by Victor Usifo

Created on: August 27, 2011

Introduction

The greatest fear known to man second only to the fear of death is the act of speaking to an audience. Some people would rather die than attempt it. Be rest assured that once you know how to do it many doors of opportunity hitherto shut on your face, swings wide open. 

You become proficient when you practice any thing you do. You fail to try out new things because it is human nature to fear when you have no experience. To master any activity, field or endeavour, you must practice to drive away fear. Within a short time, the experience you acquired through practising will build confidence and mastery.  After which you can even be awakened in the middle of the night and still perform without blinking.  Let’s begin.

What is public speaking?

It is an art or the skill of making an audience think your thoughts. It is the God given ability to you as a leader to bring and hold followers close to you.  It is the power to persuade and hold spellbound. It is the power to sway men and lead them to do whatever you command.

How to create an attitude of fearlessness

Every human being fears something they have never done before. You fear because you take yourself too seriously. You fear because of other numerous reasons below:

*      Worrying about audience rating

You are anxious about how the audience will rate you. You are worried about what you are saying, whether you sound right, the pitch of your voice, whether the audience like you or not. 

All these are legitimate worries but to be able to deliver a good speech you must expel those negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Believe that the audience like you, that they see you as an expert in the subject you are giving a talk on. That they realise you are more knowledgeable in that area hence you are up there and they are part of the audience. So just face your talk.

*      Lack of knowledge of the topic

You become afraid where you attempt to talk about what you do not have much knowledge about. It is only natural that you feel overwhelmed. The solution to this problem is preparation. Know the topic in totality.

*      Lack of practice

Lack of practice will put you on the spot causing you to break out in cold sweat even when you are knowledgeable in the area you are speaking on. Your mind becomes so jumbled you will wish you never accepted the task of giving the talk.  The only cure for

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