The Ultimate Practical Guide To Gain Confidence For Public Speaking

Guest post by Judith Ward

Public speaking is an intensely terrifying experience to a lot of people. We need to be able to do this in our lives whether it is doing a presentation at work, going for an interview, standing up in front of an audience or doing a Facebook live for your followers on social media.

The actor Jerry Seinfeld was quoted to have said “To the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy”. Whilst this may seem harsh, a fear of public speaking is a reality for a lot of people.

So Let’s first understand where this fear is coming from?

Fear is an emotion made up in our heads. At the heart of this is a part of our brain called the amygdala responsible for keeping us safe. It will create the fear response and will try it’s very best to keep you from participating in public speaking.

This guide is going to give you some practical tips to gain confidence for public speaking including Facebook lives.

Tip 1: Preparation Is Key!

Practice, Practice, Practice! Say it out loud to yourself or practice on a friend or family member. Research your audience and find out what their needs are in advance. It is also useful to record the timing of your talk. In some situations you may be asked to stick to say 10 minutes for an interview presentation. You want to be able to demonstrate that you can do this.

Tip 2: Be Organised And Arrive Early

By showing up early to an event it will give you time to calm any nerves and go to the toilet!  When we are stressed the sympathetic nervous system is activated in our bodies and this makes us need to go to the toilet more often.

Another bonus of showing up early is that you can speak to your audience as they arrive and this way it doesn’t feel like a sea of strange faces in front of you.

Tip 3: Get Your Brain Into A Positive Mindset

Visualisation is a powerful tool and can really help get your brain into a positive mindset. Spend 10 minutes every day in the run up to your public speaking event visualising how you would like it to go. Play the scene out in your mind from the start to the finish. Picture how you would like to feel inside your body, observe yourself smiling, engaging with your audience and feeling confident. This is a trick that athletes use as the icing on the cake of their actual practice so that they can keep “training”.

Tip 4: Getting Confident Doing Facebook Lives

Some people who are confident speakers have told me that they are terrified when they have to do a Facebook live. Getting to grips with the technology can be part of the problem. My advice for this is to set up a private Facebook group with a friend first and practice doing a Facebook live. When you are confident how it works this can take some of the pressure off.

 Tip 5. Self-care And Self-Compassion

We are often the harshest critics of ourselves. Before your event, talk to yourself with kindness and compassion. Some people like to use affirmations to do this. In the run up to the event ensure you get enough rest and some relaxation. This will help you waking up feeling energised and ready to seize the day!

 Tip 6: Imagine You Are Speaking To One Person In The Room

It doesn’t matter how many people there are in the room. Imagine you are talking to one person and you are speaking to them directly. Then if you feel you are connecting with one person then the rest will fall into place.

Remember – fear is a made-up story that has not happened yet! Use your brain to create a new story of a successful event.

If you like this article, why not also read our posts on using your strengths to build your confidence and 7 ways to feel more confident when you’re not feeling it.

Bio

Judith Ward is an award winning clinical hypnotherapist and helps people with public speaking, interviews, exam stresses and building confidence. She gives her clients a deeper understanding of the brain and using hypnosis will help you overcome fears, phobias and anxieties.

She previously worked in various corporate Environments in London including the BBC. During these roles she delivered talks to staff about stress and was the lead Trauma Risk Assessor for Television. As a clinical hypnotherapist she regularly helps clients overcome fears and anxieties to become happier versions of themselves.

If you would like to work with Judith please contact her at:  www.judithwardhypnotherapy.co.uk or Facebook.

I’d love to hear your public speaking stories.