Is a fear of public speaking hold you back?

I was making small talk with someone recently and when she found that I teach public speaking, she told me about her 8th grade daughter who wanted to run for student council but wouldn't if it meant she had to give a speech in front of the whole school.

I frequently draw analogies between public speaking and swimming.  A fear of water can be psychologically devastating, inconvenient and even dangerous.   A fear of public speaking can mean that you are opting out of important personal and professional opportunities because you will do anything not to speak in front of a group.

Take a few minutes to watch this video about how a young man overcame his fear of water.  He made a significant investment of time and money to obtain private instruction over a three week period but it did pay off.  He can now go in the water and even float and swim.

There is no substitute for repeated exposure, practice, constructive feedback and more practice if you want to overcome a fear of speaking in public. Doing so will allow you to embrace opportunities that you have been avoiding.  What do you have to lose?

a TED talk worth watching

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that I don't think that watching TED talks is necessarily a good way to improve your public speaking abilities.  However, Megan Washington did a phenomenal TED talk that I frequently show my undergraduate students on the first day of Basics of Oral Communication, aka Public Speaking.

Unlike most TED talks, Megan's delivery style often appears a bit stilted.  Awkward even.  I don't want to ruin it for you if you haven't watched it already.  Take the time to watch it when you can, especially if you find yourselves nervous at the idea of speaking in public. It's even appropriately titled:  Why I Live in Mortal Fear of Public Speaking

Most of us do not have to overcome Megan's obstacles and limitations.  But our own perceived public speaking foibles probably loom pretty large in our own minds.

The lesson we can learn from watching Megan's TED talk is that audiences are sympathetic.  They are usually not harsh critics.  Rather, we usually feel compassion when a speaker loses his place or has trouble with the slides or stumbles over a word.  Learn from Megan.  Perceived limitations, or even real ones, are not an excuse for shying away from taking the podium.