Many people are quite scared of public speaking or making a presentation to a large audience. If you know someone who are shy or afraid, you may want to watch my video, (at the scenic Hertfordshire countryside in UK) where I talk about how afraid I was and how I broke into this fear. I also talk about few tips to excel in public speaking, which worked for me. Being a teacher’s son, I soon realised that there’s nothing more joyful than presenting to a large audience and transferring knowledge and skills.
Walk into the things you are afraid of. Nobody can do that for you, except yourself. Coach can only train you to play the game. You got to play it yourself in the match while the coach can only be an onlooker.
There’s always a first time for everything.
Rehearse your presentation as many times as possible and with a well wisher, if that helps. Make eye contact with the audience during the presentation. Remember you are having a conversation with them.
Tell stories while you present or speak. It settles your audience. I don’t mean this for a meeting of Board of Directors, though😀.
Self doubts- What if you don’t know the answers to the questions you are asked by the audience? What if there are people in the audience who know the topic better than you? Good news is you don’t need to know it all. Nobody does. Be honest, humble and be down to earth and willing to learn. Acknowledge the question and say you don’t know the answer, but you will try to explore. Once you have admitted to an audience that you don’t know, you shed your ego. Admitting that you don’t know requires huge courage and it’s a strength, rather than weakness, as lot of people perceive incorrectly.
If someone can tell you the answer, thank them for it. Remember it’s an opportunity for learning.
I would like to hear your experience and like to learn how you overcome your particular fears or limiting beliefs. Our story might be helpful for few others. Isn’t it good if we can share our experience, which might be useful for others to leave people better than we found them?