Last night on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Craig talked about public speaking … providing some off the wall tips and information about how to develop this skill. Some of them were actually pretty good, so I wanted to share them with you.
Photo by Rachel Lovinger (originally posted to Flickr as Craig Ferguson 2) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Glossophobia is the fancy name for speech anxiety. And its something that all speakers experience to some degree. Craig himself admitted that he experiences nerves when doing his schtick. Sometimes this nervousness stems from shyness, something that many famous speakers and performers have admitted to suffering from, such as Abraham Lincoln, Tom Hanks and Lucile Ball. But there are plenty of famous people who have confessed to glossophobia:
And there are more.
In the clip above, Craig gave some suggestions for overcoming the fear of public speaking, and I’d like to go into them a bit further here.
Relax
Tongue firmly in cheek, Craig suggested drugs and alcohol calm you down before a speech. Obviously bad advice. But calming yourself is a very good idea. Some people do this with breathing or meditation. Others use visualization. Find your calming ritual. You most likely won’t get rid of all your nerves but remember you can use the butterflies that are left to give your opening energy and excitement.
You are not alone
Sometimes knowing and understanding that you are not the only one who is nervous can help you calm your nerves. As I mentioned above, there are plenty of well-spoken, famous people who have (and sometimes still do) experience the fear of public speaking. You are not alone. If they can appear poised and well-spoken despite the jitters, you can, too!
Practice
“The truth is there is no shortcut to becoming a great public speaker,” Craig said. “It takes years and years of practice.” And this is very true. The more you practice, the better you will get and the less nervous you will feel. As you build your confidence, your nervous energy will become a boon, instead of a bane.
Additional advice
Craig also mentioned the importance of a good opening and close to your speech. He suggested a joke or humorous anecdote, but there are plenty of ways you can open and close a speech. To open, find something that engages the audience in some way. This can be a question, a startling fact or even a story. This not only breaks the ice and builds rapport, but also perks up their ears so they are primed to listen to the rest of your presentation.
And remember to end it all with a good, strong ending. This can be your call to action, another story or something else that sums up what you’ve been talking about. People are more likely to remember the ending of your speech than any other part. I need to be strong and powerful.
