Conquering the dread of oration
Across the world most normal people like you and me are scared of public speaking, irrespective of the size of the gathering. The fear stems more from not wanting to appear ignorant or idiotic.
The causes for this panic vary from insecurity about your looks or diction to tone, or firmness of voice to lack of confidence about subject knowledge etc all leading to the concept of low sense of self-worth. Change the way you feel about yourself and you will change the way you work and soon your fears will vanish. There are folks who will fall ill, feel faint at the prospect of exposing themselves to public judging and performance pressure. Some will stammer or talk too fast. Some shiver because of the tension. Though you will relax after sometime, it will be too late because you would have lost half the time.
Don’t you think it is simpler to conquer panic beforehand than to attempt it when you are in a tight spot? Ensure that you are equipped to speak well before you step into the auditorium. Deliberate about what you are going to say and how and how long you are going to take to tell all. If you enter the hall with prior knowledge that your talk is for a fixed duration of time then it is much easier to handle the situation. Ensure that you know your subject and you are ready to answer any question that may be asked by the audience. If you have a tendency for nervousness do something that will help you phase it out. This will make you feel immensely sure in front of your audience.
Scared of appearing an idiot in front of the audience? Introspect why you have that feeling? What kind of power do these people wield? Consider a worst-case scenario that you will say something stupid, what is the probability that someone in the audience will be bothered? By making an error if you are not jeopardizing your assignment or affecting your peace of mind, why should you bother so much about committing a mistake? If you are bothered about what others will think of you, don’t, because only your own feeling about really matters. Never let anyone else make you feel tensed due to some small error. Remember ‘to err is human’.
