Fear of public speaking is quite normal

Many people appear to believe that they are unusual in that they have a fear of public speaking. They look at other speakers and see them exuding confidence and wish they could be just like them. They are envious of their apparent lack of public speaking fear.

However, almost everyone has some degree of fear of public speaking. It is a quite natural phenomenon. That's because we don't normally conduct any kind of conversation on a "one to many" approach. Almost all our conversations are "one to one"; even at dinner parties where you may have several guests you tend to only talk to one person at a time.

As a result our life experience tends to be talking to people "one to one", so as soon as we are plunged into a situation that is "one to many" - as in public speaking - we tend to be rather worried and concerned. Fear of public speaking is therefore a natural occurrence.

What the confident speakers have done is change the attitude they have to speaking. Instead of seeing the situation as "one to many" they still treat this as a "one to one" situation. They imagine they are talking to members of the audience on an individual basis, rather than imagining they are talking to the whole group. If you treat public speaking as a "one to one" rather than a "one to many" situation, you will find you lose your fear of public speaking more quickly.

Labels: confidence, fear