Public speaking and inspire your audience is a great talent, nowadays. Past history tells us that great people in previous eras were those who had come in front of their nation and raise their voice and spread their vision to their people (with strong communication skills or public speaking skills), they brought revolution, just like Abraham Linkan.
Today, we see thousands of well-known organizations announce vacancies for staff or employees and demand for having good public speaking skills and offer decent salary packages, especially, when it comes to the corporate sector. A lot of people fail to achieve their goals due to a lack of public speaking skills. So, public speaking is very important whether you are a student or a professional.
What if a person fears speaking in front of a huge crowd. Is it possible to overcome the fear of public speaking? And, if it is possible then how can we do that?
These are the questions that come in the minds of a common man, if you have the same questions in your mind then you are at the right place. In this guide, we will be discussing how to overcome the fear of public speaking and how to motivate and inspire your audience.
What is FOPS (Fear of Public Speaking): An Academic Definition
Fear of Public Speaking (FoPS) or Public Speaking Anxiety is a kind of social anxiety and a very common feared situation in people. The FoPS is disabling with negative professional, academic and social consequences, reported by a third of the population. FoPS in adolescence and adulthood is associated with an increased risk of developing generalized social anxiety disorder along with other impairments.
Tips to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking
Focus on your message
The most important tip you can use when speaking in front of a crowd is to focus on your message instead of focusing on yourself, it is a mistake that people always repeat when giving a presentation. Especially, people get very conscious when it comes to the outfit they wear.
Remind it! The crowd more focuses on what you deliver, so concentrate on the message that you want to spread among the audience.
Take Time for Yourself Before Your Speech
It is a very useful tip to take some time for yourself to get prepared to speak in front of a crowd. Just sit on a chair, close your eyes and think about the message that you are going to deliver and possible outcomes that could come from the audience side. Moreover, prepare yourself for how you will tackle the situation.
Have Patience in Yourself
There are many people who tend to talk too fast when they’re nervous and the main reason behind it is our human psychic that we always want to get out of the situation as soon as possible. So, do not hurry and be patient when speaking in front of a crowd.
Present Your Self Confidently
At last, present yourself confidently without thinking about any fear in your mind related to the upcoming outcomes from the audience.
Tips to Motivate and Inspire Your Audience
Only Talk About What You Know
The easiest way to be edgy, nervous, and wanting to escape the scene is if you don’t know what you’re talking about. Just agree to speak in public on topics that you are familiar with. Keep your message simple.
Don’t try to become an expert on something you don’t know about the day before the event. Start with a central message on one or two topics and work from there. The last thing you want is to feel overwhelmed when you’re on stage.
Convince Yourself, Not the Audience
A lot of speakers make this mistake when they start to speak in public. They try to sell their message from the public to the public. This is the wrong approach.
All they need is to believe that you believe what you’re saying. This simple change reformulates the way you prepare and makes conversation on stage easier.
Tell Stories to Engage Your Audience
Try to share real stories with your audience like “Once I was shopping from coupon site Wadav and it was a very good experience” etc. Or, you can also share motivational stories of your friends or family member or anyone nearby you, the audience always love to listen to the real stories from the speakers.
Keep Your Message Simple
Your message should be concise and clear because the public can only consume and digest a certain amount of information in a day, people will get bored or starting irritating if you lengthen your speech or presentation too much.
