First of all, I want to explain to you why I chose this topic for the first podcast. Because this is the most popular question of every person who studies public speaking. But where does this fear come from? And what can you do to make this fear virtually non-existent? I want to tell you one important thing: this fear is absolutely natural for every person. Each of us has it, even famous and successful people.
Now I’ll give you a few examples so that you can understand that such fear is close and natural to each of us. For example, Michael Jackson. This man asked for as much light as possible to be directed at him so that he could not see people, because he had a wild fear of the public. Warren Buffett. He is one of the richest people on the planet, and in 2008 (according to Forbes magazine) he was the richest person on the planet. He said: “I was so afraid that I was vomiting. I organized my life so that I would never perform in front of anyone.”
Barbra Streisand was terrified of the stage. Once on stage, she forgot all her songs. After that, she did not perform for 27 years. Bruce Willis suffered from a stutter. His classmates used to make fun of him, which caused him to be afraid of the public. But acting classes and humor, as well as determination, got rid of his fear of performing. King George VI of Great Britain, about whom there is a wonderful movie The King Speaks, also faced stuttering. He was the father of Elizabeth II. He was also afraid of the public and had a stutter. He overcame his panic fear of the public through special exercises with his coach and mentor. And as a result, he got rid of this defect. More than half of Hollywood stars have a strong fear of the public.
As you can see, even famous people have suffered and continue to suffer from fear of the public. That is, it is quite natural for each of us. But what can we do to keep it as low as possible? What can we do to curb it? By the way, here is a very important point: we cannot overcome it completely. That is, we cannot rid ourselves of the fear of the public. But we can make this situation normal, standard for us. And so that fear does not manifest itself externally. Because it is unpleasant not only for you, but also for the people who listen to you. Fear prevents constructive dialog and discussion.
Remember this important point: the audience you will be speaking to always has a positive attitude toward you by default. Therefore, your task is to maintain this positive attitude and treat the audience in the same positive way. If you are nervous, then the tension is transmitted to the people as well. And it turns out that both you and the audience close up, and you have no dialog. And this brings neither people nor you pleasure. Therefore, you need to understand what you need to do to reduce this fear as much as possible.
There are two main fears of the public. The main fear is a natural one. The one I was talking about earlier. And it manifests itself primarily in excitement, in rapid breathing, and growing tension in the body. But this is all in moderation. Noticeable, but moderate. There is also acquired fear. It is intensified. It can be acquired based on our life experience. How we were brought up in a family. What kind of attitude our parents had towards us. Our brothers and sisters. How we were treated at school. Then at the university. Throughout our entire life experience. This experience can create even more clamps, blocks. And increase fear even more. The signs of acquired fear, i.e. intensified fear, are the same as natural fear, only they are stronger. It manifests itself in the fine motor skills of the hands and feet. In such body movements. There may be redness, trembling in the voice, hands, feet, and running eyes. This all demonstrates the panic state of the body.
What should be done to minimize this fear? There are three main points that I will now discuss with you in more detail. First of all, knowledge of public speaking techniques. You need to be prepared. You need to understand that your speech should not be an improvisation. Improvisation is the highest form of development in art or any other activity. Therefore, it is important to learn everything. You need to know the technique. This is the first point. The second is that unique knowledge and technique should accompany you all the time. Your knowledge must be deep and extensive. The third is regular public speaking. Experience is necessary for your brain to get used to this situation.
Let’s talk about technique in more detail. What I’ve just talked about… Number one. What exactly do you need to develop and what do you need to learn? As I’ve already told you, fear manifests itself in fine motor skills and non-verbal techniques. Therefore, to prevent it from being so visible, you need to develop and improve your non-verbal technique. And to control it. This is what concerns gestures. Your gestures should be clear, meaningful, moderate, and justified. You must understand what you are doing with your hands, feet, and head. Where you are going, what you are taking, and how you are behaving. Everything should be controlled by you, not by people watching you in the hall.
Next is the voice. We need to work with the voice. This is our tool that needs to be preserved. It is important to understand how it works. To strengthen it. To use it correctly. For this, there are special vocal exercises, stage speech. Vocal therapy. Special breathing exercises that allow you to make your voice stronger and more pleasant. And so that it doesn’t get stuck or break down during a performance when it is affected by psychological and physical factors related to excitement. You should remember that people will hear what you are saying. And you will also hear what you are saying during the performance. When you improvise without being prepared, it’s obvious that you don’t know the topic or are not well prepared.
Therefore, a very important topic to pay attention to is the argumentation, text structure, and topic of the upcoming speech. You also need to study the arguments and counterarguments. In general, it is constructive to build your speech first in theory and then in practice. This is what the public speaking technique is all about.