Let's talk about the elephant in the room-the fear of public speaking 🗣️

Feb '23 (edited) in General discussion & questions

Fear of public speaking is surprisingly common, and we all experience it from time to time. In fact, some experts estimate that it affects about 77% of the population 🤯 (I'm not alone, woohoo!).

But, if your job involves presenting to an audience, a fear of public speaking can feel like a huge, insurmountable hurdle.

The idea of standing up in front of a crowd and delivering a speech, presentation or facilitating a workshop can be daunting and nerve-wracking (I know it is for me!).

But why is it that so many people fear public speaking?

We fear being judged.

When we speak in public, we open ourselves up to the scrutiny of others, and the fear of being judged can be overwhelming. We worry that we'll make mistakes, stumble over our words, or fail to deliver our message effectively. This fear can be paralyzing, and it can prevent us from speaking up and sharing our thoughts and ideas with others.

It requires us to step out of our comfort zone.

We're often used to speaking with friends and family in casual settings, but speaking in front of a group of strangers can feel like a whole new ballgame. It can be challenging to adjust to the formalities of public speaking, such as maintaining eye contact, projecting our voice, and using body language effectively.

So how can we overcome our fear of public speaking?

Here are 7 tips (backed by research) to help you conquer your fear of public speaking:

Prepare
Practice
Challenge specific fears and beliefs you have about public speaking
Shift your perspective from “performance and evaluation” to “communication and value”
Get your body in a state of calm
Own your fear of public speaking
Hone your public speaking and facilitation skills

Read more about these in our blog post.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. How do you deal with and manage your own fear of public speaking?

Poll question: Do you have a fear of pubic speaking?

Absolutely yes!

I used to, but now I've learned tips and tricks to manage it

No, I never had this fear thankfully

View results

24 votes

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