THE Book of Lists famously ranked public speaking as the number one fear, above disease, money, flying and, most curiously, death!
But why is public speaking so intimidating?
One theory is that it’s all down to evolution: for most of our history, we have lived in small nomadic groups – so if we make fools of ourselves, the chances of being able to reproduce are dramatically reduced. There’s nowhere to run and hide if you are living in a tribe. Therefore, we have evolved the fear of public ridicule as a defence mechanism to protect our genes.
So, how can we overcome this fear?
First, we have to try to perceive the fear for what it is: an outdated survival instinct. Nowadays, we no longer live in small tribes, so the absolute worst thing that can happen if you embarrass yourself in front of others is that you feel a bit silly. This might not be much consolation but it does help put things in perspective.
Ask yourself, ‘’What’s the worst thing that can happen if this doesn’t go well?’’
A more practical solution is to ensure that you are well prepared with a clear structure to your presentation.
A good way of doing this is to follow the “Power of Three’’ principle. Things are easy to remember in threes: Small, Medium, Large; Red, Yellow, Green; Internationalism, Integrity, Individuality. If you reduce your presentation to three key points, then you will find it a lot easier to hold your train of thought under pressure. It will also help prevent boring your audience.
Another tip for structuring the talk is to use small cue cards.
You arrange the points you want to make in the order you want to say them on cards that fit easily into the palm of your hand. Make sure you number them in case they get mixed up. This will help you to maintain fluency. Fluent speakers appear confident and in control. And when you appear confident, soon enough, you will start to feel confident.
Presenting is a complex skill, just like gymnastics. Nobody would think of doing a gymnastic performance without practising. Similarly, you do not want to go into a presentation without running through it a few times.
You can do this with or without a test audience. If they are people you know and feel comfortable with, this will help boost your confidence.
Doing something several times makes it familiar and less intimidating.
Everybody likes to be liked, and nobody likes to be bored. Therefore, it is crucial to the success of your show that you do not send the audience off to dreamland.
An absolute golden rule here is to make sure that you never, ever simply read from your slides.
If your audience are over the age of five or so, they know how to read. So don’t read the slides. Keep the words in your mouth and on your cue cards. Use a maximum of six key words on each slide if you must use slides at all.
The second point here is to make sure that your audience are learning something. Tell them something new – just as I did at the beginning of this article, when I told you that public speaking is the number one fear.
Your audience will like you if they find you interesting, and you will pick up on that, which, in turn, will make you a more confident presenter ... Thanks, everyone. Any questions?
