Public speaking is nearly always in the Top Ten list of things that we fear the most. I totally understand why; we are anxious about getting our content right(or not getting it wrong), somebody may have criticised us and that has damaged our confidence, or we feel so self-conscious in a meeting when all of the eyes are on us and we are expected to deliver.

Here are 3 quick ways to help you overcome any fear of Public Speaking.

• Adopt The Host Mindset

Put all your focus and energy out onto your audience and not turned in on yourself. Depending on the situation, adopt the same mindset as if you were hosting a party. Visualize an environment where you want your audience to have a relaxed, engaging and informative time during your presentation or speech. This may sound counterintuitive but shifting your mindset will help you come across as confident rather than feeling self-conscious.

• Lillypadding Method

After you’ve created your full presentation/speech script, go through it and create your Lillypads.

Lillypads are short and concise key words or headings that help you navigate your way through the whole of your presentation/speech when you are doing it; from beginning, to the middle, through to the end.

Here is a recent example from a client in a Premier League Football Club that I helped.

The opening of their full presentation script read;

“So I want to take you through some of the work that we have been doing around the security and privacy elements of the application”

Their Lillypads for this section were;

Privacy & Security

So when you are presenting/doing your speech you can glance down at your Lillypads, they give you comfort that you know what you are going to say next. This enables you to sustain spontaneous engagement with your audience, instead of always looking at your full script or slides, which is much less engaging for you, and your audience.

• Connect To Your Audience

Really commit to wanting to share every aspect of your presentation/speech; purpose, data points, case studies, stories, your experience, with your audience. This commitment, along with having the host mindset and the Lillypadding method, will really help you stay connected with your content, and crucially, your audience.

I appreciate that overcoming a fear takes a lot of courage and perseverance, but I would encourage you to practice these 3 things as they will help you shift from fearing public speaking to being confident, engaging, and impactful presenters/speakers.

Good luck and here’s to being brave in 25.

Have any presentation stories you would like to share? Leave your comments below. Make sure you contact and follow Trevor on social media today!

Trevor Penton(He/Him)
The Flourish Academy
Author and CEO
Helping Your Communication Skills Flourish
www.theflourishacademy.com
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