5 Tips to Overcome the fear of Public Speaking
Tip 1
Neuroscience has proved that physiologically we don't know the difference between being Nervous and Excited. So the next time you're feeling nervous before speaking to a group of people say out loud and repeat "I'm excited, I'm excited...". Your subconscious is always listening and it will reframe your thinking in a positive way.
Tip 2
Your mind does not know the difference between Reality and Imagination. So beforehand, practice, practice, practice. Do your talk out loud, to yourself, to your family. Mentally rehearse and visualise giving the speech. How you're going to feel. Run through possible obstacles and how you will deal with them. You can never, ever over prepare! By the time you actually do the speach for REAL, you're mind thinks you've already done it plenty of times. And If your mind believes that you've done it before many times, you're going to be more relaxed.
Tip 3
The first few minutes of speaking in front of people are the worse, for the majority of people. Techniques to help include scrunching your toes in you shoes to ground yourself, ask the audience a question, do a trick, tell a story that you know really well, tell a joke. Anything to allow the cortisol and adrenaline to subside and your body to relax, breath and think clearly (allow Parasympathetic Nervous System to take over)
Tip 4
Our minds are hardwired to keep us safe so when we are about step out of our comfort zone, such as public speaking, the Inner critic pipes up: "you're not good enough", "who are you kidding, you'll make a fool of yourself" etc. A quick fix, to take the power away from the voice is to acknowledge and accept the thought: "I know you're trying to keep me safe. Thank you for the warning". Breath and respond to warning with something like "I've prepared well and will do my best". Decompression!
Tip 5
The truth is though, if you're at 'the terrified' end of the spectrum when it comes Public Speaking you have to do the work on replacing the broken software that's keeping you in this extremely uncomfortable place. You need to upgrade your belief systems, which will change you thinking, how you feel and ultimately how you perform. And that's what the Speak Freely - Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking workshop does. Could this be the workshop that finally unlocks your potential? Details below