The Projection of Fear

When people first approach me about fear and public speaking they often have such a strong phobia that any thought of it makes them feel physically sick. We start to discuss some of the concepts that I have shared with you – the ideas of paradigms and how we don’t always perceive things accurately. How we need to start changing our viewpoint in order to change our effectiveness in overcoming the fear.

Quite often the individual will go from avoiding all speaking opportunities that are not forced on her/him to being willing to try a short introductory speech to test a few of the concepts.

Invariably I hear the same comment after such speeches. “I was so nervous – and I knew that everyone else could see it”.

NOT!!

Here’s another paradigm shift for you. The audience does not have some sort of X-Ray vision that can peer into your psyche and tell how you are really feeling. Sure the audience might be able to pick up on a few symptoms of fear. That might include:
• A quivering voice
• Shaky Hands
• A flushed face
• Losing your place
However, audience members are not going to be as aware of your nervousness as you much as are.

Let me state that again because it is so important. YOU ARE HYPER AWARE OF YOUR NERVOUSNESS – your audience is not. They may see the symptoms for what they are – a reflection of your nervousness. However, it is just as likely they won’t try to attribute the symptoms to anything.

Let’s conduct a little experiment. Have a conversation with someone (who obviously isn’t nervous) and count the number of time s/he stammers, stumbles, or stutters while talking. It happens a lot. Now do you immediately jump to the conclusion that the individual is nervous because s/he did not speak perfectly? No, of course not. We’re so used to people not speaking perfectly that we sub-consciously ignore any small imperfections. So what do you think your audience is doing when you stutter or stammer a small amount during a speech? Right… They are sub-consciously filtering it out. Most of the time they are not even aware that you are doing it. If they do become aware they are most likely not going to be looking for “the cause” let alone attributing it to nervousness.

It is normal to have some degree of nervousness – however you need to do what your audience is already doing, Focus on your material rather than your nervousness.

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Copyright © 2007 David Mudie All Rights Reserved

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