3 Tips to Face Your Fears And Be Confident In Your Public Speaking
In my high school drama class, our teacher gave us a typical assignment of creating a commercial for a fake product.My friend and I came up with the idea of a teddy bear with limbs you could rip off the body, aptly named Rip-A-Teddy. We took turns writing the script coming up with funny one-liners.Presentation day rolled around and I was psyched. I stood in front of the class poised and relaxed. In the end, our teacher was giving critiques and pointed something out.He singled me out and said, “Look how confident she is.” He pointed out my posture and how it radiated confidence.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the fear of public speaking is reported to affect 73% of the population.Something about getting up in front of people and giving a presentation makes your heart pound and makes you want to throw up.I am in the rare minority. I love making presentations and performing. I will willingly get up on stage and sing and have no nerves whatsoever. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s performing.I can give a speech or perform a song like nobody’s business. The stage is my home.
So, how can you embody some of these traits and be less nervous the next time you have to present something? Use the three P’s of performance.
#1) Posture
The first thing is posture. Super poses are no joke and the research is in. Standing in power poses like a superhero does build your confidence. You may feel silly doing it but try it.Even if it doesn’t make you feel confident, at the very least you look confident.Stand up straight, set your shoulders back, and put your head up. This will make you seem confident and like you know what you’re doing.If you’re fidgety and crouched over, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re uncomfortable. Let’s see you fake it ’til you make it.
#2) Projection
The second is to project. When presenting, it’s natural to go a little mute. The nerves take over and you whisper quietly to yourself as you wish for a lightning bolt to take you out. It’s okay to be nervous.Practice projecting your voice. Act as if you need to reach the people in the very back row and let your voice be heard.A follow-up to this is when you’re nervous, you tend to rush and speak fast. I do the same thing, even though it’s natural to me. I just get excited. But you don’t want to speak too fast and have people not understand you. Try to take a deep breath and slow down.
#3) Poise
And third, don’t act all stiff. It’s unnatural. Try and exhibit poise. Your tendency is going to be to fidget. That’s okay. Movement is a good part of performing. Just try and be more intentional with it. I talk with my hands a lot.
There you have it. The three p’s of better stage performance: posture, poise, and projection. Now you’re ready to nail your next presentation.
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