What’s the first step to speaking without fear or doubt? [Thursday: Speak on the Shoulders of Giants]
There are several downsides of letting doubt into your life:
- It deters you from taking strategies seriously.
- It erodes your confidence.
- It makes truths seem like lies.
- It feeds your fears and gives you more “nightmares.”
It’s hard to start doing something when you have lots of doubts running around in your mind. So… what can you do to counter such negative thoughts?
It starts with this word: BELIEVE.
“Where you are is not where you have to be.”
It’s time. Let go of your doubts and start believing in yourself.
Belief Can Change Your Life
Imagine these scenarios: You are asked to give a toast for a wedding…
You are requested to deliver a presentation about your area of expertise…
Your company has grown and you want to pitch an idea to obtain additional capital. So, you need to deliver some kind of speech or presentation…
As you prepare, you suddenly start to feel nervous. Sweat starts to pool under your arms. Butterflies begin to flutter in your abdomen. You want to throw up. Your anxiety causes you to endlessly ramble. You wish you could quit the speech and run away.
The catch?
You CAN’T. You have to get up in front of people and speak.
According to Mike Acker, author of the book, “Speak With No Fear: Go from a nervous, nauseated, and sweaty speaker to an excited, energized, and passionate presenter,” if you have a speech coming up, then you are being forced to face the number one fear in America.
Yes, you read that right! Public speaking is ranked as the number one fear in the U.S., with many wanting to “rather die than speak in front of people.”
That’s why Acker says if you feel fear, anxiety, and nervousness at the prospect of speaking to a HUGE crowd, you are not alone. Millions of people feel the same way with you.
… but the good news?
You don’t have to have that same fear forever!
You can conquer that fear by believing in yourself. As you do that, you will devolve your fear into the appropriate type of energy that suits the public speaker in you.
So, start believing in yourself today and don’t delay!
Remember: Unattended fear will only feed on itself and grow into nightmares.
Your Public Speaking Experiences will Teach You and Train You
In his book, Acker wrote that he had the opportunity during high school to speak at a banquet. He had some good thoughts to share but when he spoke, his message came across poorly.
While he meant to honor another person, his speech seemed to focus only on himself. Later, his mom pulled him aside and rebuked him, saying she was embarrassed that Acker talked so highly of himself.
To give Acker the benefit of the doubt, he didn’t mean to brag—in fact, he was honoring someone else! However, his speech went wrong and he was humiliated. Many years later, he’s still embarrassed by that speech.
These negative experiences haunted him. After the banquet, Acker panicked at the next opportunity to speak in front of others.
“What if I screw up again? What if I embarrass myself? What will my mom think? I should just shut up. I should run away. I should fake sickness. I should move to Australia. I should become a silent monk. Yes, I will become a monk.”
These were the thoughts that ran through Acker’s mind that time. Fortunately, he knew that’s not how life works.
Whoever you are or whatever your career is, you CAN’T run from public speaking. At some point in your life, you will have to speak at your business, school, wedding, memorial, party, interview, etc. You will have to get up in front of people, so you might as well learn how to do that without fear.
That’s what Acker personally did for his public speaking engagements. He worked on managing his emotions. He learned how to use his personality, switch his focus, and use fear for good.
Most importantly, he began to BELIEVE in himself.
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As you develop this skill, you will do better in your career. So, don’t miss the value of improving your speaking skills!
Think about this: The better you speak, the better you will do. The small actions you take will translate to great actions out there in the world.
Simply said, you don’t have to be the same nervous speaker you are today. You don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to be insecure.
YOU CAN BECOME GREAT.
Believe this truth. You’ll see: As you start with belief, you’ll eventually learn to enjoy presenting, selling, educating, storytelling, and speaking in public.
We hope this article inspired you to unleash the public speaker in you!
Change your perspective, invest in your preparation, and take time to practice. Through this, you will overcome your fear of public speaking.
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Thursdays: Speak on the Shoulders of Giants”
In a meeting with one person…
… a boardroom with five people…
… or a huge venue with hundreds of people…
—whatever the situation or setting, it’s very important to learn and eventually master the art of public speaking.
No matter what, you always need to effectively get your message across.
What good is a presentation with awesome content if you don’t deliver it properly?
Every Thursday, we publish different tips, insights, and secrets on how you can improve your presentation skills to captivate your audience and lead interesting discussions.
The need for great presentation skills applies EVERYWHERE.
(Small meetings with your team, big meetings with your boss, an important marketing pitch, speaking engagements for events with a big audience, etc.)
Learning these skills is not just for the corporate world. Being in other industries such as the Arts, Information Technology, Medicine, and Education while knowing how to communicate and present well will definitely give you an edge.
Have that advantage.
Hope you find this week’s public speaking tip interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Thursday’s “Speak on the Shoulders of Giants!”
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Special Projects
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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