HOW TO BEAT PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY?

 HOW TO BEAT PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY?

How many times have you had an important message to share where right before you stand up to speak your palms get sweaty, your stomach starts turning and then that dreaded dry mouth kicks in, its not good but it means that you care about your message. And if you do, there will always be an underlying anxiety every time you present. In this video, I share a proven technique that will help you use your fear as fuel and manage your speaking anxiety the next time you need to step up. 

Here we are gonna help you every time when you are gonna speak on stage or on a camera. If you are looking to maximize your impact, subscribe this platform for the heads up when the new content is released.

Think about this, the number one cause of your speaking anxiety is simple, its uncertainty.

Will you message be heard? Will you be able to land that big contract or close that important deal, or may be just influence the audience to do just things differently?

When all eyes are on us, we can feel exposed and then do what is necessary to protect your well being. Avoiding the eye contact, may be even hiding behind the podium or even worse the never ending PowerPoint deck. When people start speaking professionally, they would struggle with this managing anxiety. In fact, many a times they forget what they intend to say because they focus on how would they come across. To try and fix this, they must start visualizing their desired outcome. They may do the relaxation and the breathing techniques. They may practice the presentation just to be more comfortable.

But the things we have come through the experience of the people with presenting, listening to feedback and then course correcting is that if you want to beat you speaking anxiety, stop focusing on yourself and point your focus outward. And this shift isn't something that happens instantaneously. You have got to put in effort to make that happen. Given the virtual world, we all are living in now, the technique of pointing your focus outward isn't just an option, its a necessity. If you want to conquer your speaking anxiety, here are three key tips to help eliminate that anxiety and make your audience love you at the exact same time. 

1. ASK FIRST, TALK SECOND. : Before you step up to share your messages, build relationships by talking to people individually first. Choose about may be say five influential people that will be in your audience or virtual setting and then take the time to ask them the important questions beforehand. Get their take on what is being happening in the company, the challenges that need to be confronted, the heroes that need to be celebrated, and then use those findings as the powerful context to customize your content. You can discover the great personal stories or new perspective that you had yet to consider. Then when its time for you to present, focus and speak to those topics and specifically those people in the room, addressing their needs and watch bow you will earn the respect from your peers, from knowing what the group is thinking, feeling and doing. Great comedians, do this all the time on tour. They find out what is happening in the city they are performing in and make a local references to help win  the audience over.

2. BE A GIVER, NOT A TAKER : The one thing we have learned that the takers are the ones that have more anxiety because they want and need validation from the audience. They are wondering, will, the audience like me? Will they pay attention to me? Will they find my jokes funny? Meanwhile, the givers are all about service. Once the work beforehand has been done with pregame conversations, you will know what the audience needs, so you can confidently speak to their specific pain points and it becomes an act of service to support your audience's growth and transformation versus the anxiety that comes from guessing whether is my content good enough? 

3. STOP SCANNING, START SEEING : The number on tell if someone is nervous or anxious about speaking their eyes just scan the room yet they failed to see anyone in the room. If you want to ground your nerves find your fab five. Five people you can consistently lock eyes with so it feels like you were having several personal conversations. Take your time with this, speak to one person and share a thought or idea, then move to the next one and use your entire space. The people in the back of the room, the people on the sides of the room, they will be appreciative of your attention because the ones in the middle will be getting most of your eye contact. Now what about in virtual meetings? Yes this comes a new challenge because your audience members can't tell if you're looking directly at them, but if you have interviewed your fab five before your presentation, you can call on them and light them up and engage them in a similar way. 

Speaking could be a nerve wracking experience, no matter what the context. If you approach the exercise, though, with an attentive giving, it will help you manage your anxiety. Loosen up, have fun and mot importantly, maximize the impact you can have on your audience. Like anything the more speaking reps you can get in the stronger your presenting muscle will become and your anxiety then will be an afterthought. 

What helps you beat your speaking anxiety? DROP A COMMENT BELOW!