Many people perceive public speaking as a great stress. They begin to worry long before they appear in front of the audience. And this concern does not let them go until they leave the stage or tribune. Worst of all, if the tremor becomes noticeable to the public, confuses thoughts, words, and generally knocks the speaker off balance. How to overcome fear of public speaking?
- First, you need to prepare well. Be it a lecture, poetry, short speech or message, you should read the text thoughtfully several times and, if necessary, memorize it. You can prepare special cards-tips, which summarize your upcoming speech. They will help you focus on the material and not lose the main idea.
- Practice is a great way to relieve tension. Of course, you can try to speak several times in front of a mirror, but more effectively in front of living people. Friends and relatives can act as a "trial" audience. So you can also rehearse your gestures, facial expressions, speech rate, work on parasitic words like "here", "in general" and boring, drawn-out "mmm", "uh", etc.
- Drop perfectionism. Don't try to make your performance perfect. Perfect is often synonymous with boring. Strive to be interesting to the listener by using emotional attacks, jokes, perhaps intentional slips of the tongue, questions, etc. This will help relieve tension not only from you, but also dispel the drowsiness of the audience.
- Consider your appearance. If a person looks good, they feel more confident. This is a well-known fact. They should not be neglected. Clean clothes, shoes, neat hairstyle, makeup for women are already half of a successful performance.
- Just before going on stage, do articulation and breathing exercises. The first will help to stretch the vocal cords and speech, the second will relieve anxiety.
- Some speakers take small talismanic items with them to help them believe in themselves and calm down. This can be, for example, an ordinary paper clip, a safety pin, or a "lucky" pen.
- If you are about to speak in public, and you do not see yourself on stage at all, sign up for special courses in public speaking. Experts will teach you how to properly hold on stage, and, therefore, cope with fear.
