Overcoming Public Speaking Nerves! - part4

By: Johnnie Gentle
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:43:05
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If you been following the articles about “How to Conduct Effective Public Speaking” and “Overcoming the Dreaded Nerves”, then you’ll know that nerves are a natural part of the preparation process.

OK, so we know why we feel this nervous tension prior to an event or important performance, but how do we get rid of it.....

Well, I did say that it's almost impossible to get rid of it all together and you now know that it's a good thing to feel a little nervous to give you that edge.

However, we can lessen the nerves to a great extent and simply use that adrenaline rush to really make our performance sizzle.

Now Let's face it, when speaking or performing in front of a paid audience, you certainly want your performance to "Sizzle", - don't you?

So when considering "How to Conduct Effective Public Speaking", you want that adrenaline rush to give you that nervous edge, but we can lessen the dreaded effects of nerves.

First of all you need to ask yourself what it is that you're nervous about or afraid of.

Several things that probably cause most distress is the feeling that:

1. - we're not quite up to the job,
2. - that things will go wrong and
3. - we'll end up making a fool of ourselves.
4. - the audience will notice how nervous you are

Lets take these common fears in turn....

1. If you're not up to the job - then don't do it. However, to ensure that you can tackle the performance and make an excellent job of it, you simple have to PREPARE. - Preparation and Practice is the only way to overcome this fear.

2. Why should things go wrong if you've prepared well enough and also prepared a contingency plan "Just In Case" something goes wrong? (More about this later)

3. You'll note that both the above are concerns about SELF, as is the worry about making a fool of yourself. The way to overcome this fear and indeed alleviate much of the unnecessary nervous tension is to concentrate on the object of your performance, that is:…..

To Entertain Your Audience; - And as many comedians and clowns will tell you that often means making a fool of yourself.

4. No matter how apparent to others you feel your nervousness is - it will never be as bad as you think it is yourself. Once again if you concentrate on your audience rather than yourself, the nervousness will soon subside in any case.

I would suggest that you think about the audience and how best you can entertain them and add to the enjoyment that they'll get from your performance. With that in mind, you will find that your focus will be on the audience and on your performance rather than on yourself and your feelings of nervousness.

So just for a moment, stop thinking of yourself and consider the audience instead. I don’t know about you, but if I'm watching a magician or listening to a speaker and things begin to go wrong, I want to crawl under the table with embarrassment for them.

So you see the audience are usually on your side and are hoping that everything will go well for you, because they are relying on you to entertain them. They feel for you.

You see, an audience can get nervous too, either if you gabble away from the start or, worse, if they think you are unprepared and are going to drone on for so long with second rate material that the bar will be closed before you finish. People will enjoy themselves much more if they sense that you know what you are doing and appear to be confident.

Your confidence will be greatly enhanced by knowing that you've prepared well and have a contingency plan to cover the odd hiccup and just remember that you have been asked to perform and entertain them because you are regarded as good enough and if any other member of your audience were in your position, they would feel just as nervous, and most probably a lot worse, - because you are well prepared.

Make sure you’re well prepared for your next performance or that job interview or even that dreaded meeting with the boss.

Get all the advice and information on how to conduct effective public speaking at: Effective Public Speaking

You can become a "Public Speaking Superstar" - Just take a look at : "How To Conduct Effective Public Speaking"TODAY!

Article source: Expert Articles