A Few Tips for Handling a Fear of Public Speaking

A systematic and actionable list that can help take you from stage fright to stage bright.

Made with Midjourney

A lot of “fear of public speaking” articles I’ve read are frankly worthless. And I’ve read a ton of them. The advice essentially boils down to telling you to just “psyche” yourself out of the fear of talking to a room full of strangers. Or some variation of “believe in yourself,” and the confidence will come.

That’s all nonsense. The fact is, it’s normal and natural to have a fear of public speaking. It’s the exceptionally rare personality that truly thrives off stepping into the spotlight. Even professional speakers like Tony Robbins get stage fright.

However, there are a variety of ways for handling the fear itself, and becoming more effective at speaking to a group.

The first step is understanding that it’s a problem like anything else. A clogged toilet. A stalled engine. There’s nothing special about being afraid of speaking in public. Learning to handle the fear is a process like learning how to throw a football or swing a baseball bat.

It’s something you must train your brain to handle. In fact, you have to somewhat reprogram your mind to deal with it in a constructive way. No, I’m not talking about…