Do you fear public speaking?
Do you fear public speaking? 🙋🏻♂️🙋🏽♀️🙋♂️🙋🏻🙋🏼♀️
85% of people report being nervous about speaking in public.
Ever since primary school, I’ve been terrified of public speaking.
I would try and find ways to avoid any form of public speaking including a meeting with just 3 people!
Whether it is fear of public speaking or being scared of heights, fear stops us from growing.
So if you are looking to face your fear of public speaking, whether you are in a meeting or speaking to millions on TV, here are 3 tidbits which you can use:
1. Before the Interview
Practising beforehand is incredibly important, find a routine that what works for you. Accept the nerves and embrace the fear. Waiting to go live on breakfast TV, my anxiety is going through the roof, but it also means that I know that I care about the next moment. Remind yourself WHY you are doing this and who you are serving.
2. During the interview
It goes without saying that practising your ability to express yourself clearly, concisely and confidently is crucial. Good posture, using appropriate gestures and maintaining eye contact with the interviewer or your audience.
According to Albert Mehrabian, a researcher of body language, who first broke down the components of a face-to-face conversation. He found that communication is 55% non-verbal (body language), 38% vocal, and 7% words (content).
When it comes to the content, KYA! Know Your Audience in order to connect with them because what you say won’t stick if you don’t know how to make it stick. If you are talking to a bunch of experts, the lingo is fine, but if your audience doesn’t understand the lingo, you have to find ways to make the message resonate with them.
3. After the interview
Over time start to work on your game! I’m not a fan of reviewing my footage, but if you want to improve you have to. Be aware of your filler words like ums, your tone of voice and your body language, especially if you are presenting live or on TV. If you are on radio or podcasts, voice becomes the important tool.
Debrief with your team and understand what went well and what didn’t go so well, so you can work on levelling up your game. Remember, developing these skills takes practice and consistent tiny transformations – it can’t be a once off. Look for opportunities to speak publicly, participate in mock interviews and consider media training workshops and have a chat with your personal board of directors about the opportunities available to work on developing these skills.
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Thought Provoking Quotes on this week’s topic
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.
Malala Yousafzai
I raise up my voice — not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.
Further resources
https://tfts.nofreakingspeaking.com/