One of my missions as a life coach has always been to conquer the fear of public speaking. I had seemed to always pass this on to someone else.
When I sat down and coached myself, one of the first topics on my list was public speaking. Why is it that most of us fear public speaking? What triggers the fear?
I read a book or two on the issue but I always seemed to get distratced along the way and always found myself putting the book down.
I had to do it, I had to conquer Public Speaking.
It is possible. I know so.
A few weeks ago, a friend of my father who runs a football academy in Malta approached me. He asked me wether I would talk at his annual meeting. I accepted the offer straight away as I knew this was my chance to prove myself.
I had to talk for ten minutes. So I took out my stopwatch and tried my Motivational Speech out loud for ten minutes. The first time I managed to talk for 6 minutes, then after 8 minutes, after that 12 minutes. Finally I got on the ten minute mark.
Some of the material was great, some not as great. As I practiced for an hour or so, I kind of got a grip with the right material. I knew what my message was and I knew how to go about it. I wrote down one word that would sum up each topic on a piece of paper (should I forget my direction).
With the speech done, I had to focus on the anxiety that might occur (stage fright). So I sat down took a deep breathe and closed my eyes. I imagined myself when I was just about to get ready to talk, then I imagined greeting the crowd. I then went through my speech, and saw the people clapping after I was done. I did this 5 times in a row.
When the day came, something amazing happened. I did not even get any butterflies at all. My mind knew what had to be done. The only thing I had to concentrate on was my speech.
The speech went amazingly well. I got a great response from the crowd (100 people) and I even got a business offer to do corporate coaching. Now thats awesome. It's awesome because I could have easily passed the offer to someone else.
You see, we know there are things that should be done, sometimes we push them away for tomorrow, yet we know that, if we tackle them today, tomorrow can be even greater.
I feel confident now to talk anytime and anywhere. It's a great feeling. So now, with this done, I have to see whats next on my personal list.
If you have a challenge that might be scary, see how you can put the fear away. Try visualizing how you would like things to go, do not concentrate on what could go wrong, because probably, things will go wrong then, concentrate on the positive, and only greatness can happen.
I hope you can relate to this experience of mine, I hope you can challenge yourself to try. I hope you got INSPIRed.
Keep Well and most of all
Have a wonderful day
Claude Camilleri
Written by Claude Camilleri,
Master NLP Practitioner, Malta
founder of Successlodge
www.successlodge.com
You did a great job getting ready!
ReplyDeleteHere's how another person dealt with his public speaking fears.
In my recently published Christmas novel, the main character, Ian, has to undergo some management training. However, he almost backs out when he discovers that public speaking is part of the deal!
He sticks with it, though and soon learns an interesting technique from one of his internet searches. It's all about how to mingle and network with people before an event. He tries some of the tips by helping his new friend, Elise, with some administrative functions prior to the speech class. It gives him an opportunity to chat with some of the other class members. He discovers that they have many of the same likes and dislikes as he does. Fears too! It makes him feel a lot better. And, in the process of going around the room, he feels kind of like a host. It's a real confidence builder!
All the best!
Eric Dana Hansen, Author of "IAN, CEO, North Pole
http://www.ianceonorthpole.com