Overview :
This blog explores your public speaking fears. We provide you with 3 levels of public speaking courses to address & overcome your public speaking fears.
Humankind’s greatest fear is not death, spiders, nor flying in aeroplanes. Bizarrely, the greatest fear on earth is the fear of public speaking!
The World Health Organisation estimates that 75% of humanity are GLOSSOPHOBIC, which simply means that a huge collective pool of 5 775 000 000 people on earth are beyond terrified of public speaking. So, you can relax. You are definitely not alone.
Where does the fear of public speaking come from?
The terrifying fear of public speaking usually starts at puberty when a child starts becoming more self-aware and self-conscious. At this extremely vulnerable age, children are exposed to the horrors of schoolroom orals and giving classroom speeches.
Just cast your mind back to the likely ordeal of being forced to deliver your classroom orals and speeches. You were probably forced to learn these speeches off by heart (with little help nor guidance on effective communication), and then you were probably dragged reluctantly up in front of the class and made to stand up there in front of everybody feeling exposed and extremely vulnerable.
To makes things worse, most children were generally constrained by having their hands firmly planted at our sides (or even worse, made to stand in the military fig leaf position with hands tied behind our backs) while we stumbled and stuttered through our humble earliest speeches.
During these childhood schoolroom experiences, most children feel completely overwhelmed, uncomfortable and very unsafe.
These negative schoolroom speaking experiences can also create the primary trauma that can lead to debilitating stutters. This usually develops into a lifelong affliction unless these stutterers are lucky enough to find a highly experienced voice coach who can help unlock this massive trauma.
Introverts fear public speaking more than Extroverts
Public speaking fears are generally worse if people are more introverted and sensitive by nature. Many professionals in the corporate world, and especially in Financial Services and Asset Management sector, tend to be the strongly logical Analytical personality type. The Analytical personality type (both introverted and logical) often struggles with spontaneous verbal self-expression, especially when having to perform in public.
The other introverted personality type is the Amiable personality type, which is introverted and emotional. This leads to an increased sensitivity and a feeling of feeling unsafe and very vulnerable in public speaking situations.
On the other hand, the two extraverted personality types – the Driver (extroverted logic) and Expressive (extroverted emotion) are naturally programmed to be more extraverted and outgoing in nature, and consequently are more willing presenters. Extroverted personalities find the more extroverted disciplines like engagement, presenting, leading and influencing far easier to master as they have a natural outgoing personality to meet these demands.The voice of your inner critic
The voice of your inner critic
The negative and powerful voice of your ‘inner critic’ is something that needs to be identified and recognised. This dangerous inner voice is a cruel bully that usually destroys your self-confidence when you stand up in front of audiences. It is the voice that remembers every single failure, mistake or trauma that you have ever experienced. It is the voice that reminds you on a daily basis that “… you can’t!” The inner critic is a raging bully that destroys self-esteem and self-confidence.
The destructive voice of the inner critic is most dominant in the Analytical personality type, which is wired towards introversion, perfectionism and is totally risk adverse. It’s the inner voice that I as a a communication skills coach help to create awareness of, and then help to contain and quieten.
Public speaking training can help both introverts and extroverts
Even if you are more extroverted by nature, public speaking requires a whole range of presentation and communication skills techniques that you need to learn. The good news is that most of these skills are fairly simple and teachable, and they can be taught by a highly experienced presentation skills coach.
The great news is:
- YOU can learn how to manage your initial nerves, jitters and presentation stress.
- YOU can learn how to project confident and open body language and minimise your nervous gestures.
- YOU can learn how to project your voice with greater presence, clarity and impact
- YOU can learn how to structure a successful speech that captivates your audiences
- YOU can learn how to be more spontaneous and think on your feet
- YOU can learn how to create more impactful PowerPoint slides
- YOU can learn how to pitch, close and sell to your stakeholders
- YOU can learn how to read and pitch to the 4 audience types
- YOU can learn how to make a greater impact and build your brand
- YOU can learn how to feel safer and enjoy public speaking!
Communication Guru has public speaking courses tailored just for you:
Communication Guru has developed public speaking courses to support and develop every level of presenter. We have presentation skills courses tailor made to support your confidence level, experience and your presentation objectives and deliverables.
Communication Guru has many executive coaches with over 15 years of public speaking teaching experience to teach you in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban or online. We only work with the best trainers in South Africa.
Our Beginner public speaking course
“The human brain is a wonderful thing: it starts working the day you are born, and stops working the day you stand up and speak in public!”
– George Jessel
Our beginner public speaking programme is taught in a very safe learning environment. You will learn all the essential tools and techniques to overcome your existing fears. You will also learn how to present expertly and professionally and how to deliver captivating speeches.
Videotaping enhances the learning process. Your general self-confidence will grow, and you will wish you had had this support years ago.
Our Advanced Public speaking course
This dynamic, fun and life-changing programme explores and teaches the principles that create confident and ‘wow’ presenters. This programme helps you to address and overcome your fears and develops the more experienced presenter.
The learning style of this programme is practical and safe. Learners explore and discover their unique personality and communication strengths. The programme creates empowered and skilled presenters who are able to shine, lead and motivate at every level.
Our Investment Professional Public speaking Course
Investment professionals are generally more introverted and often find spontaneous self-expression and public speaking forums a major challenge. This highly customised and strategic presentation skills programme equips investment professionals with the essential tools, models and techniques needed to overcome fears and present investment cases with skill and heightened impact.
The programme provides frameworks, models and presentation formulas that help to create more strategic, impactful and captivating investment presentations. The focus is specifically geared towards investment presentations and provides the techniques and skills to succeed in Investment Committee Reviews and Board of Trustees pitches and defences.
Conclusion
As a public speaking coach, I have spent the last 23 years helping professionals from almost every industry to overcome their deep fears of presenting and public speaking. My legacy and success has come from not only from teaching professionals the hard skills about how to present, but also from helping people to explore the sources of their deep-seated fears, and helping them to overcome these hugely limiting fear barriers.
It’s only when both these hard and soft areas surrounding public speaking are explored and mastered, that confident and competent public speakers emerge.
For all your public speaking support, and for more information on our various public speaking programmes, e-mail the Communication Guru John French at john@johnfrench.co.za
