DO NOT REPRESS YOUR NERVES, EMBRACE THEM!
The number one comment we hear from anyone trying to learn public speaking is: “I am very nervous and I don’t think I can overcome my fear”. Many people often think of the fear of public speaking and nerves associated with public speaking in the same way. They think that they need to overcome both, nerves and fear, to be considered a polished speaker. We don’t believe this is true!
We believe that whilst you can most certainly overcome the fear of public speaking with practice, as a public speaker we don’t ever want to eliminate nerves completely. In thinking about this quote, we want to share with you why we think nerves are important in public speaking.
Nerves, when harnessed, can provide you with energy which can make your delivery more dynamic and ensure momentum particularly when you are presenting over a number of hours.
Nerves are a also positive sign the message you are delivering is fresh regardless of how often you may have practiced/delivered it. When we get over familiar with our message or have lost interest we may become less nervous simply because we don’t care anymore. This is far from ideal for any speaker.
Finally, nerves can be a helpful indicator we are outside our comfort zone and we are facing a new challenge that we can work on. This could be for example, the challenge of speaking in front of a larger audience, delivering brand new content, or perhaps trying impromptu speaking.
Nerves are therefore important in public speaking. Any liars who say they are not nervous are simply missing out!
Managing your nerves and not allowing your nerves to manage you is essential. In future articles we will share with you practical tips on how to manage nerves effectively.
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We distilled the art of public speaking into three concise and easy to read chapters: Character Development, Speech Preparation and Speech Delivery.
If you want to overcome your fear of public speaking, learn how to write engaging speeches and read about the speech delivery concepts then this book is for you. Start getting better at public speaking by clicking the button below.