Public speaking causes nightmares. People are afraid to speak
before an audience.Speaking in public can and does cause fear. People
from all walks of life are frightened of public speaking. Giving
speeches can therefore be very intimidating. My experience in the
practice of law has taken me into courtrooms where I was required to
make oral presentations in front of the judge, my client, opposing
counsel, the opposing party, court staff and members of the public. At
other times in other venues I have given speeches, or made
presentations. I wish to share with you a couple of simple techniques I
have used that have enabled me to conquer my fear of public speaking.
This is not me saying to you I am a great orator. Absolutely not. But I
no longer consider speaking in public terrifying. Just try two
techniques. The techniques are to 1.) Use your imagination, and 2.)
Prepare.
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." Theodore Roosevelt
1.) FIRST TECHNIQUE- IMAGINATION
The
first technique I like to employ is very simple indeed. When we are
scared to speak in public, we are focused on how difficult our job is
going to be. We keep thinking we are going to forget what we need to
say, or, no one will understand us. We all have this tendency to think
we are the only ones giving a speech, or arguing in front of a judge
and/or a jury. We feel all alone. We feel like we are nothing. We fear
being by ourselves in front of others. When I am in court, or giving a
speech, its true that I am generally standing alone. These are the two
most familiar venues in my own personal experience in the world of
public speaking but there are scores of other places where people go to
speak to groups of other people. In reality, there is a very simple but
powerful truth which we fail to recognize every time we get ready to
speak. The truth is, even if we are the President of the United States
about to give a speech on national television, there are many, many
other people speaking, or about to speak in public at the same time as
us! Not only are there people about to speak at the precise time as we
are, but even in the case of our President, there are perhaps many, many
other Presidents or Prime Ministers of other foreign nations involved
in speaking at the same time. In other words, in my case, when I began
my legal career I would have to go into a court of law and talk to a
judge. The first few trips to court were full of fear, anxiety and pain.
I had no idea if what I needed to say I would be able to say, or, if I
would make any sense. But after the first handful of hearings I began to
notice a crucial something, a piece of information that would literally
transform my perceptions, then my presentations. I began to see there
were, in my case, lists of cases printed on legal paper hanging just
outside the courtroom door in front of the department where I was going
to appear. I saw perhaps ten or fifteen other cases, and other
attorneys, all about to appear before the same judge at the same time. I
realized that what I was about to do was definitely hard, but also not
unique. The work I needed to do, the messages, arguments and information
I needed to convey were not uncommon. In other words, my oral
presentation was just one of perhaps a hundred other cases going on in
my courthouse, and possibly thousands of other cases taking place in
other locations throughout Los Angeles and the United States.
The
realization of this phenomenon made a big difference in my professional
life. I gained confidence knowing there were other attorneys doing just
about the same thing I was doing, at the same time, in the same
building! From this point forward, whenever I needed to go to court,
just before I did this I imagined all of courtrooms in the building I
was driving to. I then realized there were a lot of other attorneys
doing the same thing. I would then imagine all of the courthouses where
there were attorneys doing what I was doing. My work was important,
somewhat difficult and time consuming. I prepared very thoroughly. But
when it comes right down to it, in my opinion, if there are so many
other people doing the same thing I was doing it could not be that hard.
The work is fairly common, and not unique. When I say this I don't mean
to imply the work is not important. I also don't mean to give you the
impression practicing law in court or giving speeches before a large
audience is easy. Not even close. However, in order to break down the
element of fear, you must eliminate your belief that you are alone,
unique or the very first person in the world to ever speak before an
audience. You might be standing by yourself in front of a judge or large
audience speaking, but you can be sure there other folks doing just
about the same thing as you at the same time, albeit in different
geographic locations. One can apply this concept to just about any
variety of public speaking. Take a chance and use your imagination. But,
never overlook the second part of my formula for tackling your fear.
Preparation.
2.) SECOND TECHNIQUE: PREPARATION
Everyone
always talks about the importance of being prepared. However, in
reality, what exactly does this mean, and, how do you prepare
effectively?
"You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one."
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
I love the way Mr. Thoreau thinks. Mr.
Thoreau recognizes so much truth for the rest of us. He conveys the
reality of success is actually not much more than very work. My belief
is each person is going to need to develop, and acquire their own brand
of preparation. Having said that, there are some definite elements
involved. When you are going to give a speech, or, appear in court, do
not ever wait until the last second. I hear people say, when I ask them
if they are ready, yes, I am going to "wing it". When I hear this, I
know this means the person is not prepared. People who for whatever
reason do not want to prepare say they "have to just show up and do it".
Well, I disagree vehemently. I understand being flexible, and
spontaneous. But when you are not prepared, you have nothing particular
to say. You don't set the agenda of what is said, you are going to react
to what the judge says. If you need to speak to a group of club
members, an audience, if you just appear before them, I suppose you
might have to begin by asking questions of your audience. You would have
to ask them if they have any questions. My experience is most people do
not attend a meeting with a speaker who asks them to set the agenda. A
speaker must present with an agenda. Finding your agenda will take some
time, and, some preparation. If you have no ideas, and no agenda, people
will just leave your speech. The very worst thing happens: people see
you are not ready, and rather than ask you to speak about x, y, or z
they might walkout.
Why someone would not prepare I cannot say. The first thing about preparation is to begin immediately.
Right
down, brainstorm what you need or want to say. Don't worry about an
outline per se, or, using precise language. Begin with going over your
documentation. Figure out what is most important. Find the essential
information. Determine the essence of the problem or material. When you
have found the essence, begin to write down what you need or want to
say. Stick with this, go through the problem until you finish. Remember,
you can abbreviate, this is a rough, rough first draft. If you are
tired after this, put the work aside and do something else. The beauty
of starting to prepare early is you have the luxury of time on your
side. Time can be a friend or an enemy. When you are early, and when you
begin your work early, time is on your side. I can promise you this, if
you wait to prepare until just before your speech, or hearing, you are
going to be nervous. Being nervous means you are under more stress than
you need. Going to court is stressful all by itself. Waiting until the
last second to prepare your work simply doubles the stress. When you are
under a double dose of stress, your mind will not work as efficiently.
You will skip things,miss things, and lose your train of thought.
Suddenly, what you are doing is much more difficult. There are errors
you are making, and, you have made your job much tougher. I am not
saying pressure is always bad. I am saying preparing at the last second
is bad. You don't need twice the pressure.
Alright, now you are
aware you need to begin right away. How do people prepare to give
speeches or speak to a judge? I write an outline, or, I write a list of
the most important items I need to discuss, argue or present. I try to
put the points with the highest priority on top of the sheet of paper I
am using. As I do this I also try and read these words out loud.
Obviously, you cannot read things out loud if you are amongst other
people. So try this, go for a walk.
It might look to an outsider
or stranger like you are nuts talking to yourself. So what. Nowadays,
people might just think you are talking on a cell phone. Just practice
your speech over, and over again. If you hesitate slightly, go back to
the beginning and start again. If you can, use a friend or someone as a
sounding board. They might give you some pointers. You can also write
out the things you plan to say. You can write them on a sheet of scratch
paper, over and over again. Writing down your arguments, or speech,
cements the ideas and makes them much easier to recall at a later time.
I
wish you all the best, and the greatest amount of success possible. If
in your future you are facing the prospect of speaking before an
audience, remember you are not alone, there are others doing the same
thing you are doing at the same time all over the place. Give yourself
an advantage by being prepared. Your future is unwritten, turn it into
something you will be proud of.
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