Conquering the fear of stage while speaking in public

December 19, 2016August 17, 2020 Rashi Arora

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Neither am I here to teach you the already taught, nor to just waste your time on useless readings. Here’s a piece of text that includes the most basic and effective ways to overcome that fear of yours which you face when you have to speak to an audience. Analyse yourself as you go through the listed points. Stage fright or performance anxiety is a persistent phobia which is aroused in an individual when required to perform in front of an audience.

Be Prepared:

Nothing will stop stage fright in it’s gripping tracks like being prepared. You have to know it all; your speech and more importantly your audience. Understanding your topic will enable you to speak more naturally and hence more confidently. Even if a technical problem occurs, it won’t distract you as you are already confident on the subject. For example, if the microphone stops working, just stay unaffected and casual and continue by raising your own voice.

Keep calm and don’t rush: –

Don’t rush your presentation. Start slow and give yourself a little time to get into a comfortable pace. You need time to get used to the audience and the audience also needs time to get used to you. Thus, starting slow is an easy way to go. Breathe properly while you speak as fast/short breaths always lead to ensure speaking.

Come early: –

Obviously, if you are late, this will only heighten your anxiety. Arrive early and start getting adapted to your surroundings. You can check out the stage and the whole place in order to get yourself used to the environment.

Practice more and more: –

Knowing your stuff always helps, but it doesn’t necessarily eradicate the problem. You need to practice as much as you can before your on-stage performance or presentation. Always try to know your content inside out and practice (preferably in front of a live audience) as much as possible to boost up your confidence level.

Go for the worst case trick: –

If you can’t calm your nervousness down with positive thinking, then maybe it is time you thought about the worst case scenario. Once you do this, you’ll realize that the worst case scenario isn’t really that bad. Even the worst scene to happen can’t affect you as bad as you think. This might help calm your nerves.

Be confident like you own the stage: –

This might sound like the most conventional advice but this is the best one anyone can give. To give a clean and crisp presentation, you must know that everyone is there for your words and whatever else you say. You must know that the stage is set for you. Having confidence in oneself leads you more than halfway.

Start working with your fears instead of fighting them. You have to expect and accept the fact that you will feel anxious, especially the first few minutes of your presentation. The more you resist your anxiety, the more it will work against you. So get at ease with your nervousness and become the perfect speaker.

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Rashi Arora

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