If you still are not sure that you can use professional help to improve your public speaking, presentation and communication skills. Here are some frequently asked questions.

1. What makes a great public speaker?
   Effective communication skills is not only about eloquent phrasing of sentences; although that does lift your presentation most importantly it is what value you bring to the table. It is important to choose your subject carefully, something you are passionate about, as most fear of facing an audience goes away if you know your subject well and are passionate about it. This will make you comfortable to talk and also bring a lot of value to all present.
2. Should you move your hands and walk around the stage ?
   There is no hard and soft rule but importantly it is to be effective in your communication skills.  Sometimes just walking around stage and moving your hands can be a sign of nervousness. Your body language should be confident as nearly 70 % of communication is Non- verbal. What is important is to make your presentation effective, which will only happen if you are comfortable with the subject you are addressing. Be at ease and bring out your natural rhythm, as we all have a rhythm to our person. Don’t be excitable and in a hurry, stay calm, as your energy directly affects your surroundings.
3. How do I stop using ‘like ‘, ‘you know ‘, ‘umm’ ?
   One of the best approach to overcome this is ask your friends to always tap you in the arm when you use it. This will make you aware of it and it is really just a lack of proper pop ups in the mind. An empty silence can be awkward but if you use the break to collect your thoughts there is nothing wrong with it. As musicians know making a mistake is okay as long as you make it confidentially.  Many great speakers have mentioned how people even use their mistakes! It is really how confidently you present yourself and if you become aware of what you frequently do when in a loss of words; you will in time automatically correct it. 
4. How do I be myself when nobody respects how I speak?
   Professional coaching can definitely help to identify your strengths and weaknesses, the idea is to become the best version of yourself when you present yourself in public. With professional help you will gain confidence of yourself. One of the main problems in communications skills is low self esteem. This can be worked on as nobody is perfect, the idea is to be effective within your limitations and being the best version of yourself.
5. What are public speaking personalities and styles?
   There are namely four kinds of public speakers, Reliable, Helper, Improver, and Experienced.  As the words suggest, a reliable speaker is somebody who brings a lot of value to the table and his words are trustworthy. A helper is someone who assists other people and builds team morale. A improver assists in making people better in what they do and an Experienced speaker is one who brings a lot of his own experience in the subject to the table. Broadly these are the four types of public speaker but then you also have stand up comedians who bring fun and laughter.
6. Is there an ideal Public speaking style?
   No, each style has its own strengths and weaknesses. You have to identify your own style where professional help can assist. The ideal public speaker is one who is comfortable in front of an audience and is effective to mould opinion.  Once you explore the various styles you are able to identify which style suits you best. The idea is to find your voice.  You can even mix styles, there is no hard and fast rule, it all boils down to your comfort zone.
7. How do I improve my public speaking skills when I don’t have any?
   Relax, you have been speaking since your very birth and it’s hard to believe none of your conversations went well? The idea is to build confidence and correct the flaws in your communication skills. As Einstein famously commented ‘Everybody is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking it is stupid. ‘You have to find your natural rhythm in front of an audience. Professional help will assist you to understand yourself better. Everybody is gifted; it is just a question of identifying your strengths and weaknesses. To put it in other words, find your natural style.

Stage fright goes back to our primitive nature, from our reptilian brain which is characterized with to Fight or Flee. After Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution, he one day tried an experiment in a London Zoo.  He pressed his head close to the glass enclosure of a Puff Ader and every time the Ader would lunge forward to attack, he would by reflex action rebound away from the glass in fear. He concluded, which is backed by neuroscience today, that it was a reaction ingrained by our evolutionary nature to fight or flee when sensing danger and although we have evolved with a neo- cortex some of our brains evolutionary behavior have just not gone away and is evident in public speaking.

Stage fright and public speaking is psychologically one such fear we are ingrained with from our primitive reptilian brain which fears embarrassment, humiliation, and judgment as the modern world we live in, self image is very important and most people lack clarity of their being suffering from low self confidence, poor self image, fear of failure and fear of ridicule which makes the primitive reptilian brain react with fear. 

Public speaking is an art that can be worked on and great leaders have even suffered from it till a larger purpose from life made them overcome this fear.

 If you are looking to become a confident speaker, you need to nail this art.

Why Couldn’t Speak in Public and Feared Public Speaking

Mahatma Gandhi is a fine example, he suffered from frequent attacks of this fear and is documented by him having to speak in the vegetarian community in London and as he went to speak he was overcome with this panic attack that after reading one line of his speech he had to ask somebody else to read out his speech. This very man who couldn’t speak in public and feared public speaking went on in life to lead an entire freedom movement.  For Gandhi his firm belief on what he believed became his greatest strength to overcome this fear and stand up for what he believed in.

Thomas Jefferson who was the third President of America was diagnosed with social phobia. Abraham Lincoln feared large crowds.

For all of them  they overcame their fear by a larger truth they believed in and you can  sum up how they overcame their fear by first knowing the subject you  want or have to speak on well. Organizing the mind on the essential points of the presentation, which keeps your mind with relevant information to pop up in the mind, as speaking is all about what pops up at the moment in your mind.  Visualizing success, as the battle is more in the mind, breathing deeply and being present in the moment, focusing on the material and not the audience, not fearing a moment of silence.

For all these great leaders they found the best way to overcome fear was to face it head on. Being positive in their frame of mind of what they wanted to achieve. Choosing a topic they passionately felt for, which excites the passions and overcomes the fear of speaking. Forgetting about failure or success and concentrating on what was important in their mission.

What we can learn from all these men is what is elementary to overcome the fear of public speaking.

1. Get organized – When you organize your thoughts, you become much more relaxed to express them as you are clear in your head.
2. Practice and prepare extensively- Make notes of your key points, run it through your head, be ready to take any questions that may pop up. Your research should be complete leaving nothing to chance.
3. Eliminate fear of rejection- This is a fundamental fear from our reptilian brain to fear rejection it can have disastrous consequences. Eliminate any fear of rejection and see yourself winning.
4. Focus on patterns- Keep your sentence short but meaningful, add pauses in your speech. Repeat key points.
5. Watch yourself in a mirror- Look out for your facial expressions, your gestures, your body movement, make yourself welcoming.
6. Record yourself- Hear your voice and get comfortable with it, hear yourself and make corrections to yourself of how you would sound or look better.
7. Concentrate on your breathing- Keep your breath calm. Try and be still with a calm rhythm to your breath, you directly influence the energy of your surroundings when you speak so if you are relaxed it will even make your audience relaxed.
8. Sip water that is warm or the room temperature
9. Pick a subject that you passionately care about- You will find if you choose a subject you are passionate about it will overcome your fear as you have a larger purpose in speaking then just presenting yourself as Gandhi found his belief of freedom and what he believed in was larger than himself.

The key to be an effective public speaker is in our hands and we can master it if we carefully remember these points. Fear is a basic human reaction from our primitive brain. We have to overcome our brain’s default wiring by being conscious of it and not letting it over power us.

If you are looking to become a confident speaker, you can count on our public speaking training to help you out efficiently. Our expertise and experience ensure that you are able to overcome stage fear and nervousness to become a public speaker in quite less time. Do reach out to us to know more.