How Do You Really Feel When You’re Asked to Speak in Public?

For most people, public speaking doesn’t sit neatly at the top of their personal or professional development list. In fact, many would genuinely rather learn to tame a lion than stand in front of a room and speak for five minutes.

For some, even the thought of speaking in public is enough to trigger a rush of anxiety. That’s the thing about fear; you don’t have to be on a stage to feel it; the mind is perfectly capable of generating the discomfort all on its own.

It’s no surprise, then, that public speaking is consistently ranked among the greatest sources of anxiety worldwide. After all, most of us weren’t taught how to do it. Not at school, college or work.

We were simply expected to be good at it, and many of us grew up in environments where speaking up wasn’t encouraged at all. Some still remember raising a hand at school, getting the answer wrong, and feeling the sting of embarrassment that somehow stayed with us for years.

No one relishes the idea of being judged.

So Why Bother Learning to Speak in Public?

At some point, you will be asked to share your ideas, and when that moment comes, your ability to speak clearly and confidently can change everything.

Public speaking:

• strengthens your confidence and self-esteem
• gives you a platform to influence and make a difference
• accelerates your career progression
• impacts every area of your life, not just your work

So how do you move from anxiety to authority?

1. Look for Purpose, Not Pain

Most people spend so much time imagining everything that could go wrong that they forget to ask the most important question:

Why am I speaking in the first place?

Purpose is the antidote to fear, and when you focus on the difference you want to make for your audience, the anxiety loses its grip.

If your only aim is to “inform,” then yes, you’ll feel uncomfortable, and your audience will feel it even more. People can read; they don’t need you to read to them.

To speak with impact, you need a clear M Point, the moment of truth.
What do you want your audience to think, feel, and do when you finish?

Find that point, commit to it and let it drown out every distraction.

2. Get Some Stabilisers

Think back to when you learned to ride a bike.

You didn’t just hop on and glide into the sunset. You had stabilisers, and someone beside you, picking you up when you fell, dusting you off, encouraging you, guiding you, believing in you.

Every meaningful skill you’ve ever mastered came from guidance; someone taught you to read, to drive, to work, to navigate life itself. Public speaking is no different. It isn’t something you’re meant to figure out alone, and it was never designed to be a solo struggle.

3. Don’t Be a Sheep

Sheep follow the one in front of them; sadly, many professionals do the same.

They watch their boss present, assume that’s the “right” way, and copy it, but what worked ten years ago doesn’t work so well today.

Many business presentations are so predictable, so overloaded, so lifeless, that people dread attending them almost as much as they dread giving them. If you want to stand out, you have to stop following the herd.

You have to:

• craft mindfully
• prepare thoroughly
• practise properly
• know your objective
• know how you want your audience to feel
• open with impact
• tell stories
• get to the point
• lighten up
• use contrast
• build drama
• design slides like billboards
• stay on message
• make it about your audience
• make them feel something

That’s how you stop being a sheep and how you start being memorable.

If you’d like to develop your public speaking & presentation skills:

– Book yourself onto a powerful public speaking course.

– Invest in some really good one to one public speaking coaching.

– Get yourself some excellent presentation training

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