Speak Up

by Mark S. Fulton

The audience in the Upper Township Elementary School auditorium was full of smiling, expectant faces, including those of my parents. The warm June evening was punctuated by thunderstorms that occasionally dimmed the lights and filled the room with a menacing rumble. As I sat on the stage awaiting my turn to give my eighth grade commencement address, I silently prayed that lightening would knock out the power, forcing us all to quickly and calmly walk to the nearest exit. No such luck.

When the moment for my speech arrived, I walked to the podium, cleared my throat and became distinctly aware that my knees had turned into Jello, my stomach was full of feathers and my heart was trying to jump out onto the platform and do the funky monkey. My speech had something to do with John F. Kennedy and the space program, but the sheer terror of that evening has erased from my mind every detail of the proceedings, except one — the memory that for five minutes I was the center of everyone’s attention.

When we are called upon to speak in public, two opposing notions line up to do battle in our brain. Our dream of bathing in a wave of applause and admiration collides head-on with the nightmare of drowning in a sea of rejection and ridicule. This paradox produces what socials scientists call “communication apprehension” — more commonly known as stage fright.

Like it or not, you will one day be called upon to “say a few words” to a group of people. The mere thought of doing so may make your mouth go dry and your palms sweat. That’s okay. There are plenty of people who would rather undergo a root canal than speak in public. Even such notables as Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, Laurence Olivier and Carol Burnett have admitted to suffering from stage fright. In fact, if you don’t get at least a little bit nervous before a presentation, you’re probably a few French fries short of a Happy Meal.

So how do you battle the butterflies and deliver a speech without passing out (like Winston Churchill did at one of his first speaking engagements)? Here are some steps to take for conquering stage fright.

• Identify What You’re Nervous About - Environmental factors that can cause anxiety include: the size of the audience, how well you know the audience, how well you know your subject, your experience as a speaker and the importance of the occasion. By specifically identifying the root of your fear, you can take steps to eliminate or minimize it. One trick some speakers use to make a strange environment less stressful is having a familiar object, such as a favorite glass, with them during their presentation.

• Realize How Your Audience Feels - Yes, your audience wants their time spent listening to you to be worthwhile—and the thought of disappointing them is distressing. But here are some other facts about your listeners: they want you to succeed; they want the knowledge you will share with them; they don’t know that you’re afraid. Think of your audience as your allies on a quest for new insights rather than as adversaries waiting to chuck spears at you.

• Talk Yourself Into A Great Speech - When faced with a challenge, such as giving a speech, do you tell yourself it’s going to be a disaster or a delight? Use positive self-talk to dispute irrational thoughts like: “I’m going to make a fool of myself and everyone will hate me.” A more realistic thought might be: “I’ll probably do a decent job and the audience will appreciate what I have to say.” The reverse of this tactic is to imagine the worst case scenario and then realize that it wouldn’t be the end of the world—and you’d have a great anecdote to laugh at with your friends.

• Visualize a Terrific Presentation - Create a mental image of yourself in the speaking situation. You’re cool, calm and confident as you stride to the podium. You smile as you think about how much their hands will hurt from applauding when you’re done. As you launch into your speech, your listeners begin feverishly taking notes, not wanting to miss a single pearl of wisdom. Your gestures and body language are flawless and your voice rolls over the assembly in waves of wisdom. With your final word, the audience jumps to its feet with a wild ovation, rushes the stage and carries you off on their shoulders.

At the end of my eighth grade speech, the audience gave me a warm round of applause, my English teacher shook my hand and my mother cried. Today, whenever I’m asked to speak, I conjure up that frightened 13-year-old boy and tell him that lightening did strike that night—and I promise him that I'll try to make it strike again.

Copyright 2000 © Mark S. Fulton