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Conquering fear of public speaking!

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  • Conquering fear of public speaking!

    I will be reading in our community's annual Vagina Monologues show next month! I will be doing a [very] short reading (5 lines). I'm hoping this will help me conquer my fear of public speaking which developed in adulthood. (as a kid I was fine!)

    The show is awesome and will be a 3 night run with 300 people per night!

    We've had two practices so far.

    If anyone has some advice, tips or tricks on public speaking I would love to hear it!
    Allow me to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket. ~ Captain Jack Sparrow

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  • #2
    Re: Conquering fear of public speaking!

    I did speech team in highschool, theater in college round one, and training in the Navy.

    There is only one thing that will get you over public speaking...and that is public speaking, over and over and over.

    However, to prepare for your first foray...I would recommend lots of practice. In front of a mirror, in front of the family, in the shower, in the car, in front of your friends at the bar after a drink or two (good excuse for girls night out), and (if you have one), in front of video camera (or webcam) so that you can review stuff like expression, enunciation, flow, emphasis, etc.
    “You have never answered but you did not need to. If I stand at the ocean I can hear you with your thousand voices. Sometimes you shout, hilarious laughter that taunts all questions. Other nights you are silent as death, a mirror in which the stars show themselves. Then I think you want to tell me something, but you never do. Of course I know I have written letters to no-one. But what if I find a trident tomorrow?" ~~Letters to Poseidon, Cees Nooteboom

    “We still carry this primal relationship to the Earth within our consciousness, even if we have long forgotten it. It is a primal recognition of the wonder, beauty, and divine nature of the Earth. It is a felt reverence for all that exists. Once we bring this foundational quality into our consciousness, we will be able to respond to our present man-made crisis from a place of balance, in which our actions will be grounded in an attitude of respect for all of life. This is the nature of real sustainability.”
    ~~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

    "We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes--one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximal freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way."
    ~~Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

    "Humans are not rational creatures. Now, logic and rationality are very helpful tools, but there’s also a place for embracing our subjectivity and thinking symbolically. Sometimes what our so-called higher thinking can’t or won’t see, our older, more primitive intuition will." John Beckett

    Pagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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    • #3
      Re: Conquering fear of public speaking!

      Don't talk too fast. I always end up doing that. Good luck!
      Satan is my spirit animal

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      • #4
        Re: Conquering fear of public speaking!

        For me the most important thing is to know that I'm prepared. That means I know what I'm going to do, where I'm going to do it,and how. It doesn't always work out like that of course, but I always have a joke or two ready to use just in case. Laughter diffuses most things.

        And best of luck!
        www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


        Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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        • #5
          Re: Conquering fear of public speaking!

          Being prepared and lots of practice is also my advice. To reduce the fear to it's absolute minimum, you have to have experience with it, over and over again.

          This is the same advice others have given you - as somebody who is very afraid of speaking in front of groups, but makes his living by doing it, I can tell you that the fear is very manageable by doing those things.
          Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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          • #6
            Re: Conquering fear of public speaking!

            I second a video camera. My last music teacher was a professor of violin pedagogy, and he always had a camera running in the room. It got me over playing in front of people very well...unfortunately I've never done the same with speaking!
            Great Grandmother's Kitchen

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            • #7
              Re: Conquering fear of public speaking!

              Thanks so much, guys, for the tips! Lots to chew on! And yes, I will take some video of myself with my camera! that's a great idea to check mannerisms etc....and the mental knowledge of being taped should certainly lend itself well, too.

              And yup, Medusa....I have a really hard time with talking slowly!! My lines are short and in between others' -- several one liners, so I'm hoping that fact will play in my favor, instead of seeing a chunk of text and wishing I were through it all! haha
              Allow me to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket. ~ Captain Jack Sparrow

              sigpic

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              • #8
                Re: Conquering fear of public speaking!

                Some excellent advice here. Although the video is a good tool, it can cause some issues. The first time I saw myself on video, I was shocked. I did not like it. The friend who had taped the show commented on how natural I looked with a guitar and microphone, but to ME I looked awkward. Do not let that bother you. Just look for the "expression, enunciation, flow, emphasis, etc."
                You'll do fine. Believe in yourself.
                Sleep, my friend, and you will see
                That dream is my reality

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                • #9
                  Re: Conquering fear of public speaking!

                  I used to be pretty quiet & shy. Now when I go out with a group it's like I'm doing stand-up. Guess it just evolves over time.
                  sigpic
                  Can you hear me, Major Tom? I think I love you.

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