The Key to Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking

Although 72-75% of Americans have a fear of public speaking, most people have a lot of thoughts on what makes someone a good public speaker, or a bad one. 

Talks too fast? Bad. Commands attention? Good. A large contributing factor behind the fear of public speaking is due to the never ending list of criteria we use to judge ourselves, and others. 

Seconds become minutes. Minutes become hours. The pressure of public speaking exaggerates everything. 

Like when I was giving the capstone presentation in my Public Administration class at FSU freshman year, and my knees wobbled so hard, I thought they would give out. When I asked a friend afterwards if my legs were distracting, she replied “Not really. You sounded a little nervous at first but you looked fine.” I felt like death, but the worst someone could say was that, “I was a little nervous” Great!

No one, not even me, can remember what that presentation was about or what I said. And that was true even an hour after I gave the presentation. We place immense pressure on minutes of our lives that most people will never remember.

Perception of public speaking is the main source of the fear. We overthink, overanalyze, and become so consumed with the fear of messing up that it becomes the reality. Our energy is better spent on the message we want to share with those around us. 

By putting the fear of public speaking in perspective, we can control it, mold it, and eventually conquer it.