LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES: Actress Julia Roberts holds her Oscar for Best Actress for her role in ... [+]
Here is some startling news: Some of the world’s most famous celebrities, from Harrison Ford to Julia Roberts to Samuel L. Jackson, have overcome their fear of speaking in public to achieve great success.
Do you suffer from glossophobia, the fear of public speaking? It is a common social phobia, but I was surprised to learn an estimated 75 percent of the population experience some form of anxiety before giving a speech.
If you are like three out of four people, you need to get over this anxiety because the number one strategy to attract high-paying clients is to speak regularly offering valuable information on how prospects can solve their problems. At a minimum I recommend you make two speeches a month as part of your client attraction strategy.
If you are anxious about speaking, help is available. For the last 95 years, millions of people have joined Toastmasters to help with their fear of public speaking. Toastmasters offers a casual club setting for people to face their fear and practice speaking in front of a small and supportive audience.
According to Toastmasters, some of the most famous people in the world tremble at the thought of speaking in front of an audience, but as this list shows, anyone can suffer from glossophobia:
Harrison Ford has called public speaking “a mixed bag of terror and anxiety,” but that hasn’t prevented the “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” actor from starring in numerous blockbuster movies and receiving the Life Achievement Award of the American Film Institute. When Samuel L. Jackson was a child, his speech therapist suggested acting to help combat his debilitating stutter and speaking phobia. Jackson has gone on to win an Academy Award and appear in more than 120 movies. Julia Roberts went from a stutterer with a fear of public speaking as a child to giving a memorable acceptance speech when she won the Best Actress Oscar for “Erin Brockovich” in 2001.
As the list above indicates, even famous individuals have suffered from glossophobia; however, they were able to overcome their fear and find success in their professional lives.
If you or someone you know is terrified of speaking in public, here are four tips from Toastmasters International’s First Vice President Margaret Page.
Breathe to calm the nerves. “Try a type of deep breathing called diaphragmatic breathing. It reduces stress before speaking by flooding the body and brain with oxygen (crucial for alertness) and allows the speaker to remain centered during delivery.”
Have a roadmap. “Structure the speech like a roadmap — it should have a starting point and a destination with plenty of guideposts added in. Toastmasters doesn’t advise rote memorization because that leaves no room for error. With the roadmap approach, speakers can find their way back if they veer off track while avoiding the deer-in-the-headlights feeling of forgetting a line.”
Focus on connection. “All of us have been advised at some point to picture the audience naked. But how unnerving is that? Instead, focus on making connections with the audience by sharing experiences, employing empathy, and delivering each line purposefully.”
Find sympathetic ears. “Public speaking is a skill, just like riding a bike or dancing or playing the piano. It takes practice. Toastmasters practice speaking in front of fellow members so they can receive real-time feedback. That allows for instant course-correction and continuous improvement.”
I agree with Page when she says public speaking leaves little room for error. “The listener can’t ask questions or re-read a passage, so clarity is key — the speaker must be clear and audible, structure the speech correctly, and connect with the audience one person at a time. That may sound like a tall order, but for novices to expert public speakers, the key is practice, practice, practice.”
