Fear of Speaking in front of 200 people

by Abdul

Being a Secretary of an autonomous body, I have to present the annual receipts and expenditure statement and the administration report in front of the general public (200-250 people). The task is very tough for me as my mouth becomes dry, nervousness develops, my body begins shivering and all calmness and control goes.

I always try to avoid the situation. But, it's my duty to do the job.

What can I do to overcome all the shortcomings and present myself with confidence without any problem?

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Fear of Speaking in front of 200 people

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starstarstarstarstar 		Stuttering Help
by: Susan

Hi once more Abdul,

In between my last post and this I've been giving myself a tour of sites about stuttering.

You see I am not a speech therapist. I have no training in the areas you need help with. My background is teaching English and drama and the techniques I've learned over the years have been enough to allow people to relax and speak easily. But these are people without your challenge.

On my search to find something I could offer I found all sorts of sites. By far the most authorative was this: The Stuttering Foundation.
I also found a very honest and helpful Stuttering Forum.

Both sites offer a wealth of information. The Foundation site has free downloadable e-books and brochures - all of which look good.

Neither however offered a quick and easy answer. I read about breath work (very similar to the exercises I have already given you the reference for), techniques for easing into speech, slowing speech down, using a definite beat or rhythm to pace your words and so on.

I think that probably the single most important thing I learned was there was no such thing as a one-size-fits-all cure. Different things work for different people. Some have found hypnosis excellent. Others swear by NLP and others by prescribed drugs to lessen the stress.

And the next most important thing I read about was the role self-acceptance plays in allowing the stutterer to live the life they want to as fully as they choose. On the forum there many entries about finding peace or freedom once they had stopped trying to mask or hide the stutter.
While all of the above made sense to me I am fully aware it doesn't solve your problem right now.

I do have one suggestion.
You say you MUST do this presentation. What about doing it but using the audio on PowerPoint? Presumably you have slides to show? Graphs? Expenditure charts? If you used Power Point to display them you could also pre-record your explanations. I've done this before with presentations and the audio comes out well.
If you managed it this way - you could write your speech, record it and do all the edits necessary to make it fluent. When the prepared presentation was complete you could offer to answer questions. That isn't quite as potentially scary as doing the whole thing live.

Yes, it's different but if you arranged it before hand and explained why I'm sure you would be listened to and exceptions made.

Thank you for your question and thank you for making it clearer.
I hope it goes well for you but most of all I hope you find a way to work with the stutter positively.

Kind regards,
Susan

PS. If anyone reading this has suggestions to add, please do so. Your comments are most welcome!

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starstarstarstarstar 		What if the speaker is a stutterer!
by: Abdul

Dear Susan,
Thank you very much for your guidance. All the advises of yours is appreciated on the subject, but what if the speaker is a stutterer for a long time. A stutterer commonly develops a tendency to avoid speaking in public, in front of even friends, relatives etc. And a stutterer who holds a post of Secretary and must speak (give the presentation) in front of a large gathering. All his calmness and quietness disappears and is replaced with a fast heart rate, nervousness, fear of failure, loss of confidence and he totally disappoints.
Thank you.

(Note from Susan - Abdul, Now that I have a more complete picture, I will think again and come back when I've done some research.
How long have you got before you must give this presentation?)
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starstarstarstarstar 		Overcoming Fear of Speaking
by: Susan

Hi Abdul,

Thank you for your question. Unfortunately being fearful of public speaking in the way you describe is common.

The good news is that it doesn't NEED to be that way. You CAN change it.

Have a look at my acute anxiety help page first of all.

I highly recommend getting control over your breathing. That's the first exercise on that page. Try it and every time you begin to feel yourself tightening up or having anxious thoughts use it. It truly will help.

The second most important thing you can do for yourself is practice. Prepare your speech fully and say it out loud. Repeat saying it until you are utterly familiar with the flow of material.

Practice it in front of a mirror so you can see yourself, in front of your family or a few friends and finally on the stage or in the place you will deliver it from. If you are showing Power Point slides to accompany your presentation be sure to include them in run throughs AND remember to breathe slowly and deeply.

There are other help tips on the acute anxiety help page too. Read them all and choose the best to fit your needs. Some you are able to implement instantly by yourself while others involve other people. While they are all good and extremely useful the foundation is breathing properly and practice.

I hope this helps Abdul.

Go well,

Susan

Imagine what would happen if all the energy that you're currently using to be fearful was diverted into helping you succeed. It would be wonderful! You would be confident. Your voice would be strong. You would breathe well and easily. You CAN do it! Start right now.

And if anybody else has helpful tips, please add them!

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