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R.I.P. Public Speaking Fears! – Part 1

Written by Bernie

Bernie Frazier, SPHR is the Founder and President of CAREERCompass, LLC, a speaking and career coaching firm in St. Louis, MO. She also spent almost 25 years recruiting talent to six organizations across four industries and led the talent acquisition function for four of those organizations, including one global team.

For years I’ve heard public speaking is one of the top fears of adults – right up there with death, sickness, and divorce. Yikes! That’s one heckuva list.

For many professionals, the challenge is in order to strengthen for personal brand and advance your career, you must speak in front of groups.

So, how do you do this if the mere thought of speaking in front of others leaves your mouth dry, your palms sweaty, and your knees knocking?

Below and in my next two posts, I’m going to share 12 tips to help you push past your fears so you can wow your audiences:

  1. Being nervous is completely normal. I have never interacted with a professional speaker, myself included, who doesn’t have at least a few butterflies in their stomach prior to gracing the stage. So, if you find yourself jittery before speaking, please know you have LOTS of company.
  2. Don’t expect perfection. If you think about it, in life, how many times have you ever experienced something operating without one, single flaw? Probably very, very few, if any times. So, if your talk isn’t perfect, don’t beat yourself up and convince yourself that you can’t speak. Remember, you aren’t the judge of whether your talk was good; your audience is. If they enjoyed it, it was great.
  3. Do your homework. No matter how familiar you are with your subject matter and audience, it’s always a good practice to do research. Make sure you know the issues, the lingo, the priorities, and anything else which may help you connect your points with your audience to bring about the desired results.
  4. Practice, practice, practice. I have one keynote that I have delivered over 25 times. Yet, I still walk through my talk at least three times before delivering it. The more you practice what you want to say, the more you’ll know it and can therefore focus your efforts on other aspects of your talk to make it successful and memorable.

In my next post, I’ll share four more insights that can significantly take the pressure off when you’re in the midst of speaking.

Don’t miss it!

Until next time….