Public Speaking 💬

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Fear of public speaking affects 75% of the population. If you've ever had to speak in front of a crowd, felt your heart flutter and your face flush, and feared that words just wouldn't come out of your mouth; you know how difficult speaking in front of others can be. Here are a few tricks I use to get over my anxiety around public speaking.

This issue is all about public speaking 💬
 

TLDR

• Don't drink caffeine before speaking

• Start off with audience participation

• Slow down

• Accept the anxiety

Skip the caffeine

When I was a creative director at my old agency, I often had to present our work to a group. This was not a large group, and it was full of people I knew well. And yet I would still feel my face flush as soon as I started talking. Then one day, I had an early presentation, and I didn't have time to make myself my usual coffee. And what do you know? I didn't feel my face flush. Now I always skip a coffee on a day that I know I'm going to speak in front of a group. This probably only works if you're a regular coffee or tea drinker, but it's surprisingly effective.
 

Start with the audience

Most of the "butterflies" effect that happens with public speaking is front-loaded before and at the very start of your talk. Once you start getting into a rhythm, that typically fades away. One way to move right past these early nerves is to get the audience involved in the beginning. I usually ask a question, or simply greet the audience and wait for a response. Those few seconds where you don't have to talk let you fall naturally into a groove and settle in.
 

Take it slow

When nerves are high, people tend to speak quickly. This has the added detriment of not letting your mind keep up with the words you are speaking. Consciously slow yourself down. Pause in between thoughts. Unless you're in a 60-second startup speed pitch, you can take your time. Your audience will appreciate it.
 

Accept anxiety

Talk to any professional public speaker, and they will tell you that they still get anxious before getting up on stage. This is perfectly normal and should be expected. Surfers describe this as being "stoked". It's a combination of excitement and fear. When you realize that this is what's going to happen, your mind doesn't try to fight it, which can lead to nerves spinning out of control. And getting comfortable with that feeling just takes experience. So keep speaking and accept that you'll be nervous... but it will pass :)
 

I hope this helps you in your own public speaking!

Keep making, and thanks for reading! 🙌

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Until next week,

Craig