Fear of public speaking…and how to conquer it

  • June 12, 2015
Fear of public speaking…and how to conquer it

“There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars.” – Mark Twain

Fear of public speaking is ubiquitous, even expected. It’s so common that as many as 75% of people may suffer from it. Some rankings indicate it is more prevalent than fear of airplanes or heights. An ongoing debate questions whether it may be more common than the fear of death.

Regardless of whether one fears public speaking, there are methods for improving one’s technique. 

The Gates Cambridge Learning for Purpose programme provides speaker training to scholars to provide strategies for improving the content and delivery method of talks.  For a recent workshop, we hosted Katerina Biliouri, TEDGlobal Curation Assistant and speaker coach, who taught us numerous clever tips to improve public speaking quality. Whether your next presentation is in the boardroom, or a scientific conference, her universal principles can be applied to any talk.

Connect with your audience

Katerina emphasised the importance of connecting personally with your audience through your talk. To do this she suggested several strategies. Ensure your content is accessible, and that even complex principles are made clear. Metaphors and visual language facilitate this. Asking the audience to imagine themselves in various situations within a landscape you paint in your talk is also a highly effective method of achieving this.

You can use slides to help your audience visualise and connect to your topic as well, but don’t feel obligated to have them. If choosing between one slide and none, it is better to go with none. If you do use them, they can be handy tools to remind yourself of your content, but don’t put too much content on each slide. One point per slide is appropriate. You want your audience to keep their attention on you, and not your slide deck.

These aren’t the only ingredients to connectedness with your audience.  Authenticity, vulnerability, integrity and passion give you that important human element that makes the audience trust you and want to listen further.

Shape your talk with intentionality

Think about your ending before you begin. What is that final sentence?  How do you want your audience to react? Are you seeking funding? Spreading awareness for a cause?  Katerina says ending your talk with a call to action gives your presentation an afterlife of purpose. It pulls your audience as individuals into your topic and can empower them on a personal level.

Without a strong starter, though, you’ll lose your audience before they are called to act! Katerina emphasised the importance of the first 30 seconds, when your audience decides if they even want to listen. She suggested using a catchy intro to kindle the listeners’ curiosity.

Shaping your talk to an archetype (monomyth, narrative, etc.) can give the body structure, or you can invent one of your own. A structure that catapults your audience between the status quo and what could be (with or without) a phenomenon you are presenting can be powerful. If your talk is long, try keeping your audience engaged by building new beginnings into your talk at strategic points.

Finally, don’t worry about stage fright

This isn’t a flaw; it means you care! Perhaps it’s your own perfectionism causing you to be nervous. Don’t forget, you are the only one who knows your talk. If you scramble some points, or skip a section, only you will know.

If you are nervous you might forget important details, keep notecards in your back pocket. This safety net may make you feel more confident, even if you don’t use them. Planting a familiar face in the audience to encourage you with their smile can help as well. Even practising among distractions, like in a busy room, or in front of the television, is handy. This helps you rehearse pushing through your content even when your mind is elsewhere, as it may be when you give your talk.

Lastly, don’t let stage fright scare you out of using pauses.  Silence gives your audience a chance to process your ideas, and adds powerful emphasis and structure to your content. 

So next time you give a talk, don’t fret when everyone pulls out his or her phones while you are speaking. If you are using Katerina’s tips, they won’t be sending emails, they’ll be live tweeting your powerful message. 

*Rebekah Scheuerle [2013] is President of the Gates Cambridge Scholars Council and is doing a PhD in Chemical Engineering. Picture credit: Charles Dickens public reading by Charles A. Barry [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Rebekah Scheuerle

Rebekah Scheuerle

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2013 PhD Chemical Engineering
  • St John's College

I am so honored to be pursuing my PhD in chemical engineering at Cambridge! I will be studying biopharmaceutical development and drug delivery in the lab of Dr. Nigel Slater. Although therapeutic development is necessary globally, the world is in desperate need of affordable, optimized therapies and diagnostics for resource-limited environments. Millions of people do not have access to the electricity and refrigeration required for many current medical treatments. I hope to use my experience in polymeric drug delivery from The University of Texas, microfluidic diagnostics from U.C. Berkeley, vaccine commercialization from Merck Sharp and Dohme, and antibody purification development from Genentech to support me in my graduate studies. I plan on using the skills I acquire at Cambridge in a future career developing biotechnology-based solutions to world health problems.

Previous Education

University of Texas Austin BSc Chemical Engineering 2013

Latest Blogs

How Cambridge Analytica influenced Nigeria’s elections

My research broadly tackles questions of technology, equity, and accountability within the Global South. I emphasise the West’s use of sub-Saharan Africa as a testing ground or laboratory for its nascent technologies before launching them in the West. This blog is an excerpt from my recent presentation at the 2022 Gates Day of Research, titled […]

Why algorithms are necessarily value-laden

Algorithmic decision-making systems applied in social contexts drape value-laden solutions in an illusory veil of objectivity. Machine learning plays an increasingly prominent role in mediating institutional decisions in everything from corporate hiring practices to criminal sentencing. This ongoing AI spring has invigorated discussions of the ethical dimensions of these techno-social arrangements. In particular, there is […]

Preparing for all scenarios in an unstable world

On March 9th, Mohamed A. El-Erian joined the Gates Cambridge community for a virtual fireside chat, where he discussed decision-making in conditions of uncertainty, the economic impact of the pandemic and relief efforts and the importance of diversity of thought and scenario planning. El-Erian is President of Queens’ College, Cambridge and Chief Economic Advisor of […]

How can the international community help Belarus?

Last Sunday represented a tipping point in the recent history of Belarus which has had an immediate effect on the lives of its citizens, including mine. Independent exit polls and observers representing the diplomatic community, verified by the crowdsourcing platform Golos, show that, had it been a fair and transparent election, the uninterrupted, 26-year-long reign […]