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.
I was once a very shy kid. I was especially terrified of being in the public eye (no matter what the size of the group). Here’s a quick story to illustrate how shy I was and the lengths that I would go through to avoid the public spotlight:
When I was in grade school, I wanted to learn how to play the drums. Instead, I ended up learning the trombone. I liked it and had fun learning. However, I only played for me and my teacher (and I only played for the teacher when we were alone). I was involuntarily volunteered to perform in a school show. I did everything I could think of to get out of it but couldn’t. On the day of the show, I was so nervous I was sick to my stomach. I took a small hammer and dented the slide on the trombone just enough to prevent it from sliding. I then showed up to school and told an elaborate story of how the instrument was damaged and how I couldn’t perform. Luckily there were no spare trombones and I was excused from performing (I guess I really did want to play the drums).
The point is that my fear prevented me from sharing my music with the audience. My fear was based on not wanted to make mistakes and look “stupid” in front of the crowd. It wasn’t until high school that I met a teacher who started me on my road to public speaking success (thanks Mr. Doran).
I’ve since spent a lot of time researching, testing, failing, and retrying many methods for overcoming fear of public speaking. I can proudly say that I am very confident now. However, I still have moments of doubt and fear. But I’m able to use that as a tool to motivate myself.
I will continue to post articles, tips, tricks, secrets, etc. of ways that can help you overcome your fear of public speaking and make you a confident speaker.
If you want more, I have developed a free guide that will show you some of these tips, tricks, tools, and secrets. Go to http://www.publicspeakingwithoutpanic.com and sign up for my newsletter.
Enjoy and Speak Well!
Dan Girard
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