Did you know that the fear of public speaking can hold you back professionally?

In fact, studies have shown that it can cut wages by 10% and inhibit promotions to management positions by up to 15%. These public speaking statistics paint a picture we all need to take a cold, hard look at. Public speaking is an invaluable skill to have in your back pocket.

Yet most people will never develop it due to one reason: Anxiety of talking in front of others.

So, I wrote this post to give you practical public speaking anxiety tips to help you overcome your fear of talking to crowds. I’ve given over 100 speeches, sharing my message of self-improvement at charity events, business conferences, school assemblies, and more.

As a result, I’ve learned a few things about managing public speaking anxiety.

In this post, I’ll share how to overcome this fear so you can speak confidently to peers, managers, and even your friends and family. Keep reading to learn more.

Understanding Public Speaking Anxiety

Most people instinctively fear public speaking, and it’s easy to understand why…

The accelerated heart rate, sweaty palms, shortness of breath, and piercing eye contact from the audience… Performance anxiety is real, and it can hit even professional speakers hard, arousing the fight-or-flight response in your nervous system.

These physiological responses (and the accompanying adrenaline rush) result from perceived high-stakes situations.

The good news is that there are many anxiety reduction techniques that can help you deliver a successful speech. And it’s important you learn them because the calmer you are on stage, the better audience connection you’ll establish.

Effective Public Speaking Anxiety Tips

Like anything else, you can conquer your fear of public speaking by implementing an effective strategy. This fear will become a thing of the past with enough time and repetition. With that in mind, here are 5 public speaking anxiety tips to help you overcome this fear.

1. Systematic desensitization

Exposure to your fears is truly the only way to overcome them.

One of the biggest mistakes novice speakers make is not putting themselves out there enough. But the first (and probably the best) tip to overcome your public speaking fears is to give more speeches and live presentations. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in person or online; speak in front of groups more often.

Set a goal to give 50 presentations (or a number that makes sense for you).

Be methodical: Track how you felt, what you did well, where you could improve, etc. The idea here is to slowly desensitize yourself to publicly addressing audiences. Join a Toastmasters club near you to get some practice and desensitize yourself to public speaking.

2. Pre-planning tactics

Want to know the easiest way to feel confident on stage? Pre-plan. I can’t stress enough how powerful prior preparation is. Here are a few simple ways for you to rock your next presentation:

• Practice, practice, practice: Now, this was an obvious one, but it’s fundamental, so it’s worth covering in this section. Practice your speech: Rehearse your vocal inflections, play with different hand gestures, try different movements and body postures, etc. All of these details will help you craft an engaging speech that hooks, informs, and educates your audience. As a result, you’ll skyrocket your confidence over time.
• Master your subject matter: Many speakers make the mistake of trying to memorize their speeches verbatim. Now, I understand the logic behind this tactic (I used to do this a lot as well). It feels “safer” if you memorize your speech word for word. But I would strongly advise against that. The problem with this strategy is that it can come off as robotic and emotionless when you actually deliver your presentation. The solution? Master your subject matter. You should know your content so well that you can speak about it imperfectly and still be confident in delivering your message.
• Warm up socially: Before an intense workout, athletes stretch, do a few light reps, jog on the spot, etc. Similarly, you should “warm up” socially before your big presentation. This is among the most powerful public speaking anxiety tips. Before you get on stage, engage the people around you. Give people high-fives, make small talk, crack jokes—whatever you have to do to get yourself into an energetic, social frame of mind. This “warms you up” and makes it easier to speak on stage confidently.

3. Act as if…

This tip may seem a little abstract, but it’s actually very practical.

Do not tell the audience that you feel nervous, jittery, or anxious about your talk. Act as if you know your speech will go well. Here’s the deal: When you admit you’re nervous, it makes you more nervous. As a result, you compromise your ability to give an insightful and value-packed speech.

But more than that, you (believe it or not) will also make the crowd nervous for you by admitting your jittery feelings.

As a speaker, your job is to create a bubble of safety for your audience. You want them to feel relaxed and at ease. And you do that by displaying confidence in yourself and your subject matter. Admitting your anxiousness to the crowd is a plea for sympathy.

Your audience is there to learn from you, to soak up the valuable information you have to offer, not placate you when you feel uncertain of your abilities.

4. Speak every chance you get

I briefly touched on the importance of giving more speeches earlier.

However, this is so critical that it warrants its own dedicated section. Of all the public speaking anxiety tips, this one stands head and shoulders above the rest as the most crucial. And the reason is simple: There’s no substitute for real-life experience.

You can read the books, take the courses, attend the seminars, etc., but it’s all for nothing if you don’t put in your reps. There are a couple of ways to gain speaking experience.

1. Join Toastmasters: Toastmasters is an international organization that supports people’s personal development by helping them cultivate their communication and public speaking skills. I’ve been a member for years. There are clubs scattered around the world. All you have to do is perform a quick Google search to find a club in your area.
2. Record yourself: Try recording yourself speaking into your phone’s camera for a few minutes every day. This tactic gives you experience speaking “off the cuff.” As a result, you’ll gain the gift of gab. You’ll learn how to speak impromptu so that even when you don’t know what to say, the words will come to you naturally and effortlessly. Three minutes a day recording yourself speaking into your camera is all you need.

This ranks as one of the most effective public speaking anxiety tips. Here’s the deal: The more speeches you give, the less stage fright will affect you. It’s like anything else in life: the more you do it, the better you become.

5. Get and apply feedback

As your speaking skills improve, you’ll become more confident in holding a crowd’s attention.

As a result, your stage fright will drastically diminish. So, one of the best public speaking anxiety tips is to get feedback from an outside source and apply it to improve your skill set. When you see audiences go from scrolling on their phones to hanging on your every word, your self-assuredness as a speaker will skyrocket.

But this only happens when you smooth out your rough edges.

To do that, you need constructive feedback on ways to improve. Again, this is where joining an organization such as Toastmasters International can be helpful. It allows you to get real-time feedback to grow and develop as a speaker.

Conclusion

Public speaking is an art. The best part is that—when it’s done well—you can have a powerful impact on people with the message and story you share. For this reason, the skill of public speaking is worth developing. If you’d like additional self-improvement tips, be sure to sign up for The Motivated And Disciplined Newsletter below.