How to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking

(This came in an email from Brian Flanagan, a man I had the pleasure of meeting when Zig Ziglar and his team came to the Roanoke Valley a few years ago.)

According to that great medical journal, The Readers Digest!, speaking in front of a group of people is still the number one fear in America. These three strategies might help you deal with that fear, whether speaking to a group of two, or 20, or 200

1. Preparation compensates for a lack of talent! Prepare the talk in advance. Organize your visuals, handouts, props, and material. Practice and rehearse not only the content, but also the delivery. Analyze the audience by asking yourself these questions: In what are the attendees interested? What is important to them? How do they want to feel or think about the topic at the end of my presentation?

2. Your “first burst” is important! You should practice, rehearse, memorize, and/or choreograph your “first burst.” This is your opening sentence or paragraph. The purpose of the “first burst” is to grab the attention AND the interest of your audience. Using hilarious humor, quotable quotes, startling statistics, topical stories, and/or a focusing question can accomplish this. Use your imagination when creating your “first burst.”

3. Your audience is more forgiving than you are! Loosen up, lighten up, and have fun when making a presentation. Don’t take yourself too seriously. The audience is not expecting perfection and neither should you! Remember: angels fly because they take themselves lightly.

One more thing: when in doubt, just get in front of the audience and “let ‘er rip.”

This rhyme summarizes my point. It seems a 17-year-old boy was debating whether to kiss his girlfriend. He dropped to his knees and prayed. “Lord, Lord up above, should I kiss the girl that I love?” A voice came back saying, “Sinner, sinner down below, pucker up and let ‘er go!”

When in front of an audience, remember to “just pucker up and let ‘er go!”

Now, go sell somebody something!
Bryan’s website

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