Small Steps To Public Speaking
Do you have a fear of public speaking? If you think you do, the next question to ask yourself is this: “What is the size of the crowd that appears in your mind when you think about public speaking?”
I was talking to a friend over the weekend about public speaking, and he told me, “There’s no way I can speak in front of a crowd. Just the thought of it scares me silly” So the conversation went on like this:
“What’s the size of the crowd you have in mind?”
“Maybe a few hundred? I see an auditorium full of people”
“Oh. What if you changed the scenario to a tiny classroom with four people?”
“Huh? Four people? That’s not public speaking right?”
I think many people have the same perception as my friend. When it comes to public speaking, the first thing that comes to mind is the thought of many many people. As far as I’m concerned, speaking to two others can be public speaking too. Over the years, I’ve helped many people improve on their public speaking skills, and the one thing that consistently gives them encouragement and assurance is the referential experience of having done it before.
So to speak to a crowd of a hundred without first having the experience of speaking to a crowd of say.. seventy, is like having to cook for a christmas dinner without first knowing how to cook instant noodles (Ok, that’s the best example I can come up with at this hour).
My point of saying all these is, if the thought of speaking in front of a large crowd scares you, then start small. Use that as a reference to acknowledge that you can handle a particular group size, then progressively move on to larger audiences. It is a slow and sure way of building up the confidence for speaking to large number of people.
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