I love public speaking, but it was not always that way. I remember as a kid in school having to do presentations. I would shake, sweat and feel like I was having an out of body experience when I was presenting. In fact the national social anxiety center says that the fear of public speaking is the most common phobia ahead of death, spiders, or heights. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that public speaking anxiety, or glossophobia, impacts 73% of the population. Those numbers are huge!

I was petrified to give a presentation from the time I started grade school until the end of my Master’s degree program. I was fortunate enough or I guess at the time I felt like it was not good fortune, to have to give a presentation weekly during my entire Master’s program. By the time I graduated, I loved speaking in front of people. I had not just kicked my fear, but I really liked it. Now, not everyone will end up enjoying it, but there are ways to at least conquer your fear. This does not mean that before each presentation, you will not have some butterflies in your stomach and your palms won’t get sweaty, I know I am always nervous until I start speaking. Anticipation can really bring on anxiety.

People always told me to picture the audience in their underwear. This never worked for me and made me feel like if it did, I would be laughing instead of speaking!

Know your material– Make sure you understand what you are presenting. Even the most seasoned speakers, cannot just “wing it”. You want to be the authority and expert on what you are presenting

Make note cards– Have note cards with the things you want to speak about

Don’t Memorize/Familiarize – You want to come off as natural, not like you are reading or recanting material

Practice, Practice, Practice – This does not mean memorize. This means that you should know your material, have some written notes and practice in front of your spouse, kids, friends and mirror. You can even record yourself with your phone and go back and review how you did. Make sure you were looking up and making eye contact, speaking slowly and smiling

Silence is ok – Pausing to think, or to let your information sink in with the audience is ok. You need to be ok with it, or it will make your nervous

Breathe – If you start to feel nervous, instead of speeding up or panicking, take a deep breath. This will help to calm you down

Speaking Groups – There are multiple public speaking groups that you can join. These help you with practicing your presentation skills and give you valuable tips. Toastmasters is probably the most well known

You are the Expert – Remember before and during your presentation, that you are the expert and the people there are listening to you for information. You do not have to be perfect and they most likely will not know if you make a mistake only you will. You are your biggest critic

Evaluate – After each presentation reflect on what went well and how you felt. Use this as a way to improve future presentations

Worst Case Scenario – Have a plan for if you freeze, forget where you were etc. Hint, go back to the tip on silence is ok and breathe. This will help you to compose yourself and get your presentation going again

You do not have to love public speaking to be good at it. The key is to implement practices that help you to calm down and be in control of your presentation. Good luck, I know you can slay your next presentation!