Networking = Less Fear

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I recently had a great conversation with someone who I consider to be a great public speaker. I first learned about him while doing research for my blog. His name is Scott Ginsberg. Some of you may know him by his given name. However, those that do know about Scott most likely know him for something else.  He is “The Nametag Guy”.  He has been wearing a nametag for just shy of 3000 days in a row (as of this posting).

I don’t want to go into Scott’s resume or discuss his philosophy of “approachability” (if you want more info on Scott, go to www.hellomynameisscott.com).  What I do want to focus on his something I realized during my call. I had been looking forward to talking to Scott for some time. Due to unforeseeable circumstances, I was late getting to our call. As I dialed his number, I realized that I wasn’t nervous or anxious.  I felt something that I immediately recognized. It was the same feeling I get just before I get up to speak. I can only describe it as an “excited anticipation”. Scott and I had a great conversation (and I want to thank him again for the opportunity).

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to (not just in front of) many people that I’ve only met moments before. I enjoy meeting new people and talking to them. I have to credit this to my on-going dedication to overcoming my fear of public speaking. Although most of these conversations were two-way, I can see why some people would avoid even this opportunity to “speak”.

In my opinion, the more you can “network” yourself and put yourself out there, the better you will be at controlling your fear of public speaking. If you think about it, when you speak to someone you don’t know, it’s just like speaking to a group of people you don’t know. There’s just more of them. If you can get to the point where your fear of interacting with others is controllable, you can begin to control the fear of speaking to others (in the form of a speech).

I challenge you to start conversations with people you don’t know. Do this everyday. Soon you will feel more comfortable talking to people you just met. In turn, this will help you control your fear of talking in front of people you just met.

Speak Well.


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