The fear of public speaking can grip even the most experienced public speakers. I was recently speaking to someone who has given many many speeches but still has a strong fear. He explained that he speaks at a local speaking group (Toastmasters). He’s comfortable while speaking in front of his group but still has reluctance to giving speeches outside of his “comfort zone”. I like to think of the word fear as an acronym: Feel Emotion And Respond. This means that feeling fear is good, and it’s what you do when you feel fear that matters.
Yesterday I made a decision to help further my own education in public speaking. I attended my first Toastmasters meeting. For those of you who don’t know who the Toastmasters are, Toastmasters is an organization whose sole purpose is to help people be more confident and comfortable in front of an audience. I’ve also decided to create a series of articles based on my experiences with my local Toastmasters group.
Although there is no definitive evidence to say that any one person’s fear (any fear) has a single root cause, there are factors that you can point to that could shed light on why some people fear certain things while others don’t. For example, most people who fear the dentist (even a simple cleaning) could trace the cause back to a specific incident in their childhood where there was a traumatic experience at the dentist. For these people, there was a single (or few) specific incident that left a lasting impression on them. For them, methods like relaxation dentistry can help (see http://www.danversdentalwellness.com for more info on relaxation dentistry).
There may be a lot of you who either work in a technology field or who are “techies” yourselves. In today’s job market, there are a lot of technical aspects for every type of job. You may be asked to give a presentation or speech on a technology subject. You may be great a giving speeches but feel reluctant to speak about technology or you may have the expertise and just have a general fear of public speaking (known as Glossophobia).This article will help you prepare for and deliver a great technology speech.
Hello,
First, I want to welcome you to my site, Public Speaking Without Panic! I created this site when I realized that the tips, tricks, tools, secrets, and other goodies that I’ve developed and learned over the years to help me overcome my fear of public speaking could also help others.