speaker – And a Less Nervous One!
Public speaking is a performance, but it is not the same as acting. There are two main differences. The first is fairly obvious – as an actor, you are being someone else, but as a public speaker, ideally you are being yourself. Many people struggle with...
Your Fear of Public Speaking is Not the Problem – It is Your Fear of the Fear
“Overcome”, “conquer”, “kill”, “get over”, and “cure the fear of public speaking” are all terms that people google. I know – I have done the keyword research! If you are anxious about public speaking, you probably see your anxiety as a big problem. You worry...
Why Reading Your Speech is Like Riding a Bike with Training Wheels
Remember learning to ride a bike? You probably started with training wheels. What happened when your parents removed the training wheels? Perhaps you went, wobble, wobble, wobble, splat. The next time the wobble lasted a little longer before the splat, and then maybe by the...
What Type of Person Fears Public Speaking?
The short answer is most people! But some people have extra high levels of anxiety about public speaking. This article explores how different personality types or attributes can affect people’s anxiety levels. The typical demographic profile for people who take the Fear-less public speaking course...
Experiencing ‘Zoom Panic’? You Are Not Alone.
You have heard of ‘Zoom fatigue’ – the experience of feeling exhausted from being online all day. But have you experienced ‘Zoom panic’? I have had a spate of recent calls from people who have had a bad experience presenting online. Some of them tell...
Five triggers for public speaking anxiety – and one solution
Surveys show that most people are nervous about public speaking and around 10% of people have an extreme fear. Glossophobia is the term used to describe persistent and excessive anxiety about public speaking. I have written before about why people fear public speaking. It is primarily a...
How to share something personal with an audience without oversharing! Seven questions that will help if you are unsure
On the first night of my public speaking course, I tell people the story of my epic public speaking fail. You can read all about it on my Medium site. The short version is that I had a panic attack in front of the senior...
Have you had an epic public speaking fail? Here is how to stop berating yourself and practice self-compassion instead.
Many of my clients come to me after an epic and humiliating public speaking fail – or a series of more minor fails. I spend the first half of the course explaining the reasons why we are hypercritical of ourselves and why they have probably...
Do you have employees hiding a fear of public speaking?
This email arrived in my inbox today, “Hi, I am terrified about public speaking and the panic attacks that come with it! I go to great lengths to avoid these situations, and it’s having an impact on my life. Is this the sort of course that...
Nervous About Public Speaking? Self-Talk That Actually Helps
You are a bundle of nerves. You have an important presentation to give. You have been dreading it for days. You barely slept last night, and you can feel your heart pounding and the panic rising. You look in the mirror, smile, and repeat three...
Preparing for a Presentation — Are You a Procrastinator or a Perfectionist?
Few people can engage an audience without preparing and practicing. Even presenters who look like they are speaking ‘off the cuff’, have usually prepared thoroughly— or have presented the same material many times previously. When I first started as a public speaking coach, I stressed...
Fight, flight, or freeze response to fear of public speaking
In a previous article I talked about how a fear of public speaking could have an evolutionary basis. The fight, flight or freeze response that many people experience is a primitive response to danger. Although the danger is clearly not life-threatening, our bodies respond as...
Feel the fear (of public speaking) and do it anyway!
Susan Jeffers’ seminal self-help book “Feel the Fear and do it Anyway” was first published in 1987 . Its messages are just as relevant today and are highly applicable to fear of public speaking. According to a website dedicated to Susan’s work, she identified five...