Overpowering the Fear of Public Speaking  

For an average Singaporean, there is nothing that terrifies us more than speaking in public. Facing the crowd and speaking can be scary and if we do not do anything about it, it can take a blow on our professional and personal life.

If we are in the corporate world, it is important that we get our point across through public speaking. Whether we are giving a presentation to the board members or simply asking our boss for a promotion, we have to stay on the ground and speak.

Before dealing with the fear of public speaking, we have to acknowledge that the fear is real. The next thing that we should do is observe the symptoms. Symptoms include stuttering or stammering, freezing, sweating, weak voice, dilated pupils, rapid heartbeat, dry mouth, elevated blood pressure and many more.

After acknowledging the symptoms, we should proceed to techniques that can help us overpower this fear. Here are some tips:

• Know the topic: It helps a lot facing the crowd if we know every detail of our discussion. We have to read and review our topics thoroughly because it is only in discussing clearly that things will get better.
• Deep breathing exercises: If we are about to talk, we have to take a few minutes and breathe deeply. Deep breathing is a relaxing technique that can help us calm the nerves.
• Do not be anxious of silence: Of course people will listen when we talk and being silent means they understand or comprehending on it. We should not fear the silence because it will only eat us alive.
• Practice: It is only in practicing that we can face the crowd proudly. We have to allot time practicing.