HOW TO OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING five tips to manage anxiety

Most speakers will suffer from tension or fear of public speaking at some stage in their career. This might range from having pre-event "jitters" through a sense of foreboding to an outright panic attack. The latter is very rare.

But regardless of the scale of your trepidation about public speaking there are things that you can do to manage the situation. These will help. They will certainly get you speaking with the confidence you need to be effective.

Five Ways to manage your anxiety

1) Be Prepared. Most of your concerns about a speech can be eased with preparation. Being fully prepared, rehearsed and familiar with your subject is the perfect tonic for nagging worries and self-doubts.

2) Look at the audience. There are some speakers whose nerves fray at the very beginning of their speech. If you are one of them, you are in the majority. This is a normal behaviour. When it happens take a moment to look out into the audience. Find a friendly face. Acknowledge them and find another friendly face. It helps.

3) Meet your audience. If you have the chance to meet your audience before you speak then you should. Try to meet up for coffee during one of the intervals. Or mingle with the audience before they come into the main hall. When you have actually met your audience it's amazing how much easier it is to then speak to them. Perhaps it shouldn't be that amazing since your knowledge of an audience is a prerequisite for an effective speech!

4) Breathe. Undertake some breathing exercises before you are ready to speak – before you take the podium. Breathe deeply and slowly and allow any tension to flow away. Correct breathing is essential for a good speech and it will calm any tensions you might have.

5) Be positive. Aim to be positive. Remind yourself that your audience wants to listen to you, your views, your points and your opinions. Remember that you are the most qualified person to speak on the subject. Remind yourself that you know the most. You are the most professional. Boosting your own self-esteem prior to an event is very important.

Pre-speech nerves are entirely natural. All speakers, if they were brutally honest, would admit to having nerves before an event. Your job as a speaker is to manage those nerves. Channel all that loose energy into a well-delivered speech.

There are more fear of public speaking strategies and other public speaking  tips on a PresentPerfect^TM skills training course. Held at more than 40 UK training venues, you won't be too far away.

"Feel the fear and do it anyway"

Susan Jeffers