Just when we got our head around speaking confidently over the internet, for a lot of us, it’s time to go back to the office again. This in many ways is something that we have looked forward to, but the reality, after 12 months of being isolated, has led to a fear of public speaking for some of us. In todays blog post I am going to give you some tips on how to feel confident with public speaking in the work place.
1. Get Yourself Mentally Prepared Before Entering The Workplace.
You can strike what is called a power pose, which is where you stand with your hands on your hips, and your legs slightly apart – like Superman or Wonderwoman. Getting in a power pose will help you change your physiology, as doing this for just 2 minutes will increase your testosterone levels and decrease your cortisol levels (stress hormones).
Do this before entering your workplace, and remember, you can even do this by popping to the bathroom and doing it from within a cubicle.
2. Own The Fact That You Are Nervous.
You won’t be the only one who is nervous. Own the fact, tell people that you work with that you feel like this and you will most likely find that they say ‘me too!’. it takes the pressure off yourself to be anything that you are not. Often, we believe in our own head that we need to perform in a certain way, and the people around us do not actually expect that. Take control of your fears by outing them.
3. Remember That Your Audience Are ‘People’. Ditch The Word ‘Audience’.
it’s the same people that you see at the coffee machine, in the carpark. They are just people – yet when we are nervous about public speaking our mind can trick us into thinking that they are our ‘audience’. Take away the word audience, and name them – Janet, Bob, Paul… remember who they are as people, and think of anything in your speech that will relate to them. Get them involved, just treat them as people. Because that is what they are, people, that you work with, and not an ‘audience’.
4. Provide A Handout, And Use One As A Reminding Tool.
If you do then totally forget what you were talking about, you can simply ask where was I, and someone will most likely tell you. There is always that one person who just loves a hand out and follows along with it religiously. Type something up, but don’t make it too long, and you will find that this mentally helps YOU to get clear on what you will be speaking about, and it will also give you a prompt to refer to, to keep you focused if you are distracted.
A handout however is not the same as a script. You don’t want to read off a script, there is nothing worse than that. Just use the handout with bullet points on it to remind you what you generally want to talk about.
5. Practise As Often As Situation Allows You To, And Public Speaking Will Become Easier.
It’s a bit of a cliche, I know, but the more opportunity that you can find to speak, the easier it will begin to feel for you. Take every opportunity, chat to someone at the coffee machine, it doesn’t have to be a deep and meaningful, simply a short comment like ‘good to be back isn’t it’ will usually get others talking. Think of questions that you can ask so that you leave things open ended to begin with. But the sooner you can get chatting, the faster you’ll re-connect with people.
I hope that this article helps you, I don’t know if you know, but I have just launched a book on Public Speaking, it’s called Face Your Fear Of Public Speaking and it’s available now, on Amazon here.
Until the next time, enjoy socialising as much as you can, and let me know how you get on with it,
Chris.
