During a speech in front of Address your speech to positive listeners

I stand on the stage, looking over the heads of hundreds of people who are staring at me - they are waiting for me to start talking, to say at least something - and an inner voice reminds me: "You are not the right person for this."

With my talk, I opened the TEDx conference, and therefore, I had to set the tone for the whole event. This is a huge responsibility and in addition one of the most important performances in my life. In any other circumstances, I would answer my inner voice: "Yes, you are right. I shouldn't be here. I am an introvert. I am an editor. I can’t even finish a sentence in a conversation with my own wife without thinking about what could be said differently.”

But, fortunately, I prepared in advance. He prepared not only a speech, but also knew how to cope with such destructive impulses. I knew what to say, I believed in what I was going to say, I had a plan in place in case the ideal circumstances I was preparing for weren't the same in reality.

Today I can stand on stage in front of thousands of people and confidently speak my mind. If I'm lucky, a few gimmicks and a couple of jokes won't be a complete failure. But it was not always so.

1. Do not talk about what you do not understand

Sounds like useless, obvious advice. This is not true. If you follow it perfectly, you will not really need the rest of the points from this article - you will do everything well anyway.

One day, after a few speeches, when you have established yourself as a good speaker, opportunities will open up for you to speak somewhere in faraway places with pleasant titles. There is one catch - the content. You may have established yourself as an expert on canary mating games, and then you receive an email inviting you to attend a conference and talk about global trends in paper clip sales.

You should thank for the invitation and politely decline.

The reason is simple: you don't know what to say about it. Even if you try to collect information for a short time, a good presentation still won’t work - you are not interested in the topic itself. In fact, you don't want to talk about it and the inviting party is not interested in you speaking with good story. They just want you to be at the event because they saw your video and thought you were a famous person.

Therefore, such simple advice hard to follow. You are a beginner, you want to stand out, it seems that this is a great opportunity for you.

If you've ever bought something with the hope that it will work like this, but in reality it does not work (think of the commercial that pushed you to a rash purchase), then you understand the disappointment that awaits both parties from the very beginning. .

2. Specify transitions in the script and nothing else

If you're like me, you've got a stern editor on the inside, sitting on your shoulder with a red marker in hand and a pair of glasses on your nose, ready to casually throw out, “Deuce! And stay after school,” for every sentence you said. No matter what you say, the feeling that you could have said better never leaves you.

When people like us usually write a script or plan. When writing a script, there is every chance of finding the right wording.

As the ancient Chinese strategist and warrior Sun Tzu wrote: "No plan survives the first meeting with the enemy." In this is the main problem detailed plan. In our case, of course, there is no enemy, but there is a world full of uncertainty. One has only to step on the stage, everything becomes real and there is no second take. The more detailed your script, the more likely it is to mess things up. When you're new to the world of public speaking, standing on stage and trying to remember what's next is the last thing you need.

So what should be done instead? Just improvise? Not really.

While the detailed scenario will bring you more problems than help, you'll need a different sort of plan. You need to start from the starting points in your story (you know, there are things that you can’t forget, even if you try hard) and write down the moments of transition from one thought to another.

Personal stories work well because:

The audience loves them, they help to establish communication.
You don't need to write them down because you already remember them.

We've been telling each other stories for as long as we've been human. This is how we communicated information long before the invention of paper. We are genetically programmed to remember them (so they are easier to present), and more importantly, the audience is genetically programmed to listen to them (and become happier listening to stories).

Because the same story can be freely told differently each time, you don't have to write everything down exactly to last word. Enough of the basic points, your human inclinations will take care of the rest. Writing down the main points will help connect the stories together.

3. Practice a little more than you need to.

My friend Chris Guillebeau, founder and host of the ceremony The World The Domination Summit, during the year every weekend is committed to delivering at least 10 talks during negotiations. Sometimes he tells a story. Another time reminds the audience of 15 important things that were discussed before the lunch break.

As a WDS member and aspiring speaker, I once asked him, “How do you remember everything you need to say, in full, every time you step on stage?” I was hoping for a secret life hack, but his answer - and it's true - was the most common: "I practice a lot."

Now I do this too. And it works. Whenever I have to give a speech, I rehearse at least 2-3 times. It takes time, it's often boring, you have to practice for days or weeks, and you don't feel like practicing again. But you are not doing this for yourself. You are doing this for your audience. If you want to be remembered by her, you have to immerse yourself in unattractive, boring, monotonous work.

4. Break your report into parts

Chris Gillibo advised not only to practice a lot. He also mentioned that he is working on separate parts. He tries to break his presentation into pieces and then put them back together.

Now I do the same, and it reduces the preparation time. By working on parts, I can develop and decide on different parts of the presentation in parallel. If I stumble on some piece of text in the middle (or worse, at the very beginning), I don't have to wait for the perfect working state without doing anything - I can work on other parts until I fix the issue with the problematic one.

Finish your report faster, practice more time, until it becomes a habit. Nothing builds confidence more than success, and nothing builds success like constant practice.

Some people exercise only as much as they need to. When I say "practice more", I mean that you have to rehearse more than you need.

5. Reduce speed. Get down slowly

A common problem for all introverts like me: if we start talking, we start chasing the thoughts we were trying to get rid of. My head is an idea generator that is constantly moving forward. My mouth, on the contrary, speaks slowly, trying not to make a mistake.

But at one fine moment it breaks through you, and you release all the accumulated thoughts outside. Trying to keep up with your brain is like an ant trying to keep a bull running down a mountainside. But trying to speed up your speech in order to say everything that was born in your head leads to exactly the opposite effect: you start to stutter, get lost, repeat yourself. Therefore, you are even more nervous and move away from the planned speech.

If your idea is important, then it deserves all the time it takes to express it. A more useful approach is to think slower. Not quite slowly, of course, rather, with more caution.

This problem is due to carelessness: you do not connect thoughts with each other, but instead start jumping from one to another. A few jumps off the road - and you can hardly remember where you are.

It's easy to stick to one thought. When you notice that your thoughts have taken you far ahead, just go back and repeat the desired idea.

6. Don't get lost!

When I was preparing for my TEDx talk, I called in my friend Mike Pacchione, a public speaking expert, to point out my shortcomings. He caught me on the fact that I often deviate from the topic.

It happens when the idea you're talking about disappears and you decide to follow it. The problem is that mind wandering rarely ends with one idea. Once you get lost once, you keep falling deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.

The problem is not that you can't tell interesting stories while wandering, but that as soon as you start wandering, you get completely lost. How does a tourist get lost in the forest? He takes one step off the path to look at the plants. And then: “Oh, mushrooms,” and a few more steps to the side. "Hey, that tree up ahead looks great," and it's only when he decides to go back that he realizes he has no idea how to do it.

The temptation to wander in thoughts can be high, but then it is very difficult to return to the right path.

There are two practical ways solutions to this problem. The first is to follow tip #3 and practice a lot. The more you practice, the more you remember your own stories and know where they can lead. Another solution is that the only thing that can help when you're on stage and you feel like you're getting off topic is to throw out extra thoughts from the head.

Your brain doesn't want to follow abstract thoughts, it wants to process them. The best way stay on the right way- remind yourself that you can think about them... but not right now. Get them out of your head. Perhaps they can be used during the presentation of the same report in the future. But, for heaven's sake, don't try to use them now.

7. Create a soothing ritual

My heart was ready to pierce the chest. I felt that all the muscles were tense, and the field of vision was beginning to narrow. Breathing began to quicken. "What's happening?" I asked myself. I was on the edge panic attack. I had to take a step onto the stage to say the most important speech in my life, but the only thing I could think about was that I was going to send everything to hell. This gave an outlet for the stress reaction, and everything went downhill.

Fortunately, I was instructed what to do if this happened. Vanessa Van Edwards, one of the greatest speakers I have had the pleasure of knowing, helped me prepare. She shared that she, too, gets nervous before big presentations. If she hadn't told me this herself, I never would have thought.

The secret she is using? Calming technique. Every good speaker has one, and every good speaker knows that it is necessary to stick to it in order to show oneself with better side.

What Vanessa does: she finds quiet place, where a few minutes before the scheduled appearance on the stage, he straightens his back, breathes deeply and imagines success.

This may sound a little silly, but it actually works. I myself use this method.

Before important event it is absolutely normal for the body to start releasing a lot of the stress hormone cortisol. We become especially sensitive to stressful situations. Just thousands of years ago, feeling stress and not responding to it could have cost you your life.

It doesn't happen often today - I can't remember reports of "death by indecision" - but our biology hasn't kept up with us. The terrible irony is that the more you allow stress to take over, the more likely you are to make a mistake and perform poorly.

Therefore, before you go on stage, check yourself and your stress level. Excitement is normal. And anxiety is bad. Always save yourself a few minutes before going out to calm down.

8. When you're wrong, keep talking.

I was a big fan of the TV show The Colbert Report. I rarely even missed an episode. It was one of the most popular "news" in live on TV. If you've watched the show, you may have noticed that Steven got his words mixed up in almost every episode. He could construct a phrase in such a way that it lost its meaning, he could skip a word or pronounce it incorrectly.

But you might not have noticed this, because outwardly Colbert did not react in any way. When he made a mistake, he didn't stutter or try to fix it. He just kept talking because he knew what all public speaking introverts should remember:

context is more important than details.

He could make a mistake and not even pay any attention to it. And no one noticed this, because no one listened to every spoken word. Everyone listened to the context.

Far worse than a small mistake is drawing attention to it. If you stumble, use your sense of humor to smooth things over. Shut up and move on.

9. Remember that the audience wants everything to be successful.

Probably the simplest advice that everyone gives helped me learn how to use all the previous tips in action:

Always remember that the audience doesn't want you to fail.

When you're worried about an upcoming big event, this simple truth can be easily forgotten. Your audience is not going to kick you off the stage. She wants to know what you want to teach them. The congregation spends their time and perhaps money to listen to you. People don't give their time and money for a bad experience. But just the opposite.

When you're nervous before a speech, it's easy to think, "What if someone doesn't like what I have to say?" This thought starts to spread, and soon you will start asking yourself, “What if everyone hates me?”

This way of thinking leads to bad performances. Don't think so. Don't let yourself swerve down that road, because the audience is really on your side. She wants you to succeed. And, if you follow these nine tips, you will have all the advantages to be on top.

When thousands of people are looking at you, ready to listen to you and waiting with bated breath for your speech - this, of course, is unnerving. Maxim Rakitin, lecturer acting skills from Smile Studio Theatre, told us how to make public speaking brilliant, or at least not faint.

internal state

A speaker who doubts himself, his speech, and the meaning of life can also be successful. His name is Woody Allen. The rest needs to be adjusted. inner world according to instructions.

Don't think for others

Yes, perhaps the audience is mentally laughing at your cheap suit and protruding ears. Maybe they even guess about the tattoo in the form of Onishchenko's profile. But that means you're incredibly charismatic. After all, usually they have no opinion at all about the speaker until he finishes.

Don't think for others
Set a goal

Collecting investments worth a billion and buying Kazakhstan for a golf course is secondary. the main objective any performance (either at the presentation or from the stage) - to convey a certain idea to the public. By focusing on the current task, you will be distracted from the fear of failure and thoughts about your imperfection.

Remember the state

Emotional memory is the basis of the profession of an artist. If you remember the feeling of winning after winning a Forex teddy bear and can evoke that feeling before your performance, the jitters will be replaced by confidence.

Conduct auto-training

Before going out in public, look in the mirror, remember everyone who loves you, and feel confident that you are perfect. At least symmetrical if you have two arms, two legs and two eyes. For a first impression, it's already good.

The audience is capricious and unpredictable, like a three-year-old child. A rattle would be the obvious solution, but for adults there are methods that are even more effective.

Ownership of the material

Trite, but difficult to achieve. It is not enough to learn the material, it must be deeply understood. Then you can do anything with it in public - cut it into strips, juggle or put together a puzzle, without risking making a mistake and missing something important.

Template break

Beneath the colorful NLP term lies a paradoxical behavior that the viewer does not expect. And it works with any audience. Try to put yourself tea in a cognac bottle during the performance and take a sip. You will see, the audience will be completely captured by what is happening.

Fixation of attention

To deal with the jitters and keep the audience's attention, choose one of the audience and speak to them for the most part. This will give you the illusion of one-on-one communication and make your speech more confident.

Change of rhythm

Any pleasant activity can become a dull job if you do not change the rhythm. Therefore, even a porn picture is changed every half a minute. In a normal speech, there is no such rigor, but it is also desirable to divide it into segments. Important - longer and slower, secondary - shorter and faster.

moment of silence

The best way to grab the audience's attention. You need to silently look into the hall with an inner message that you would like to tell a lot, but you cannot continue while they are chatting there and rustling with chocolate foil. Silence sets in very quickly.

This is the main thing in the speech, apart from the meaning. And the main thing in the voice is breathing, voice formation, diction and the logic of speech. Talking about his voice, Maxim Rakitin skillfully modulated and sounded extremely convincing.

On breathing and sound production

“You can’t breathe with your chest while talking, breathing should be diaphragmatic. The lower abdomen and oblique muscles push out the air, this gives a voice message. As one of my teachers said, you need to talk with eggs. And get out of the habit of speaking quietly. Everyone has a voice. Who has problems - let them go to the phonator. This is a doctor who solves vocal cord problems.”

About diction

“Language is a lazy muscle, it needs to be developed. Tongue twisters are suitable for this. And we must wean ourselves from speaking with a half-open mouth. There is such an exercise: hold a wine cork with your teeth and read the text, then remove the cork and repeat. There will be a difference for sure. By doing this exercise regularly, you can get rid of problems with diction.

On the logic of speech

“This is the most difficult thing, because the cultural level needs to be developed. Read more, and not only fiction. There is such a book - "Dialogues with Joseph Brodsky" by Solomon Volkov, there is Brodsky's direct speech. What a speech!

Keep your distance. If you fidget and sway during the program, the sound will move in and out, as if you were speaking from a hammock.
Hold back the sound. Your powerful voice from the diaphragm will break the eardrum of the viewer, and the career of the sound engineer. On the radio, speak with your mouth, not your stomach.
Breathe evenly. The microphone is very sensitive, and any deep breath will reach the listener as a chug.

Everyone has had to speak in public at least once - for some, this is associated professional duty, for example, teachers, politicians, artists, managers, lawyers. Now there is even a separate specialty - the speaker.

According to psychologists, stage fright is so developed that it is felt by about 95% of the total population. Fear of public speaking is one of the most common fears that causes a lot of inconvenience and also worsens a person's condition. Consider how to overcome the fear of speaking, and what treatment modern medicine offers.

Description of the phobia

The fear of public speaking is called medical term glossophobia, and in some cases it really should be treated. This fear of public speaking was familiar to many outstanding people. Faina Ranevskaya, musician Glenn Gould, singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau were afraid of the stage among celebrities.

For many, the fear of speaking in front of an audience becomes a serious stress blow, in which the absence of any treatment and proper therapy leads to the development of a full-fledged mental disorder and social phobia.

Under the influence of fear, a person develops the so-called protective behavior. Such behavior helps to get rid of stress only at first, and if the problem is not solved in the future, a person cannot cope with fear and protective behavior becomes his normal daily pattern.

Such behavior begins to interfere with personal and career growth, forms mental problems and distorted perception of reality.

This is why performance anxiety must be recognized on early stages, do not be afraid to resort to the help of a specialist who will determine in each individual case how not to be afraid to speak.

Typical and atypical fear

Consider how a phobia manifests itself, since it is impossible to overcome the fear of public speaking without an accurate identification of the pathology. In addition to glossophobia, there is another name - peyraphobia. It is worth distinguishing from it the ordinary excitement that a person experiences before speaking to an audience, and a pathological fear of public speaking.

The reaction is quite adequate when a person is worried before oral entrance exam, performance with a musical number. In the circle of acquaintances, such people easily cope with fear and calmly demonstrate their talents.

Psychologists say that a little anxiety in front of the public has its advantages. Before the upcoming performance, a person concentrates attention, becomes more collected and energetic, as a result, the course of any public performances is kept under control and goes well.

A person who suffers from stage fright experiences true fear both before and after the performance, in addition, he is afraid even after the end of the performance, he cannot cope with fear, even if he performed well.

Such a fear remains both in front of an unfamiliar and in front of a familiar audience; it cannot be overcome, regardless of the number of listeners and the degree of acquaintance with them.

Symptoms

Phobia can be caused various reasons but almost always causes the same symptoms. Before the performance, only after seeing future listeners, a person instantly feels a strong emotional tension.

The cerebral cortex, endocrine glands, sympathetic system are activated, resulting in work internal organs changes in this way - muscles tighten, facial expressions and gestures change, speech changes are also observed that are difficult to cope with - a change in the timbre of the voice, the speed of speech.
The autonomic system responds with increased sweating, frequent heartbeat, jumps in blood pressure, headache and squeezing sensations in the chest.
When people are terribly afraid of a performance, there is a dry mouth, trembling and confusion of the voice, a complete loss of the ability to speak articulately, in addition, even involuntary urination.
Sometimes, with high nervous excitability, a person can even faint, and before that, feel nausea, weakness, dizziness, his skin becomes pale, covered with perspiration.

The strength of the symptoms and the complex of symptoms is individual, depending on the characteristics of the person and his character, state of the body and mood.

Reasons for the development of a phobia

The main reasons for the development of this phobia are both genetic predisposition and social factors.

There is a genetic tendency to certain varieties of fear, for example, to social phobia, or congenital increased anxiety. A person is constantly trying to meet certain standards, afraid of being misunderstood and rejected, unfairly assessed, isolated from society. Among the characteristics that are inherited, note the temperament, the level of anxiety and emotional perception. Parents and children can be very similar in this, having the same fears.

The most serious, underlying causes of phobias are social conditions. The development of phobias is facilitated by excessively strict upbringing, intimidation and threats in childhood by parents, excessive susceptibility to the opinions of others.
A negative assessment of one's abilities and capabilities, a negative experience in childhood, which was subjected to bright criticism, a distortion stressful situation and its exaggeration.
Pathology can develop due to low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence in front of listeners, bad preparation to performance and lack of knowledge. For many, a phobia develops precisely for the reason that there was very little experience in performing.
On the other hand, glossophobia often occurs against the backdrop of a constant striving for perfection, and often accompanies perfectionists and people who value social evaluation.

Coping Methods

How to get rid of stage fright, and what treatment is indicated for such a pathology? Specialized assistance necessary only when the fear becomes panicky and neurotic, going beyond all limits. In other cases, overcoming the fear of public speaking is possible with the help of auto-training.

The main ways to overcome stage fright are, first of all, in the awareness of this problem, and then in the analysis of the reasons that led to the development of pathology. Then solutions are developed and tested in practice.

Removing the uncertainty factor

To overcome the fear of public speaking, you should get rid of the uncertainty factor of the audience sitting in front of you. Analyze the purpose of their meeting, what they expect from what they heard, and what kind of reaction you would like to get from the audience. Analysis of the situation allows you to avoid the unknown and stop being afraid of the unknown reaction of people.

disillusionment

Nervous excitement increases when a person concentrates on negative traits public. Among such traits, skeptical smiles, disapproving gestures, inattention, and whispering during a speech are usually noted.

Change own state possible, mentally endowing people positive qualities paying attention not to the negative, but to positive features- Approving gestures, interested and attentive looks.

Another good way eliminate the illusion that everyone in the room is against you, concentrate on the positive result of the work done.

Speech planning

One of top tips about how to overcome stage fright and how to cope with nervousness, is a thorough preparation for the performance. Confidence in your own preparation and the sufficiency of information allows you to relax a little and tune in to a quality performance.

For example, when preparing a report, one should first of all analyze and study the source data obtained from various authoritative sources. Then create unique text and write down the main points of your report, make a presentation plan- what to say and when. Choose strong arguments in your favor and do not lose sight of them throughout the report, anticipate possible questions and prepare answers to them.

Ways to overcome fear lie in a thorough rehearsal - to stop stuttering and stammering during a speech, rehearse the report in front of a mirror, or read it to your loved ones. Since it is impossible to stop being afraid without a certain experience, a rehearsal in front of your closest ones will be a good workout.

Recognition of imperfection

Before you fight your fears, accept the fact that the importance of other people can be greatly exaggerated. Do not give too much importance to criticism, skepticism and sarcasm, realize that everyone has the right to make a mistake. Also remember that even well-wishers can wishful thinking, because not a single opinion around can be the ultimate truth.

Learn Techniques to Increase Self-Esteem and Feeling dignity, feel your own value and the uniqueness of your personality. You will also have to accept the fact that other individuals are just as unique and have the right to make mistakes in exactly the same way as you.

Get ready for a positive outcome

You can effectively overcome fear if you focus on the process of achieving the goal, and not on the result. Fix your actions in the present, as if looking at yourself from the side without exaggeration and understatement. Imagine positive sides your stay on stage - this will allow you to defeat fear and get rid of it faster each time in the future.

Pathology treatment may include physical activity, the study of technology correct breathing, training the work of the left hemisphere of the brain, for example, working with mathematical calculations or other exact science. One of the pleasant ways to fight is to hum a favorite tune, meditate, practice body posture to achieve more open and restrained positions.

Sooner or later, everyone has to perform in front of a large audience. And many novice speakers feel some discomfort and fear before their report in public. Let's reveal a little secrets on how to overcome the excitement and fully reveal the topic of your speech to the audience.

Preparing for a performance

The preparatory phase is very important for successful performance. Without it, you will not be able to communicate your ideas to the audience well enough. A few days before the public report, you must:

Highlight the main idea of the topic of the report;
Break your speech into several constituent parts and come up with bright and unusual subtitles for them;
Prepare carefully additional material(drawings, drawings, illustrations) for a more complete presentation of the topic;
Identify key key phrases and words;
Write a finished text based on the previous paragraphs, Special attention should be given to its beginning and end;
Find out who you will be performing in front of (number, age, audience interests, cultural and religious peculiarity listeners) and correct some points of the report;
Write down some highlights on flashcards;
Verify correct value and pronunciation of terms and complex new words;
Perform articulation exercises;
Alone at home in front of a mirror, practice your performance, carefully watching your facial expression and body gestures;
Practice the pace of your report and model the tone of your voice when you give a speech;
Record your speech on a voice recorder so that later, listening to yourself, you can correct your speech.

Highly great importance for success in your report to the audience has what you will be wearing. First of all, for the performance, choose those things in which you feel comfortable. It is recommended to use neutral shades in clothes so that there are no too bright or gloomy colors. To look neat, clothes must be neat.

First of all, for the successful implementation of the performance in front of the audience, you need to thoroughly know the topic of the report and believe in what you are saying. Prepare the necessary material for distribution before your presentation to the audience. It may be a small booklet. To be successful you need to:

It is very important if something goes wrong during the report, to be able to get out of the situation with humor and improvise well. And most importantly, enjoy your performance. Speak and enjoy your presentations and interaction with the audience.

How to stop being afraid of public speaking? - a topical issue for people of all ages and professions. For the first time, we are faced with the need to speak to a serious audience already at the institute or at work. And if at school, speaking in front of classmates gave you discomfort, and you caught yourself thinking - “I'm afraid to do this,” then work assignments where you need to convey certain information to professionals most likely terrify you.

But all this fear of public speaking is only in our head, so you can easily get rid of it by first explaining to yourself how it arises and what ways to overcome it exist.

The excitement before performing on stage is different, but we feel the same state, which is extremely difficult to overcome: hands and knees are shaking, the mouth dries up, the voice sounds as if from the outside, the audience turns into one frightening mass. To understand why fear controls us so much and how to deal with it, let's find out its causes.

Perhaps the very first and underestimated reason that provokes the fear of public speaking begins in childhood. When Small child speaks loudly in a public place for the first time, then the parent will silence him. In the future, this will be the explanation of why a person has a phobia to express thoughts loudly in front of an audience.

When the voice is clamped, it leads to excitement, and ultimately to fear. Add oil to the fire, of course, they will not forget and school teachers, belittling abilities, and classmates who can hurt feelings without thinking about the consequences. These moments are the causes of social phobias, including provoking fear of public speaking.

The second reason why fearless public speech bypasses us, refers to the psychological component of fear. In the past, fear was synonymous with danger. I felt cold - I tried to warm up faster, went to the edge of the abyss - I was afraid of heights and walked away. Under the influence of everyday stresses: work, study, economic and political changes in society, the instinct of self-preservation has undergone changes. As a result, we begin to worry in unjustified situations, including before performing on stage. The reasons that awaken this fear in us are the following:

Fear of people as such due to low social activity.
Fear of saying stupid things or making a reservation.
Constantly winding up the idea that the audience is negatively disposed towards you, and will closely evaluate the performance.

Another reason is not having the information necessary for the performance. And the last one is agoraphobia, or the fear of crowds. Unlike the fear of people, which is written above, this fear is deeper, and people do not even realize that they are afraid of large crowds of people and suffer from this type of phobia.

Why you shouldn't be afraid to perform on stage

Having understood the sources of the formation of a phobia for stage performances, you must first of all convince yourself that this fear does not exist, that we are starting to worry in vain.

Main point on the way to overcome fear, which needs to be realized and felt - public speaking is an opportunity to show oneself from the best side and evaluate your skills in working with an audience. This is important because every day, at work or school, we communicate with people, and when this discomfort brings us, our productivity drops, our mood worsens, etc.

Fearless public speaking is the key to your self-confidence. By training skills by presenting information in front of other people, you bring actions to automatic execution, and over time you will no longer feel uncomfortable when communicating with people. We summarize the useful aspects that can be obtained from performing on stage:

Experience in communicating with a large audience, which will help develop communication skills.
In the process of preparation, you will deepen your knowledge related to the topic of the speech.
At work conferences or student summits, your speech will be noticed by influential figures, which may do you a favor in the future.
At proper preparation to the reports, soon your speech will become more literate.

How to overcome stage fright

If you apply the above tips too late - the performance is already on the nose, and the phobia haunts you, and you cannot get rid of it, then use the following tricks:

Relax. When the body is tense, you involuntarily want to shrink and not be the center of attention. Relax your body so as not to reinforce psychological discomfort with physical tension.
Your posture on stage should be confident: both feet are on the ground, arms are not in a closed position, and your back is straight. Place your supporting leg forward for stability. This will allow blood circulation to circulate better, deliver more oxygen to the brain cells, and you will become less worried.
It is important to normalize breathing so that the body is not under stress. To do this, inhale, count to 4, then exhale sharply. Repeat 10 times.
If you feel that your voice breaks with excitement, do speech exercises in advance. Tell the speech without opening your mouth. Speak the letters as clearly and expressively as possible. This exercise will relax the muscles of the face and larynx and help to cope with anxiety. Take water with you, otherwise at the wrong moment you will lose your voice and have to interrupt the performance.
If a fearless public speech for no reason is accompanied by trembling in the knees, then try mentally directing attention to them. Or fool your brain and consciously make your knees tremble. After that, the trembling often stops.
Make eye contact with your listeners to keep in touch with them. This is how you show that the performance is aimed at their interest and feedback.
If you made a mistake right decision will not focus on it and continue to speak. In addition to the task of presenting information, it is important to be able to focus on the main thing. Therefore, if you succinctly omit the error, none of the listeners will even notice it.

The recommendations in this article will help overcome fear, and fearless public speaking will become a constant companion of stage performances. You will never say - "I'm afraid to perform on stage, I can't handle it." When you feel confident in front of an audience for the first time, you will realize that in life you have become much more liberated, and the phobia that haunts you has receded.