The Leading Edge: From Fear To Fun

There’s no doubt about it. Glossophobia is still the top phobia. It ranks above arachnophobia, acrophobia, and thanatophobia. In simple English, public speaking ranks above the fear of spiders, fear of heights, and fear of death! A Chapman University Survey on American Fears found that 25.3% say they fear to speak in front of a crowd. Yet, according to Warren Buffet, this is the number one skill you need to improve your value by 50%.

So why are we so afraid to speak in public? I believe much of our fear can be directly attributed to our fear of criticism and rejection. We tell ourselves, “I’m not good enough” or “Who would want to listen to me?” If you tell yourself these things often enough you will actually believe it. Once you believe this, you reinforce your belief by saying, “I’m really not interested in public speaking.”

So, how do you overcome a fear of public speaking? There is no such thing as a “one size fits all” remedy. A lot depends on your personality type. For instance, telling someone who is a high “C” in DISC profiling, “It will be fine. You know your stuff. Just wing it!” will not work. They have a need to be perfect before they do anything. However, if you tell that to a “D” person, they will go for it.

Over the years, there have been numerous tips published by various speakers and trainers. I recall reading a long time ago that one of the easiest ways is to imagine that the audience is in their underwear. Well, I did that once before I had to give a really important presentation and my imagination ran riot and I just could not stop laughing to myself. That was positively distracting and I had to really concentrate to bring myself back to the job on hand! Having said that, I do believe it works well for others. Again, it comes back to your personality. You have to do what works best for you.

One of the most useful pieces of advice I’ve ever heard came from something that my mentor John Maxwell said when someone asked him how he manages to speak to 50,000 to 60,000 people. He said, “You don’t to speak to 50,000 people. You speak to one person. Pick a friendly face in the audience and focus on that person.” They are definitely not the ones sitting back, with their arms crossed with a look that says “This is going to be boring.” Pick someone with a happy face, sitting upright, notepad ready and who looks like they are ready and eager to learn. When you do that, it becomes a conversation, not a speech.

In my own personal journey, I have gone from death by powerpoint and clutching on to the lectern for safety to occasionally winging an entire speech. Neither is to be recommended. Death by powerpoint is incredibly boring to the audience. On the other hand, if you fully wing it, there is a very high chance that you will be equally boring AND you may end up missing the key points you wanted to tell your audience.

Learn to work with your fears and your weaknesses. For instance, I have a medical condition where I am unable to stop my hands from shaking. It’s not bad, but it is noticeable. Well, I knew from a very young age that I would never become a surgeon or a waitress! However, a shaking hand does project to the audience that I am nervous. So for a very long time, I refused to do public speaking. Now, rather than try to hide it, I just tell my audience about it. Or, if I am presenting a webinar, I make sure that I am positioned in such a way that my hands can either rest on a table or on my lap.

There is nothing that can’t be overcome. King George VI hated public speaking and was embarrassed by his stutter and yet he triumphed over it. One of the most influential orators ever to live, Winston Churchill, also had to overcome his stutter.

You see, public speaking is a skill you can learn. The more practice you have, the better you get. There are numerous places where you can learn the art of public speaking. Toastmasters and Rostrum are probably the most well-known for those who wish to learn in a club surrounding. In the world of the internet, if you Google “public speaking courses” you will find 101 options. Personally, I have found the training by the John Maxwell Team the most practical. John’s philosophy of talking to just one person as if they are the only one on the planet while others choose to engage or disengage works for me. When you layer in the teaching by Roddy Galbraith, public speaking becomes a walk in the park that you can positively have fun with.

About Patsy:
Patsy Lim is the CEO of Equipped 4 Success Pty Ltd and a certified Coach, Trainer and Speaker with the John Maxwell Team. Her passion is to see you stretch beyond your current position and to achieve more than you think is possible using the same tools that she has used to grow and to enhance her own productivity, development, and decision making skills to create a more balanced lifestyle. Her business and financial background (having qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1980), together with her entrepreneurial spirit, enables her to apply a potent blend of strong financial and accounting expertise, deep practical business experience, and entrepreneurial flair and creativity to complex business problems. As an entrepreneur, she understands the issues that an entrepreneur faces. So, unlike some accountants who only know the theory of business, Patsy has had hands-on experience of what it means to be IN business, to start a business, to grow a business and, most of all, to manage a business when times get tough!