Fear of Public Speaking: Catherine Zeta-Jones

The fear of public speaking is so common. It has nothing to do with your intelligence, success or wealth. That's why I'm appreciative of celebrities who "out" their fear of public speaking.

Catherine Zeta-Jones recently talked about her phobia of public speaking to the Belfast Telegraph. She joked that she tortures her husband, Michael Douglas before her appearances to get through her anxiety.

I woulld like to know more about the torture or the magic that Michael Douglas performed. Does she scream and cry? Does he sip a brandy while repeating, "Yes dear" ?


The key point for the rest of us is that the fear of public speaking is a normal thing even experienced by the beautiful people. 

There's no one way to deal with speech anxiety. You might work through it on your own or you might work through it with a partner. If that doesn't work - call Michael Douglas.

Read the rest of this story in the Belfast Telegraph.

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What to do about a shaky voice?

How to stop your voice from shaking during public speaking?

First consider that no one is as familiar with your voice as you. The first time you heard your recorded voice you were probably surprised. You might even have said, “That’s not me.”

The reason I point that out is that you might notice your voice shaking but your audience might not. They just might not know how your voice should sound. You voice can sound different at different times of the day depending on your energy level, recent meal or emotional state.

Your voice shaking could signal that you are tensing up because of anxiety, anger or exhaustion. There might be other causes but these seem to be the most common.

If tension is the problem the solution is to relax. You can do that by pausing as soon as the shaking starts. Simply pause for a few seconds. Smile while doing that so your audience doesn’t suspect any difficulties.

To both extend the pause and relax your throat you could take a drink of water. It’s best to have a glass of room temperature water handy. Ice cold water isn’t good for your speaking voice.

Take a deep slow breath to help calm you. Roll your shoulders because tension in your shoulders could easily be transferred to your throat. You could slightly change your body stance because tension might have been setting in without you being aware.

When you start speaking again, speak slower. That also relaxes your throat and makes your voice sound deeper and hence more confident.

Get the answers to more questions about public speaking on the site Questions about Public Speaking

 



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Turn Presentation Disasters into Presentation Success

Have you heard Murphy's Law that says "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong"?

It seems to apply to presentations as well. In fact if you deliver presentations the question is not "Will something go wrong?" The question is "When will it go wrong?" The more important question is "Will you be prepared to deal with the disruptions?"

Download and study this free eBook and you will be better prepared to deal with 17 common presentation disasters.

You don't even need to give your name or email to get this free eBook. Just click to download. No strings attached.

Tell others about this terrific resource and terrific deal.

In this special report you will discover how to:

·        Avoid the common presentation disruptors

·        Confidently manage when things go wrong

·        Mitigate the damage from the turbulence

·        Leverage bad things to your benefit

·        Defend your presentation against Murphy

Download the free eBook here.


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How to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking - Presentation Tips video

How can you overcome the fear of public speaking?

Speech anxiety or the fear of public speaking is one of the most common feelings that most speakers face at some time. That includes many of the great speakers.

What that means to you is - if you get anxious about speaking in public, you are normal.
The second important point is that you can learn to overcome the fear or at least to manage the feelings.

This video offers you three simple yet powerful techniques to take more control of your internal feelings. Imagine feeling and looking more confident the next time you speak.






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Comments & Questions from Audio Class: Confidence

How to Radiate More Confidence than you feel when speaking - feedback


If you listened to the live broadcast or the recording, this is the place to add your comments, suggestions and questions about this program and topic.


Comments
What ideas were helpful to you? How helpful did you find this program? How has this program made a difference for you?


Suggestions
What topics do you suggest for future audio classess or email tips.


Thank you for your feedback

George Torok
The Speech Coach for Executives
Author of Power Presentation Tips


PS: Watch for more free audio classes on presentation skills

Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

Radiate More Confidence than You Feel - free audio class

Listen by phone to this free audio class on Thursday November 2 at 2:00 pm EDT. If you can't make that time you can still listen to the recording - but you need to register here http://presentation-skills-seminars.com/

Topics and question to be addressed include:

Why should your audience feel confident?

5 Confidence boosters before you speak

5 Techniques as you start

How does your audience decide if you are confident?

First aid for when the nerves strike

The dirty dozen red flags of non-confidence

If you are not yet registered and you want to appear more confident when you speak register now.
http://presentation-skills-seminars.com/


George Torok


Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

Picture Your Audience in Their Underwear

If you were ever nervous about public speaking, you might have heard that piece of tired advice. It’s bad advice. Ignore it.

Do you really want to be imagining your boss, clients or colleagues in their underwear while you are speaking? Depending on your imagination and familiarity with your audience that might make you giggle uncontrollably. Or you might become so distracted that you forget your speech.

That advice is probably based on one aspect of the fear of public speaking. That is the fear that the audience can see you naked. In this case the naked doesn’t mean without clothes. The fear is that the audience can see your thoughts – especially your fears, doubts and faults. That implies that your audience is more powerful than you – that they have superhuman powers like x-ray vision and mind reading.

The reality is that no one can read your mind. If we could there would be far less miscommunication between people. The problem with communication is that we can’t read minds. Instead we attempt to interpret the words, sounds and images that we observe.

Therein lies your answer. The better that you manage the words, sounds and images that your audience observes the more control you will have over your presentations results. That control starts with your perspective.

Don’t picture your audience in their underwear. And don’t picture them naked. That’s another old snake oil remedy. Can you imagine your convulsive laughter or primal urges destroying your presentation?

That’s not the way to tame the fear of public speaking or deliver an effective presentation.

Instead, picture your audience as equals. You are good at what you do and they are good at what they do. You offer value and so do they. It’s not about who has or makes more money. It’s not about job titles, age or corporate hierarchy. It’s about you having a conversation with a room full of equals. That’s one of the secrets of overcoming speech anxiety – make it feel like a conversation.

Seeing and treating people like equals is an important fundamental shift in your perspective as an effective public speaker. Don’t look down or up to your audience. They aren’t better than you and you aren’t better than they are. You are simply taking your turn as an equal to offer your message. They can’t see you naked and you don’t want to imagine them that way.

Don’t fear your audience. Don’t see them with superhuman powers. And don’t imagine them in their underwear or less. Effective public speaking is not about undressing anyone. Deliver your presentation as a conversation with a group of equals.


© George Torok helps public speakers overcome the fear of public speaking and convey convincing confidence. Get your free presentation skills tips at http://SpeechCoachforExecutives.com Learn about the upcoming teleseminars and public seminars at http://presentation-skills-seminars.com To arrange private speech coaching call 905-335-1997


Listen to the free Audio Class on
“How to Radiate More Confidence than You Feel”

It's on November 4, 2010. If you can't listen live you can download the recording for free. But you must reigister to get the download. Click here for details and free registration.





Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

Presentation Success: How You Can Own the Room

A successful presentation starts with the presenter owning the room. When you know and own the room, you will be a more powerful and confident presenter. That leads to more successful presentations for you.

Consider this

While strolling in your neighborhood you will feel more comfortable and confident than in a strange town. A sports team usually feels stronger when playing at home. Delivering a presentation is certainly a competitive sport. Why not do it on your home turf?

As a presenter, how do you own the room? “Owning the room” is a feeling that you can generate within yourself by knowing the room. How do you know the room?

Know the room

Knowing the room for your presentation might mean arriving the day before your presentation. At the very least, arrive one hour before your presentation. Don’t breeze in 10 minutes before you speak and expect to “own the room”.

Get into the room before your presentation – preferably when no one else is there. This will allow you to make the following preparations.

You can see the room and start visualizing how you will present and how your audience will look. Visualizing yourself presenting in the room is an effective way to prepare for your presentation. You will feel more comfortable and more powerful if you’ve been in the room before your presentation.

If the room is not the right size for the audience expected you can plan what to do to alter the room to make it appear to be smaller or arrange for another room.

You can check the setup of the room. Become familiar with the layout of the seating, tables, doors, curtains and other characteristics of the room. Walk around the room and sit in different seats so you understand better how the audience might or might not see you and your visuals during your presentation. Look for blind spots.

Arrange for the seating to be changed to your preferred arrangement. Sometimes this might mean making those changes yourself. (I’ve done this the night before an important presentation.)

Play with the switches. Test all the lights, AV and climate control switches. Tape the ones that should not be changed. Discover the ones that give you the settings you want so you can set it quickly or explain to an assistant how to do it.

Check all the doors to learn which ones are noisy – so you can tape the latches with duct tape. Which are the outer halls that need a “Do Not Enter” sign taped on the outside? Where are the washrooms so you can direct people? hich are the emergency exits in case they are needed?

Rehearse walking on and off the stage so you don’t trip. I’ve done it and seen it happen. It’s surprising how simple things like walking on stage can be nerve wracking when you are giving a presentation.

Stand on the stage and deliver parts of your presentation. Move about the stage to feel comfortable and find the cracks or creaky boards that you will need to avoid. Check the position of the speakers while speaking on the microphone to avoid feedback. Test the microphone when the AV people are there. Often they test the microphone with one of their staff then they disappear.

One More Presentation Tip

Change or move something to make the room yours. Close the curtains, move some chairs, put a small table on stage… It might not be much but any small change that you make can help you feel better when you take the stage.

I’ve delivered over 1,000 presentations and I’ve noticed that a good room setup can influence the energy of the audience and success of your presentation.

Know the room and you will own the room. Your audience will marvel at your confidence and presentation power.



© George Torok helps business leaders, managers & sales professionals deliver million-dollar presentations. He offers presentation skills coaching and presentation skills training. For more free presentation tips visit http://www.Presentation-Skills-Success.com To arrange media interviews call 905-335-1997


More Presentation Skills Articles


Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

How to Radiate More Confidence than You Feel

Audio Class on feeling and looking more confident while presenting

Almost every speaker faces the challenge of how to appear to be better than you feel. The answer lies not in talent but in understanding and using the techniques of powerful presenters. This program will reveal the secrets of how to look and sound more confident.

In this program you will discover:

• Five confidence boosters to use before you speak
• Three techniques to guarantee a positive start to your presentation
• What to do when you feel the shakes, willies or flashes
• How to relax yourself and your audience sooner
• What do to when you mess up and why you shouldn't apologize
• How to conclude on a positive note - so they remember your confidence
• The Dirty-Dozen red flags of non-confidence you must avoid waving

Live Audio Class
When: Thursday October 22, 2009 - 3:00pm to 4:00pm EST (New York Time)

Call in to listen to this live telephone broadcast from the convenience of your home or office.

It's okay if you have a speaker phone and want others to listen in. No extra charge.

Here's an easy way for you to continue to improve your presentation skills. Listen to audio classes and get ongoing support for your skills development.

Plus there's more...

To read all the details and register click here.


George Torok
The Speech Coach for Executives

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Begin with more confidence

Power Presentations Tips 23:

Begin with more confidence

Many presenters have confessed to me that if they can survive through the first few minutes of their presentation - then they will feel alright. It's just the beginning that they dread.

That's a risky way to approach your presentation because the opening is so important. Decisions are being made about you and your message in those opening seconds.

How can you feel and look more confident from your first word?

Your Introduction
Sit or stand proud while you are being introduced. While the audience is listening to your introduction - which should briefly confirm your qualifications for this topic - your audience will study you. They will be checking to see if the picture matches the words. This is not the time to feign humility or look nervous. Look proud while your achievements are listed.

You might not always have a formal introduction. However any introduction should be used to your benefit. Caution: Look proud and confident but not pompous and arrogant.

Start Slowly
Start your presentation very slowly. Speak slower than normal. You might feel a bit awkward but with practice you will get it right. There are three reasons to start slowly:

1. This will help you stay calm. Speaking slowly will force you to breathe slower and that calms you.

2. Your audience will have a better chance to tune into your voice. This is especially relevant when they don't know you and/or you have an accent that sounds different from their norm.

3. Speaking slowly will deepen your voice. That makes it easier to hear and conveys more confidence.

Say something positive
If you start with a positive statement your audience will go with you. If you are feeling nervous then this is the one time that you are allowed to tell a lie. That lie is, "I'm happy to be here today." You might not feel that way at the time but if you state it with enough conviction you might persuade your audience and yourself of that constructive white lie.

George Torok
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From stuttering to speaker’s podium

Here's an inspirational story about an individual overcoming a severe stuttering challenge.

----------------------------

From stuttering to speaker’s podium

Reported in The Oakville Beaver

Author Charles Marcus of Oakville stuttered so much growing up, he could barely utter a few words — sometimes not speaking at all for long periods.

Today he is a motivational speaker and will stand up before the Shaarei-Beth El Congregation of Oakville to speak about — what else? — overcoming life’s obstacles.

Marcus will make his appearance at 2 p. m. on Sunday, April 19.

The Oakville resident grew up in Manchester, England. He was shy and self-conscious.
Now, as a bestselling author on success, Marcus is a motivational speaker and seminar leader who has travelled across Canada, the U. S., even Europe and Asia. Australia is next on his agenda.

Marcus has more than realized his dream — pondered in long periods of silence — of not only speaking fluently, but doing so in public.

Read the rest of this article at the Oakville Beaver.

------------------

Visit the website for Charles Marcus

Charles Marcus is speaking at the Stimulate Your Business Summit

Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

Presentation Feedback: Is it all valid?

Presentation Feedback: Is it all valid?

After delivering my “Secrets of Success” presentation at a conference last week I received some unusual feedback. The woman told me that she was offended by me. That is the first time I have heard that feedback so naturally I asked her, “What was it that I did or said that offended you?”

She first remarked that she was surprised at how calmly I took that criticism. However she was unable to pinpoint anything specific about my actions or words.

Her comment was in stark contrast to the comments from several others. They commented on my stories, style and relevance. When people give me a vague compliment I ask them to be specific because I want to know what is working.

Despite the overwhelming positive feedback that one negative comment nagged at me for a few days. I reviewed my presentation to search for what I might have done.

Finally I let it go and decided to ignore the comment. Sometimes you can’t please everybody and it’s not your fault.

I gave it one last mental review before I flushed the comment. My presentation, Secrets of Success, was aimed at business owners – especially entrepreneurs. The audience was ninety percent entrepreneurs. The ones who commented favorably on my presentation were entrepreneurs. The one negative comment came from a person who was a software trainer – an employee – not an entrepreneur.

So if that one person was offended but could not indentify the cause then it didn’t matter because she was not my target audience.

I mentioned this comment to two of my friends who are professional speakers. Both responded, “Don’t worry about it.”

Three lessons relearned:

Not all presentation feedback is valid.

Some audience members are more important than others.

Some one will always dislike you or your presentation.


George TorokPresentation Skills Training
Presentation Coaching
Motivational Business Speaker

Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

Public Speaking Pro

Public Speaking Pro

The online resource for promising public speakers just launched. It is the place to visit to prepare yourself to be a more effective public speaker.

Here's what you will find at Pubic Speaking Pro

How to deal with the fear of public speaking

A crash course on improving your public speaking

How to use the technology tools of public speaking - multimedia, PowerPoint and even old techonology - the original overhead projector.

There are more public speaker tips and articles waiting for you - and of course this site will continue to grow.

Public Speaking Pro - the resource for promising public speakers.

Check it out.

George Torok

Speech Anxiety: Lawrence Olivier

Speech Aniety: Lawrence Olivier

Imagine Sir Lawrence Olivier nervous before his performance
Speech Anxiety experienced by Sir Lawrence Olivier.

There are many other approaches to the feeling of unease we experience when required to perform in public. For instance, Marshall McLuhan, the philosopher of communications, had a distinct "take" on this condition. It is well known that Sir Laurence Olivier, despite his standing as a great stage and screen actor, experienced profound stage fright throughout his entire performing career. He writes about the forms his panic took in his theatrical memoirs, and he puzzled as to why he continued to feel this way despite his vast experience appearing before audiences around the world. In later years he came to regard the excess sweat his body produced, the jittery nervousness, etc., as simply symptoms that his body was warning him that he would shortly have to appear before audiences and perform in public. He was able to ignore these sensations and feelings while on stage, but not before or after.

He was drenched in sweat.
Why did Sir Lawrence Olivier experience Speech Anxiety?

McLuhan's view of the matter is that of a social psychologist. Sir Laurence felt little or no anxiety prior to the performance. Anxiety levels spiked when he entered the dressing room and removed his regular clothes and stood there semi-dressed before donning his costume (the robe of King Lear perhaps). During this period of semi-dress, he had no role to play. He was no longer the man known as Sir Lawrence; he was not yet the character known as King Lear. Having no role to play, he had no way to deal with his fears and apprehensions. Once on stage, there was no problem. Techniques honed over years of training and decades of performing simply took over. After all, he was a consummate actor. The situation was reversed when he stepped off stage and entered the dressing room where he removed the robe of King Lear. Once again he was nervous and he found he was drenched in sweat. He was no longer the actor, but not yet Sir Laurence. He would never receive visitors in his dressing room before or after a performance. Once he had showered and changed into his regular clothes, he was himself again. It was as if he had been living a nightmare.

The above is an excerpt from an article about Speech Anxiety by John Robert Colombo.

Speech Anxiety
Fear of Public Speaking
Stage Fright

George Torok
Executive Speech Coach
Motivational Speaker

Speech Anxiety: Freud, Jung & Alder

Freud:
We are born naked and helpless.

Sigmund Freud on anxiety.

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, placed great emphasis on the fact that we are born naked and helpless. From birth we experience panic and we express it in cries and in tears. As adults we may not express the panic directly by crying out loud or weeping in public, but we still feel this initial sense of dread when we have to "expose ourselves" before the eyes of others. Freud saw the level of anxiety to be a reversion to infantile behaviour.

Jung:
We assume our enemies--our listeners--are aware of our secret weakness.

Carl Jung on human frailty and public speaking fears.

Carl Jung, the analytical psychologist, noted that human beings display the characteristics of archetypal figures, especially heroes of Ancient Greece. The warrior hero Achilles is one such figure. Achilles was invulnerable to his enemies except for one part of his anatomy: his "Achilles heel." Except for this tendon, he was invulnerable and impervious to the attacks of his enemies. Achilles resembles the 20th-century comic-book character Superman, the caped superhero who is all-powerful except in the presence of Kryptonite, rocks from his home planet Krypton. Each of us has an Achilles heel or fears Kryptonite. It is our zone of vulnerability. According to Jung, we assume our enemies--our listeners--are aware of our secret weakness. They know we are vulnerable and hence we feel fear.

Adler:
We are powerless before powerful people.

Alfred Adler on why we fear public speaking.

Alfred Adler, the Austrian psychiatrist, made many contributions to individualistic and humanistic psychology. After examining the nature of neurosis, he popularized the concept of the "inferiority complex." It was Adler's view that, when we "present" ourselves before others, we stand "." We project our talents and abilities, our information and knowledge, onto other people. We empower them, but at the same time we disempower ourselves. We elevate them as we lower our sense of self. This projection leaves us feeling uneasy, uncanny, and vulnerable.


This is an exerpt from an article on Speech Anxiety by John Robert Colombo.


George Torok
Speech Coach for Executives

Shyness: Zimbardo

The Shyness factor Zimbardo:

The Root of Speech Anxiety is Shyness.
Philip G. Zimbardo, the well-known cognitive psychologist, has devoted decades to the study of the "shyness factor" as it affects people of different ages, backgrounds, businesses, and cultures. He found that shyness figures in everyone's life. Most people admitted to him that when under pressure they experience symptoms of anxiety: the jitters, sweaty palms, knocking knees, facial flushes, watery eyes, leathery tongue, dry mouth, wild heartbeats, shortness of breath, memory lapses, mental confusions, high anxiety levels...to limit the list to one dozen symptoms of chronic shyness.

Zimbardo found that there are differences in the ways that shyness is handled by peoples of different countries and cultures. Such differences may account for variations in reporting levels of shyness and presumably in experiencing high or low levels. For instance, people he interviewed in Japan admitted to experiencing a greater degree of shyness when meeting with strangers than did people he interviewed in Israel. But across the board he found that everyone owned up to some degree of shyness, some people to an alarmingly high degree, even when being interviewed by Dr. Zimbardo! Shyness is thus a characteristic of human nature brought about by our physiology, neurology, psychology, and social conditioning.

No one should feel that nature has singled him or her out for a special affliction. No one should feel freakish because he or she panics when faced with the need to present in public. It is human to feel some anxiety. Some people experience more of it, some less. Successful speakers are men and women who have found ways to find relief from these sensations and emotions. They have found ways to make them "work" for them.

Execerpt from article by John Robert Colombo

George Torok
Executive Speech Coach

Speech Anxiety

Speech Anxiety: Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking
By John Robert Colombo

This article addresses these questions about speech anxiety and the fear of public speaking.
1.Why do we fear public speaking?
2. Is speech anxiety normal?
3. What can we do to face our public speaking fear and speech anxiety?

Fear of Public Speaking or Speech anxiety is a general term for the sense of fear or panic that overtakes a person when he or she is called upon to speak or otherwise perform in public. There are other ways to refer to it: anxiousness, nervousness, "the jitters," stage fright, fear of public speaking, performance anxiety, etc. It usually strikes when someone has to deliver a presentation before a group of people. It makes little difference whether the audience is large or small, composed of familiar or unfamiliar faces. Psychologists consider speech anxiety to be a special case of what is commonly known as shyness.

What do psychologists: Philip G. Zimbardo, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Alfred Adler say about speech anxiety - the fear of public speaking?

George Torok
Executive Speech Coach

Public Speaking Problem

Q:
Hi, I do a lot of public speaking. My problem is that unconsciously my eyes flutter when I speak. I speak often so I do not feel nervous, but when I watch myself on tape I am stunned at how fast my eyes flutter.
Is there something I can do to correct this?
Thanks,
Mike

A:Hi Mike,
A curious condition.
Hard to be sure without seeing you speak and flutter.
I wonder if your eyes tend to flutter at other times.
Are you only noticing it on your speaking tapes because you don't tape yourself at other times?Has anyone else ever pointed this out to you?
Maybe it is not a problem or maybe it is and you do it more often than you know.
If it is only occurring when you speak - then nerves and adrenalin could explain the fluttering. The eyes are cleaning themselves to prepare you for danger - fight or flight response.

Try this exercise before you speak: (Don't let your audience see you doing this)
Flutter your eyes quickly for 10 seconds. Then close your eyes for 10 seconds and while doing this breathe in and out slowing for only one cycle, i.e. breathe in for 5 seconds then exhale for 5 seconds.
Then open your eyes and focus on one point while doing the same slow breathing exercise.
This exercise can help you focus attention and control on your eyelids (even though blinking is an automatic reaction you can temporarily take control). The slow breathing conditions you to link that to your eyelids, so when you speak you only need to focus on slow breathing to have some control of your eyes.

George Torok
Executive Speech Coach
Presentation Skills Specialist
Keynote Speaker
www.SpeechCoachforExecutives.com

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Picture your Audience in their Underwear

Years ago the advice given to nervous public speakers was to picture their audience in their underwear.

What stupid advice.

I understand the reason for this misinformed advice. The speaker was anxious and possibly feeling intimidated by the audience. So if the speaker could picture the audience in their underwear that might feel less intimidating.

But think about it – do you really want to see your audience in their underwear?

There are only two possibilities to this question.

Yes – you do - that would be way too distracting.

No – you don’t - that would also be way too distracting.

My advice to you?

Picture your audience as they are – contemporaries who have come to listen to what you have to say to them. Picture them as equals who have come to learn from you.

They are not better nor less than you. They are simply listening to your words of wisdom.

George Torok
The Speech Coach for Executives

Speech Anxiety: Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking

By John Robert Colombo

This article addresses these questions about speech anxiety and the fear of public speaking.

Why do we fear public speaking?
Is speech anxiety normal?
What can we do to face our public speaking fear and speech anxiety?

Fear of Public Speaking

Speech anxiety is a general term for the sense of fear or panic that overtakes a person when he or she is called upon to speak or otherwise perform in public. There are other ways to refer to it: anxiousness, nervousness, "the jitters", stage fright, fear of public speaking, performance anxiety, etc. It usually strikes when someone has to deliver a presentation before a group of people. It makes little difference whether the audience is large or small, composed of familiar or unfamiliar faces. Psychologists consider speech anxiety to be a special case of what is commonly known as shyness. Read more…


Speech Coach for Executives
George Torok