From the category archives:

Nervousness

How a shy country boy overcame his fear of public speaking

June 16, 2010

Last week I received a moving and inspiring email from a reader about how he overcame his fear of public speaking. Dave has given me permission to share his story and I hope you find it inspiring too. It reinforces the point that you can learn to be a confident public speaker – you don’t [...]

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How to recover from a presentation disaster

June 8, 2010

Getting no feedback from your audience is hard. That’s what happened to a reader, Emma, this week: I did a 20-minute presentation during a lunch yesterday and I’m feeling pretty terrible about it. I would love to tell you all of the details about what I felt went wrong but I am sure that would [...]

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Anxiety and public speaking: What everyone ought to know

May 12, 2010

I joined Toastmasters to learn how to overcome public speaking anxiety. I found a welcoming and supportive club and gradually got more comfortable about public speaking. I even found that anxiety and public speaking weren’t words that automatically went hand in hand. So I started to stretch myself. I entered the Toastmasters public speaking competition [...]

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Anxiety and public speaking: new research

December 10, 2009

The most effective longterm way to overcome public speaking anxiety is to use a proven method such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. But what if you’ve just had a bad public speaking experience which has caused your anxiety to rocket upwards? New research suggests that getting back in front of a group as soon as possible [...]

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What makes a good public speaker

December 9, 2009

One of the defining qualities of a good public speaker is the willingness to make a fool of yourself. At the New Media Atlanta conference in 2009, Chris Brogan was the last keynote of the day. He’d watched all day as the backchannel drowned in snark. He could have chosen to play safe. Instead he [...]

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The truth about visualization for public speaking success

October 2, 2009

Many people think that this type of visualization can help you not only speak better but also help reduce your fear of public speaking. It may make you feel good at the time, but the scientific evidence doesn’t support the belief that it will help you achieve your best performance or reduce your fear of [...]

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The three causes of public speaking fear (and what you can do about them)

September 22, 2009

Fear of public speaking often feels like it hits you out of nowhere. But I’m going to suggest that there are three distinct causes of speech anxiety. These three different causes of speaking anxiety relate to three different areas of the brain – the Old Brain (it’s called this in neuro’pop’ books but is more [...]

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How to survive watching yourself on video

August 26, 2009

Do you hate the idea of watching yourself on video? Most people do. But on our courses it’s one of our most powerful tools for helping people to reduce their fear of public speaking. Watching yourself give a presentation can give you a tremendous confidence boost. That’s because the way that you come across is [...]

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How to use your fear of public speaking to be a better speaker

August 2, 2009

It’s normal to get nervous about public speaking. When you stand up in front of people and open your mouth, you’re making yourself vulnerable. Public speaking involves risk. So aiming for zero fear is unrealistic. I still get nervous when I have to present in unfamiliar situations. I’m very used to presenting to small groups [...]

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Why do you have a fear of public speaking?

March 19, 2009

From my own personal experience, from working with thousands of people face to face, and from asking my blog readers what they find hardest about presenting, I know that the fear of public speaking is a biggie. And not everyone who suffers from the fear of public speaking has suffered a humiliating public speaking experience. [...]