Do You Fear Public Speaking?

If you fear public speaking, sure things may get better after you have done a number of speeches but if you want to actually transform yourself and your life so that the excessive nerves don’t come there are some tips on public speaking below.

It is the same in any area of life, there is nothing extra special about the feelings that come from thinking about standing in front of people speaking and that public speaking anxiety.

Yes it is true that if you know what you are speaking about and have practiced and prepared things will no doubt be easier but if you fear public speaking, take the issue you have and use it to transcend and transform who you are currently.

One way you could approach this is through self-hypnosis or affirmations.  This is a reprogramming of your ideas and beliefs about yourself and others; changing the instructions to yourself about how to feel when you speak in front of others.

This may work but it doesn’t change ‘you’. To me it is like papering over cracks in the wall. To fill in the cracks and smooth them over, so to speak, there needs to be a change in the way you think about yourself, others and life.

Firstly

Firstly on a physical level place your feeling attention just below your belly button and allow breathing to come from there.  Don’t breathe from there but just let breath happen while you feel fully conscious of that area of your body.  This is where the power is, this is where we are centred and grounded.  Martial artists know this and spend hours meditating and learning to ‘be’ from this spot.

Whenever you feel out of your depth and anxious, at any stage of life, immediately go back to ‘being’ there.  Don’t try and push the feelings away or ignore them, they will get bigger.  Instead just let them be there and acknowledge them.  Talk to them, I don’t care just be there with them without resistance.

The opposite to this is to be in your head and then the mind will run amok and you will feel all out of control. When you are in your body and conscious of your centre and of breath the mind disengages.

Secondly

Secondly, speak from this place. Let the breath push the words up your centre and out your mouth.  Enjoy feeling the words on your tongue and lips.  Speak slowly enough that you can feel them and notice how good the words feel on your tongue and lips. Again you will be conscious of your body and the mind disengages.  When you do this you will sound controlled, authoritative, calm and powerful.

Thirdly

Thirdly, stand with both feet firmly on the floor.  Don’t stand with all your weight on one foot or lean against anything.

Be in your body and let your body be deeply connected to the floor.

When you do these things, at at any time of your life, you are in your own reality. Your reality is yours so embrace it and cherish it.  Other people can’t get inside your reality, you let them in.

I don’t know if that makes sense but if you fear public speaking it can be overcome when you become more conscious of what is going on.