Public speaking is a fear which most people have. Speaking in front of a people can make us anxious, sweaty and nauseous.
We’ll do anything to avoid it, including sacrificing success and personal growth.
But it’s a wonderful skill to have, being able to speak publicly is a great achievement and opens up many new opportunities.
So, here are strategies that can mitigate this fear and help reduce your fear of public speaking.
Strategies to reduce your fear of public speaking
Use these strategies to help you reduce the intensity of your fear of public speaking. A little preparation can go a long way to instill in you the right mindset to achieve your goals.
#1. Know your stuff and practice, then practice some more
The more you know your material the more confident you’ll be. If you only vaguely know what you’re presenting it will be obvious to the audience.
Be confident that you know what you’re talking about. If you have time, learn the material thoroughly, and be ready for interruptions, distractions, and questions.
Also, do a trial run to test your presentation: check your technology works, check the presentation flows and ensure it’s interesting enough to maintain your audience’s attention. Be prepared to make mistakes on the way, mistakes are essential learning opportunities.
#2. Consider what the worst possible outcome could be
When we anticipate a situation which makes us anxious we have an intense fear of failure. Hence, we tend to catastrophise. This is imagining the worst possible outcome. For example, your technology not working, boring the audience or them even laughing at you.
This catastrophising is destructive to our confidence, it increases the chance of us failing, when left to fester.
Be practical, analytical and realistic with your concerns. Stop catastrophising before it becomes a problem and increases your fear of public speaking.
This is why we can intentionally identify the worst outcome to analyse the probability of it happening and the real impact it would have. Such as: are they likely to laugh, point and criticise you? No, is there a chance you’ll see some people yawning? Yes, is it the end of the world? No.
#3. Consider the potential benefits of public speaking
On a sheet of paper write down all the possible benefits of speaking in public. Let your imagination go wild, be creative and have fun.
Remember, taking yourself out of your comfort zone and facing your fears is how we grow and become better people. To get you started, here are potential benefits you may gain from public speaking:
- Gaining respect and admiration from your peers and family.
- Building up your resilience of speaking in public.
- Opening up new opportunities in your career and private life.
- Overcoming a lifelong fear of public speaking.
- Realising you enjoy public speaking, and find a new passion.
#4. Take notice of your inner voice
The fear of failure is amplified by the barrage of negative self-talk that goes on in your head. That little voice that keeps telling you you’ll be laughed at, you don’t know your stuff, you’re not properly prepared.
Negative self-talk can destroy our confidence and enthusiasm. To reduce our fear of failure before the presentation identify all the negative self-talk and use these strategies to reduce its power over you:
- Exchange it – Replace the negative talk with positive talk. Instead of ‘I can’t do it’, tell yourself, ‘I can do it’.
- Test it – Use past accomplishments and successes to challenge the negative self-talk. If you believe you can’t talk in front of people think of situations you did, when it went well or you took away some positives. This could include speaking in front of friends or family at a social event.
- Analyse it – Is the negative self-talk accurate? If you fear that you’ll lose your job if you perform poorly, is this actually the case, or extremely unlikely?
#5. Visualise everything going well to build motivation
We tend to put off or procrastinate doing things we fear or feel anxious about. Instead of prepping for that presentation, we find any excuse to avoid it.
This then creates a cycle of anxiety because the event draws nearer and you’re not prepared, and the closer the event gets the worse you feel.
Don’t put yourself in this position, of increasing your fear of failure through a lack of preparation. Instead motivate yourself by imagining a positive outcome.
Be creative and positive to motivate yourself. This will encourage you to take action, rather than ruminating about it going badly, and getting nothing done.
#6. Be realistic about your abilities when public speaking
To be proficient at something we must be well practised. If you’d never driven a car, would it be realistic for you to get into a car and drive like you’d been driving for decades.
It doesn’t just happen, to be competent at any skill requires learning and practice. If you did your first presentation and it didn’t go well, don’t beat yourself up.
Don’t expect a great performance without practice, it may take a while but eventually you’ll be a competent public speaker. Be realistic and remind yourself that it takes time to be a good public speaker.
#7. Identify what your primary fear of public speaking is
When you imagine yourself speaking in public, what is your worst fear?
If for example you’re giving a speech at a wedding, is your fear that the audience won’t find your speech funny, amusing or emotionally evoking.
By identifying exactly what your fear is, you can tackle it head on. For the above example you could try your material on a friend to ensure it achieves what you want.
If the main fear is speaking in front of people, then you can practice speaking in front of smaller groups. Then by the time of the wedding you’ll be in a better position to succeed.
#8. Recognise that perfection is an unachievable goal
A perfectionist is someone who sets very high standards for themselves and others. With the expectation that everything they do should be flawless.
However, perfection is unattainable, the mere effort to achieve it is impractical and harmful. Be open to the fact that any presentation won’t be perfect, however much effort you’ve put in, there will always be flaws.
The flaws will be recognised by you but likely missed by the audience, other people aren’t as concerned with perfection as you.
#9. Understand the importance of failure and making mistakes
Making mistakes is part of everyday life, we make mistakes all of the time, often they’re little mistakes like forgetting to lock the front door or tripping over something.
Accept that they’re essential to everything we do, that they’re unavoidable. Not only are they unavoidable but they’re essential for personal development. Without mistakes we couldn’t learn anything new.
If you’re new to public speaking you may have an intense fear of failing at it, but without failing numerous times you cannot become competent.
When celebrity comedians test new material, they expect it to fail. This failure then gives them the material which they use in their tour. Failure is essential, it means we’re prepared and ready to succeed when it really matters.
#10. Embrace and recognise the importance of what you’re presenting
You’re speaking in public for a reason, trying to get your view across and convince the audience that you know what you’re talking about. If you believe in what you’re presenting it makes it easier to recognise the value to the audience.
However, if the material is something you don’t believe in but are required to present then recognise that it has value. It could be an important learning opportunity for colleagues, or it may be a box ticking exercise for the company. Whatever the reason, it will have value.
Remember, believe in the material, even if you have to fool yourself into believing it, passion and resolve will come across to an audience. If you don’t believe it, they won’t either.
#11. Have a growth mindset to achieve almost anything
We often have tasks that need completing, tasks which cause us to fear the consequences. Public speaking is one of those tasks, if we had no fear of failure, we would have no fear of public speaking.
Avoiding public speaking will have consequences. Which can include a lifelong phobia, a lack of career progression or losing your job.
To avoid this scenario a growth mindset is key. It involves seeing the good in every challenge, including the potential benefits to you. Even taking potential negative consequences and giving them a positive spin.
A growth mindset enables you to take criticism in your stride and use it as a tool for growth. But if you struggle with criticism there are strategies to deal with it.
Having a growth mindset is about embracing and learning from something you fear. A growth mindset will make you a better version of yourself. A better option than continuing to have the same fears and remain stagnant as a person.
#12. Seek professional help to overcome the fear of public speaking
If none of these suggestions help you to reduce your fear of failure when public speaking, then seek professional help.
There are counsellors or therapists you can talk to, and discuss your concerns. They’ll provide you with strategies and support to help you with your fears. There are professionals who deal with the fear of public speaking.
If you’re not comfortable speaking to a professional, then speak to a trusted colleague, friend or family member.
Alternatively, find a mentor or someone who has overcome their fear of public speaking. Someone to help you identify useful strategies or support you through it.
In conclusion…
With these strategies you’ll be on the right path to reduce your fear of public speaking. Adapt each strategy to best fit your circumstances and goals.
To summarise, know your stuff and practice your presentation to have a deep understanding of it. If you don’t know your material, it will be obvious to the audience. Consider what the worst possible outcome would be, this is useful to identify the likeliness and the impact on you.
Consider all the potential benefits of the presentation, which is useful for motivation. In contrast take notice of your negative self-talk and test its reliability, often the negative voice in your head is wrong.
Visualise everything going well, this is another great tool to help motivate you. Ideal for situations when you don’t feel confident. Also be realistic about your abilities when public speaking, it’s fine to admit that you’re not great at everything.
Identify what your main fear of public speaking is, the thing you fear happening the most. This empowers you to work toward ensuring it doesn’t happen.
We then went on to look at how perfection is an unachievable goal and can be harmful. Hence, the importance of failure and making mistakes for progress and personal development.
Then we looked at how embracing and identifying the importance of what you’re presenting helps the audience to believe in your performance and accept that you’re genuine. Also, the importance of having a growth mindset was discussed. With this growth mindset we can exchange the fear of failure with one of adventure, challenge and problem.
Finally…
If all else fails and you find that the strategies have not helped reduce your fear of public speaking, you can seek professional help. This can be done at any time and in combination with the other strategies.
The fear of failure can apply to any part of our life, when we’re required to do something out of our comfort zone, which makes us feel uncomfortable. These strategies will help you in your endeavour to feel more at ease when public speaking. You can do it, before you know it public speaking will be a new skill which provides you with limitless opportunities.