7 Must-Know Tips to Help you Overcome Nervous Public Speaking

Introduction

Want to know how to overcome your nervous public speaking? These are our tried and true public speaking tips you should know about.

The idea of mastering public speaking can seem daunting at first, and if you're anything like me, it makes you sweat. You're most likely doing all the research you can to ensure you are ready for your big event. As a nervous public speaker myself, I am giving you the must-know nervous public speaking tips that I live by.

You are going to learn all about overcoming nervous public speaking. Things we'll cover include what causes fear of public speaking, how I overcame my fear of public speaking, speech anxiety symptoms, and more.

After learning about all of these nervous public speaking tips, you will be overprepared by the time you have to give your next presentation, speech, or even toast.

This post is about the best tips for nervous public speaking that every young professional woman should know about.

What causes fear of public speaking

Did you know that the fear of public speaking is called glossophobia? yeah, me neither. 

Suppose you experience nervous public speaking or anxiety. In that case, it may be related to a greater fear of embarrassment or rejection. However, public speaking anxiety can also stem from prior experiences.

An individual who has a bad experience during public speaking may fear a repeat of that prior experience when attempting to speak again

Dr. Jeffrey R. Strawn

Speech anxiety symptoms

Speech anxiety manifests differently for different people. For some, it can be a familiar feeling of nervousness or "butterflies" in the stomach. For other people, it can manifest differently: dry mouth, irregular heart rate, sweating, and shaky voice. But, if you've experienced any of these before, you can be confident that you've had a nervous public speaking experience.

In the case that you did, don't lose hope! Experiencing anxiety isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just think about it, you don't feel nervous or even second guess the things in life that you don't care about. You just do them. The first step to reframing nervous public speaking is acceptance. Recognize that your body is alerting you that the journey you're embarking on matters to you and is something you want to succeed at.

Once you understand why you're feeling something, figuring out how to change it becomes much more manageable.

How I overcame my fear of public speaking (what I’m trying)

I have personal ties to this post because nervous public speaking is something that I deal with constantly. Entering the working world is a complete switch up from university life. In undergrad classes, participation is essential, but you can still pass and even excel in a class without being the most talkative person in the room.

At work, things feel a bit different. While no one is grading you, it's still important to be seen or perceived as a contributor or thought partner. You want to come across as a team player like you know your stuff. As an introvert, I feel more comfortable speaking up when I genuinely have something to contribute and asking any follow-up questions offline. I thrive in small group meetings and tend to hang back in larger ones as I find them overwhelming.

Though this isn't inherently bad, I realize how important it is to think about my personal brand and sharing my work to excel in my career.

Related Post : How to Assess your Personal Brand using SWOT Analysis

One easy way to supplement this that I've found has been to find forums for sharing my work more broadly, typically in the form of team meetings. From my immediate team up to the org level. Presenting makes me nervous, don't get me wrong, but the key to succeeding at it is all in preparation.

I find that putting myself directly in situations that make me nervous is the only way to work through the nerves. The more I do it, the less anxious I feel, and the quicker I can self-soothe and work through the nerves.

Must-know tips for nervous public speaking

1. Where do you look when talking to a crowd? Create eye contact

One thing that makes people most nervous about public speaking is the fear of judgment. It can be daunting to think that people are staring at you and judging your existence. When public speaking, it helps to look your audience in the eye. Eye contact not only builds connection and captures your audience's attention but also helps your audience feel engaged, connected, etc.

It helps to avoid holding eye contact for too long with one person because it can make your audience members feel nervous or targeted. Instead, try keeping your gaze in one direction for 3-5 seconds and switch. If you are feeling confident, try glancing around the faces of the people in a section of the audience. Hold your gaze and find a new person to make eye contact with once you complete your phrase. However, If you are feeling particularly nervous, try to find a focal point above your target. Rather than making eye contact, look slightly above their head or at the wall behind them to avoid potentially getting distracted by their facial expressions. You'll accomplish the same effect from the point of view of your audience but this will be a lot easier on your nerves.

2. Practice Pace and Enunciation

When we are nervous, we tend to speed up our speech. While to us, it may feel like we are speaking typically, our audience will have a hard time following what we're saying. My tip? Whatever pace you thought you would have, slow it down 25%. Intentionally speak slower or take breaks to ensure that your audience catches the points you are making.

Practice pronunciation. Videos like this can help you practice speaking more clearly so that your words are easier to understand. Not only is this helpful for delivering speeches but for everyday life! Trust the process with these speech exercises. They seem weird at first (trust me, I endured both speech and drama classes), but they help! 

Write yourself a script

Though no one likes to seem like they are reading their notes aloud or rattling off words from memory. Having a script can be a great starting point to overcome your nervous feelings about public speaking. You can choose your script's format: an outline or word for word. This gives you a guide and helps you choose a logical order for the information you present. If you have an accompanying slide deck, it enables you to select the points to expand upon.

3. Practice out loud

The day of your presentation should not be the first time delivering your speech in full. Utilize your script and practice giving your presentation as though you were in front of the audience. Practice your pitch, and ensure you aren't mumbling and are speaking clearly. It may even help to record yourself. This simulates the feeling of being in front of the watchful eye of an audience. You can also watch the video clips back to give yourself constructive criticism on the area you need to improve to become a better speaker.

Become an expert in the subject matter

Another thing that makes people nervous about public speaking is having to survive the question-and-answer segment. Q+A is only nerve-wracking when you are unprepared. If you present any stats or facts, ensure you understand the rationale. Do not blindly include a statistic. Be able to explain every slide you have in detail.

If someone asks you a question and you weren't prepared for it or didn't research it, here's how to answer: "Thank you so much for your question. I didn't explore this path, but it's definitely a good note for the future. I'm going to dive into this!"

It makes you sound gracious and curious about your work and doesn't sound like you are unprepared. Much better than an "I don't know."

Visualize your success

Many successful people cite visualization as the tool that allows them to continuously achieve success and maintain high confidence levels.
By visualizing our desired outcomes, we program our brains to recognize resources and opportunities in the physical world that will help push us toward our goals. Getting clear on our visions makes it easier to embody that version of ourselves and live in a more positive and confident way.

Related Post: How to Avoid Overwhelm at Work: 3 Guaranteed Signs That You Should Ask For Help

Engage your body

The one thing that will give away how anxious you are about speaking in front of an audience is your body language. Slouching or appearing tense will cause you to look and feel unconfident. Remember that your goal is to invite your audience into your world instead of distancing the audience from it.

If you want your audience to be captivated by what you have to say, you must appear fascinated by what you have to say. 

So stand upright and relax your body. If you feel particularly tense, try taking (natural) pauses while speaking to reset your nervous system and give your audience time to process what you've said. When we feel anxious, we often talk a mile a minute. Slowing down is beneficial for everyone involved.

To appear less robotic, you should consider your body's role in your delivery. For example, you don't want to stand in one spot for 30 minutes without moving because it feels...unnatural. However, you also don't want to be flailing your arms and pacing back and forth across the room. It's uncomfortable and also distracting for your audience. So instead, use your hands as a means of emphasizing your words.

I learned to speak with my hands while presenting through the "stay in the box" analogy. Any hand gesture that I made between my waist and chest to emphasize an important point was appropriate. If you feel like you are still struggling with this concept, this article from Science of People goes in-depth!

Best public speaking books

As a young professional woman at the height of her early career, you will want to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible.
Here are some books that I am adding to my Reading list:

Think Fast Speak Smart: How to think and speak brilliantly in impromptu situations by Solomon Asine

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Public Speaking and Presenting By Chris Anderson 

Better Small Talk: Talk to Anyone, Avoid Awkwardness, Generate Deep Conversations, and Make Real Friends by Patrick King

Podcast: Think Fast, Talk Smart by Matt Abrams

This post was about tips and tricks to help you overcome your nervous public speaking. So give these resources a try before your next meeting or presentation!

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