Aubrey Carter
"3 Keys IELTS Certified Coach"
Lindsay McMahon
"The English Adventurer"

Are you part of the 77% of the population that gets nervous when doing presentations?

Lindsay and Aubrey give you tips on how to overcome this.

Listen in and gain the confidence to volunteer and give presentations at work in English so you can succeed in your career.

The Fear of Public Speaking

Aubrey asks Lindsay if she knows what glossophobia is.

Lindsay isn’t sure what it is. She knows several phobias such as arachnophobia and claustrophobia.

Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders.

Aubrey has this fear.

Where she lives, there are many scorpions and some of them are huge but she is afraid of even the smallest spider.

Claustrophobia is the fear of tight spaces.

These are very common ears and Lindsay is familiar with them.

She is interested to know what glossophobia is.

Aubrey shares that glossophobia is the fear of public speaking. It is also known as “stage fright.”

Aubrey looked up and she found out that 77% of the population are affected by this.

This is surprising to her because she feels like everyone, at some point in their life, gets nervous when presenting or performing in front of a crowd.

Lindsay then asks Aubrey if she gets more nervous to present in front of people she knows.

Aubrey says yes because she gives more value to what her loved ones think of her.

If it were strangers she is presenting to, it wouldn’t be much of a big deal.

3 Strategies for Nerves During Business English Presentations

Why do we fear public speaking?

It is nerve wracking when you are alone on a stage and a group of people are watching your every move.

Doing presentations is very common, especially in the workplace.

You may hesitate to do this at work and this might hinder your growth in your career.

In this lesson, Lindsay and Aubrey share three strategies that can help you overcome the fear of presenting in English at work.

Gaining this confidence will definitely help you improve your career.

Aubrey mentions a piece of very common advice from Winston Churchill.

You often hear others say this when they want to help reduce your fear of public speaking.

Aubrey understands the philosophy behind this wherein you do your best to disarm your audience so you feel less uncomfortable and intimidated.

Here is a quote from Dorothy Sarnoff’s book Speech Can Change Your Life (1970):

“Winston Churchill overcame his early fear of audiences by imagining that each of them was sitting there naked.”

This strategy worked for Winston Churchill and it may not work for everyone.

Aubrey and Lindsay say this won’t work for them.

Aubrey shares that it’s just like giving parenthood advice where it’s not a quick fix that fits everyone because every child is different.

Here are tips that the All Ears English team has gathered from different places and you can apply what you think fits you best.

  • Imagine the Audience are all Vegetables

Dairrene from Taiwan has shared this advice.

This is a similar concept to Winston Churchill’s strategy.

You are trying to take away the intimidation of looking at an audience watching your presentation.

Aubrey thinks this is much less distracting than thinking the people are naked.

She could imagine herself using this strategy and she might smile in the process which may help in making her feel much more comfortable and relaxed in front of the audience.

  • Write the Word “People” on Your Hand and Pretend to Eat it

This strategy is from Dairren again.

In Chinese, this is part of a strategy of symbolism where you are taking away the power of the people watching you by pretending to eat the word “people.”

It is the same concept as the first one mentioned and the main difference is the action of ingesting your audience and establishing your dominance over them.

  • Get in the Zone with a Ritual

This strategy is from the motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

He has talked about his pre-speaking incantations to help others overcome the fear of public speaking.

In his incantations, he commands his mind to get into a certain emotional state to prepare to get on stage in front of thousands of people attending his seminars.

This can be different for everyone.

You can set an incantation to suit you.

Here is his guideline for making your own incantations:

  1. A mantra you say to yourself
  2. Deep breaths
  3. Thoughts or words of gratitude

Aubrey explains that a mantra is a phrase that you repeat to yourself and strengthen your mindset.

You start by thinking about what your struggle is and set the words that you need to hear to help you push away the fear and clear any roadblocks from your goal.

Takeaway

Don’t let glossophobia affect your presentation performance.

To get to your goals, there will be challenges and you shouldn’t let that hinder you to move forward.

You have to take control of your actions and equip yourself to succeed in your career.

If you have the fear of presenting at work, you can use today’s strategies to calm your nerves.

You are in control of yourself. Empower yourself by working towards overcoming your fears.

Do you have your own strategy to face your fear of public speaking?

Share it in the comments below, so other All Ears English speakers can learn tips from you.

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