Do your nerves get in the way of standing before a crowd and wowing them with your words? Well, you’re not alone. In fact, research reports that the fear of public speaking ranks high among the most common phobias.
Whether for a valedictory address at your graduation, a wedding toast, or a make-or-break presentation at work, the idea of being in the spotlight sends shivers down most people’s spines. Yes, almost everyone gets that rush of adrenaline before taking the stage. But the difference between seasoned speakers and novices lies in how they manage those jitters. They never think feeling anxious before giving a speech is a sign of incapability.
Want to follow suit and transform your public speaking skills? First, learn why becoming the centre of attention kicks your brain into fight-or-flight mode.
Why public speaking makes you nervous
Your fear of public speaking has everything to do with evolution. The amygdala, a part of your brain that detects threats and regulates emotions, still functions as it did back in prehistoric times.
Psychologist Catherine Pittman and author Elizabeth Karle of Rewire Your Anxious Brain: How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to End Anxiety, Panic, and Worry explains that the amygdala perceives the attentive eyes of your audience as predators ready to shred you to pieces. Additionally, it conjures up all the ways your speech could go wrong and how a tiny mistake would lead to getting “kicked out of the clan.”
For most people, a less-than-ideal public speaking experience can also trigger their stage fright. Your brain tends to retain unpleasant memories more vividly than positive ones. Thus, you become hyper-vigilant of the potential pitfalls like having a lipstick stain on your teeth or forgetting your script at home. As a result, you experience a cascade of psychological responses, including an elevated heart rate, sweaty palms, and light-headedness.
How to speak in public with confidence
Giving a speech is admittedly a challenging task for anyone – even for the most charismatic and outgoing people. Here’s the good news – the secret of calming anxiety for public speaking is having the right strategies and mindset.
1. Rehearse and record it.
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Set aside at least an hour of your time to learn your material. That means no distractions like work calls or emails. Once you feel more at ease with your presentation, use your phone to record your speech. It might seem awkward to watch yourself at first, but this method lets you improve your articulation, tone of voice, and body language.
2. Play with your imagination.
Manifestation is the latest self-help buzzword in today’s world, and it’s not limited to granting you money and abundance. Visualisation, a powerful manifestation technique, has long been studied for its effects on mental resilience. A 2017 study found that healthcare professionals and police officers who received repetitive imagery training have lower stress levels.
To use this technique, close your eyes and engage all your senses. Imagine every detail vividly – the size of the room, the feel of the microphone in your hands, and the faces in the crowd. Then, picture how everyone listens, nods, and responds positively to you. At the end of your speech, hear the applause and revel in that rush of excitement. Visualisation trains your brain to blur the line between fiction and reality. When you envision yourself as a confident and successful speaker, you’ll act accordingly.
3. Use repetition effectively.
Famous orators like Martin Luther King Jr. use a technique called anaphora, which relies on repetition to drive a point and make it memorable. Think of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech where King repeated the phrase to emphasise his vision for a better future.
However, overdoing it can easily backfire. Former US President Barack Obama keeps it brief with the rule of threes. He believes ideas or information structured in a triad are more impactful, memorable, and entertaining. Try this method next time you craft your speech.
4. Don’t dwell on a hard question.
If someone asks you a question you have not prepared an answer to, don’t hesitate to take a moment. Avoid filling the silence with filler words like ums and uhs. Instead, acknowledge the question and pivot to a point where you have more expertise. For example, you can say, “Let me get back to you on this. Speaking of X and Y, I’d like to bring up…” Your audience will appreciate your willingness to research the topic further. Plus, it shows your credibility as a speaker.
5. Pace yourself – and don’t forget to breathe.
Nervousness or fear of public speaking may cause you to rush through your talking points or, on the flip side, go on tangents, dragging out what you want to say. Make sure that apart from planning the words you want to say, plan your pauses too.
Give yourself time to breathe while giving a speech or presentation, but also practise deep breathing techniques before you get in front of people. It’s a good idea to work this into your rehearsals so it will be easier to remember once the spotlight’s on you.
6. Perfect your posture.
Adopting good posture doesn’t just convince the people you’re speaking to of your authority. It also gives you confidence and helps ground you in the present so you can keep your focus.
The Australian Institute of Business suggests adopting what they call a champion stance when speaking in public: “position one foot in front of the other, place your weight on the back foot, hold your head up, drop your shoulders back, lean your torso slightly forward, and smile.”
7. Try a power pose before you start.
Although the effectiveness of using power poses has never been fully confirmed, at the very least, they can’t hurt in your efforts to learn how to calm anxiety for public speaking. Power poses are best done in private so you can focus on a successful endeavour.
While in the bathroom or private corner before giving a speech or presentation, manifest your success by holding a one-minute victory pose with your fists pumping up into the air. Then ease into a superhero pose with your feet apart, hands or fists on your hips, and your chin up.
And if it all feels a little contrived at first? No worries. As power pose researcher Amy Cuddy advised during a TED Talk, “Don’t fake it ‘til you make it. Fake it ‘til you become it.”
8. Find faces in the crowd to focus on.
Talking to a sea of faces can be daunting. So, don’t. One tactic you can try when learning how to speak in public is to find individuals in the crowd to focus on when you make each point. Avoid staring at one person the entire time, which might make them uncomfortable and also lessen your energy on stage.
Find one person in one part of the audience, and make eye contact with them as you make your point. Then move your attention to another part of the audience and another person to do the same when you make your next point.
In addition to keeping your nerves from fraying, this tactic has the added benefit of making your audience feel that you are paying attention to them. You can also gauge reactions by observing the reactions to points or punchlines on faces you focus on.
9. Invest in your appearance.
The way you look conveys a message before you even say a word. Dressing up for the occasion and feeling comfortable in your body can impact how you present yourself on stage. Pro tip – choose an outfit that exudes professionalism but showcases your personality.
Pay attention to your smile, too. Researchers suggest that having straight, white teeth can bolster your self-esteem, so you may want to ask your dental health practitioner about treatments for a smile makeover.
For a more comfortable and discreet solution, consider an invisible aligner like ClearCorrect to move your misaligned teeth to their ideal positions. Unlike metal braces, these appliances are nearly transparent and far more comfortable because they’re removable, customised for your mouth, and made from a durable tri-layer material called ClearQuartz. You can take an online smile assessment to learn if this would be a good option for you.
10. Do your research.
One main cause of fear of public speaking is impostor syndrome – when you feel like an intellectual or professional fraud because you find it hard to believe your success or authority is well-deserved. Often, this causes anxiety because you inflate what you think others expect of you and feel like your own knowledge or skills don’t live up to those expectations.
Continuing the philosophy of “fake it ‘til you become it,” doing your research so you can back up whatever points you want to make when giving a speech or presentation is one way to beat impostor syndrome.
You can also research your audience to better connect with them. When you tailor your speeches to match the experiences and language of the people listening to you, they will more readily trust your authority because they’ll feel like you understand where they are coming from.
No one is born a perfect communicator. Double down on patience, practice, and determination to learn how to improve your public speaking skills. And when you keep pushing beyond your comfort zone, you’re also re-programming how your amygdala reacts to stressful events. This means practice will enhance your public speaking skills and boost your confidence.
References:
Crome, E., & Baillie, A. (2014). Mild to severe social fears: Ranking types of feared social situations using item response theory. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 28(5), 471–479.
Cuddy, A. (n.d.). Your body language may shape who you are [Video]. TED Talks.
Militi, A., Sicari, F., Portelli, M., Merlo, E. M., Terranova, A., Frisone, F., Nucera, R., Alibrandi, A., & Settineri, S. (2021). Psychological and Social Effects of Oral Health and Dental Aesthetic in Adolescence and Early Adulthood: An Observational Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(17), 9022.
Munroe-Chandler, K. J., & Guerrero, M. D. (2017). Psychological Imagery in Sport and Performance. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology.
Milutinovic, Jelena. (2024, July 12). 8 powerful tips for speaking with confidence and authority. Australian Institute of Business. AIB.edu.au.
Pittman, C. M., & Karle, E. M. (2015). Rewire your anxious brain: How to use the neuroscience of fear to end anxiety, panic, and worry. New Harbinger Publications.
