Fear_of_Public_Speaking

You look out skeptically on the suddenly quiet and subdued auditorium and discover that a mass of people is staring attentively at you. But instead of feeling pleased, special and even proud that you have captured the attention of so many people, you start to hear a resounding boom in your ears, your palms start to sweat, the butterflies do somersaults in your stomach and you even find that your voice has somehow abandoned you. The faces of your audience reveal how much they are anticipating your first word and how interested they are in what you are about to say. Gigantic expectations placed on very small shoulders. You quickly come to the realization that this is your moment to shine and how you play this role can either make you or break you. These four minutes can decide your future. If I were to ask for a raise of hands of the persons who have had a similar experience to the one just described, I am positive that a sea of hands would shoot up quickly. I have taken it upon myself to ask a number of people to share what their “greatest fear” is, and a majority of the replies were “public speaking.” You may ask yourself the question, ‘why am I really so scared of performing this particular activity'’ Research has shown that people fear public speaking more than they fear dying! So why are we so petrified of getting up in front of an audience and delivering a speech' Well, based on my observation and research, I can safely tell you that there are several factors that cause this, but the first one that I will mention may cause you to feel a teeny bit ashamed of yourself. My grandmother always said this to me when I was growing up, “Kersha, the world is round and it spins; so whatever goes around, comes right back.” We all have played the role of an audience member and can easily recall the times when we would sit and correct grammatical errors made by speakers in our minds, or poke our neighbor in the side to silently criticize some utterance made by him/her or even snicker and roll our eyes. We are humans and we can’t help but to be judgmental as it’s a natural aspect of our lives. But ladies and gentlemen, when the shoes are placed on our feet, of course we get nervous, because in our minds we know that the same things we did are being done to us. There are other reasons, like a fear of failure, vulnerability, self- doubt, perfectionism, personal disabilities, lack of preparation, stress and just not being equipped with the “know how” of public speaking. A good friend of mine once said to me that the first step in overcoming a fear is admitting it. A lot of people are reluctant to admit to others that they fear public speaking, therefore, their fear continues to grow. So let me be an example for you. You may be surprised, but I, Kersha Grandison had an annoying fear of public speaking, even though I have been called upon to deliver speeches in public before. However, Instead of sweeping this fear under the carpet, I made an intelligent decision to become a member of toastmaster and thus far, I have learnt something very significant, “Practice makes perfect” Whatever your reason of fearing public speaking, I strongly urge you to overcome your fear and do public speaking. Someone smart said "A life lived in fear is a life half lived." I totally agree. If you are going to let your fears force you not to become a public speaker, then you are missing out big time.