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"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two? Does that seem right? To the average person that means that if they have to go to a funeral, they'd be better off in the casket than giving the eulogy." -Jerry Seinfeld

Many public speakers are not very good at it, although they try their hearts out. Then there are others who, no matter what their subject, can occasionally cause their audience to rise up from their seats and ride with them no matter where they are going. What is the difference between these speakers? Are some people just naturally better in front of an audience? I use to ask myself this question, frequently. Then over the course of my career I was given conflicting advice and had to decide which to apply so that my personality remained true. Based on my experience I believe that all of us have it in us to be good public speakers given the proper tools, willingness to try, patience to learn, and motivation to improve.

Many of us at some point will be required to speak or even make a formal presentation in front of an audience. For most of us, the first time is terrifying, whether it is career oriented or one that is of a more personal nature, such as a wedding. Unless we are in that small percentage of the population who truly love the limelight, public speaking is not something that most of us enjoy. Of course, we have all heard the tricks, like imagine your audience in their underwear. The problem with this one is do you really want to imagine your Uncle Charlie, Aunt Bernice, your peers, bosses, or customers in their underwear. I don't know about you but my imagination is far too vivid for this trick to be effective I simply don't want that image in my mind as I attempt to toast a newly married couple, discuss a serious work matter, or explain a technical solution.

So how do we get beyond our fear to that place of knowing that we can stand up in front of an audience, small or large, and speak without our knees knocking or our heart hammering through the walls of our chest? My first answer is to identify, even embrace the fear. For most of us the source of our fear is embarrassment, we don't want to be humiliated in front of others. Public speaking presents a serious hurdle to our instinctive desire to prevent personal and public humiliation. The truth is that it is unlikely, really the odds are in your favor, you will not be publicly humiliated when you venture into the world of

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