How do you overcome speech fear...

[Guest Speaker]

I dunno how should I call it... better hide my identity for now (don't want to ruin my image)

Let's see... long story short.

I was invited to make a speech (and made the dumb decision to agree) in a err... somewhat prestigious yearly event where the whole convention will be filled with as many as 1000 people ranging from real-estate brokers to businesspeople dressed in business formal attire (me included).

Problem is, this will be my first time doing such thing and to be honest... I'm having this jittery uneasy feeling about it (nervous... I dunno... )

A friend suggest to imagine everyone in the audience naked. Not really a good idea considering the majority of the people who will be present in there are mostly middle-aged business people (the horror).

So people of Lemmasoft especially those who have experience with giving a speech in front of a crowd. How do you overcome this Jittery Nervous Feeling?... Thoughts, Experience... c'mon people share it...

"POOF" (Disappears)

[PyTom]

The number one thing is to know your material back and front. This is different from preparing the speech in advance, which is something I rarely do, outside of making a few notes on index cards. But if you're comfortable with what you're talking about, it will show in your speech, and the audience will tend to like that.

[musical74]

This may sound corny, but I have found that practicing the speech in front of the mirror helps a lot. In doing so, I feel more comfortable doing the speech, and it helps me relax. Something else that worked for me....if it's possible, focus on one person - a friend? - and ignore everyone else. It may sound strange, but that's how I overcame my stage fright - I focused on a friend who was there and pretended that she was the only one there.

[Koveras]

Three years ago, I was a very shy guy who could barely present anything before his class without breaking into nervous stuttering. And you know what I learned at work? The only way to overcome that fear is practice. You may wanna start with a small audience but until you've held five to ten presentations in the presence of important people (bosses, professors, shareholders, etc.), you won't get it. While that won't help you much (if it was me, I would have refused to have a 1000 people present on my first big speech, in the first place), my message for the future: it gets easier with time.

Other than that, I fully agree with Pytom. You must know what you are talking about. If you don't, don't get onto that stage at all. Imagine a situation: you are in the middle of a speech and some disturbance happens (e.g. your mic dies). Now, if you know what you are talking about, you can wait for everyone to calm down, make some witty comment on it, then smoothly return back to your topic and improvise some text to make everything seem fine. If you don't know anything but your text... well, you'll definitely have trouble remembering any of it after you've been knocked from your tracks.

Also, if you are a naturally shy person like me, your nervousness may be caused by the fear of people in front of you. It is enormous pressure when all of them are before you and looking in your direction, I can totally relate to that. Unless you have a powerful presence yourself (in which case you wouldn't have had that nervousness in the first place), you have to find something to anchor yourself against that pressure. I always found it much easier if I was constantly thinking of myself as a representative of some group, e.g. my colleagues or my fellow students. I always imagined them standing behind me and supporting me against the audience's pressure. Which kinda makes you feel more at ease IMO.

The biggest audience I've ever had was some 400-500 people, when I played a major villain in a theater play. Before each scene, I not only memorized the words, I also tried to become a misogynistic control freak for in case I forget the words I could improvise on the fly (in the end, I didn't... but my partner, the Heroine, did and we had to improvise -- that was fun). At the same time, I always thought on my fellow actors and our director, telling myself that I'm not playing only for me but also for them. In the end, I was the most well received character in that play, I even made it to a local newspaper.

And my hardest presentation was a funeral speech for a very close relative, but that was for entirely different reasons and I don't wanna talk about it.

[grim_reaper]

When I joined an English Speech Competition, my teacher told me that I don't need to see those peoples' faces, just their forehead. This was nice try, actually. But remember this, whatever you're doing,please don't get too carried away by your own speech. Trust me, the first reason I was failed at that competition, because I was not close enough to the mic, so nobody can hear my voice (and that was because I was carried away by my speech!)

[V2Blast]

I've never had any "fear of speaking", but I definitely wasn't as good at it at first. What really helps:
- Know what you're talking about (the material)
- Practice the speech to yourself/a small friendly audience (like your family, or friends who will give you constructive criticism)
- Really, just be calm. It's just a speech. Relax and take it easy. Be confident that you'll be fine, regardless of how the speech goes. Audiences are generally tolerant of a few slip-ups. Just take a deep breath, and go do it.

[nshaw94]

just think that you must be good thats why you get invited

[this_barb]

Be informed.
Be confident.
And If someone screams "You lie" during your speech, throw a tin can at him.

[Koveras]

And If someone screams "You lie" during your speech, throw a tin can at him.

That's about the worst thing you can do. The best thing is to invite him to the stage and ask him to present his point of view to the audience. Of course, there is a risk that he is a professional agent provocateur specifically sent by Them to disrupt your speech and, if possible, make you look bad in the audience's eyes but my experience shows that most people booing the speech-giver are loud-mouthed good-for-nothings, who count on you being too embarrassed to counteract them. And even if it is an agent provocateur, if you are confident in what you were saying, he won't outshine you.

[modesty]

For public speaking practice the saying what you plan on saying out loud to yourself. (With a mirror if you want to see what you look like but that might make you nervous too.)
I like to pace when I practice movement helps me calm down. And index cards too.

I would do this ALL the time when pitching game ideas to my team mates or promoting my department...or hell even getting ready for an interview. (Read up on interview tips. They're good).

And also, let yourself be nervous. It's okay to be nervous.

Hope things go well!

[Samu-kun]

I think the foul villain original poster in question should finally come out and tell us how his speech went instead of keeping his silence and leading everyone into giving him advice long after he has given his speech.

[this_barb]

And If someone screams "You lie" during your speech, throw a tin can at him.

That's about the worst thing you can do. The best thing is to invite him to the stage and ask him to present his point of view to the audience. Of course, there is a risk that he is a professional agent provocateur specifically sent by Them to disrupt your speech and, if possible, make you look bad in the audience's eyes but my experience shows that most people booing the speech-giver are loud-mouthed good-for-nothings, who count on you being too embarrassed to counteract them. And even if it is an agent provocateur, if you are confident in what you were saying, he won't outshine you.

Guess you didn't get the joke.

[Koveras]

And If someone screams "You lie" during your speech, throw a tin can at him.

That's about the worst thing you can do. The best thing is to invite him to the stage and ask him to present his point of view to the audience. Of course, there is a risk that he is a professional agent provocateur specifically sent by Them to disrupt your speech and, if possible, make you look bad in the audience's eyes but my experience shows that most people booing the speech-giver are loud-mouthed good-for-nothings, who count on you being too embarrassed to counteract them. And even if it is an agent provocateur, if you are confident in what you were saying, he won't outshine you.

Guess you didn't get the joke.

I figured that it'd be a joke, just not to what extent. I assumed you didn't literally mean throwing metallic objects around, but I thought you were recommending a dismissive rejection of audience's opinions if they are not expressed appropriately. If I understood your point incorrectly, please forgive me. %)

[Samu-kun]

(It's a US-centric joke about Obama's Healthcare Address, so the international community may not necessarily get it)

[Koveras]

(It's a US-centric joke about Obama's Healthcare Address, so the international community may not necessarily get it)

Ah, I see. I admit I have been a bit... out of touch with foreign politics lately. Again, sorry for ruining the joke. ^^