You’ve probably had a bad experience with stage fright at one point or another of your time in school.  True, public speaking isn’t easy, and it never was.  However, you know that simply being good at your job or skilled in your field very often isn’t enough to get you places.  That would require people to learn about what you can do and, thus, know about your skills and your expertise.  That, in turn, involves communication and, yes, public speaking skills.

The Person at the Podium

The issue with problem public speakers is most often confidence (or lack thereof), and you probably list that as one of your public speaking problems.  Talking in front of an audience, particularly one you don’t know, can be a very intimidating prospect.  You can get over that intimidation with a combination of the right mindset and proper practice.

Before you even step onstage, do some mental preparation.  Remember that you’re the one talking on that stage.  You have the floor and the microphone.  Assume the role of the expert, and, thus, assume that your audience cannot refute or challenge what you are saying (and this is most often the case).  That should help you talk in a flowing and uninterrupted manner. 

Confidence is Key

You can further build up your onstage confidence by practicing speaking in public.  How can you do this? 

For starters, you can try speaking to a small group of people that you’re comfortable with, such as close friends and family.  That should help you develop not only your confidence but a more relaxed and conversational way of presenting as well.  From there, work your way up to a small group of strangers, to a larger group of people you’re close to, and so on.  You’ll find that, after a while, you’ve worked your way up to a comfortable stance and style of speaking even in front of a packed auditorium of function hall.

If, on the other hand, you don’t have a couple of years to spare for public speaking training and have to get the skills in a jiffy, there’s another handy trick you could use.  Sure there’s an audience, but it’d be a lot easier for you to speak if you didn’t focus on all of them.  Ask a friend or a family member to sit among the crowd, preferably someplace where you could easily see him or her.  When you start speaking and you want to look in the direction of the audience, try focusing on your friend or family audience member instead of at random people in the crowd.  Think of it as a visual reassurance to help get you comfortable while speaking onstage, which is the same goal of all the other exercises above.