Fear of Public Speaking

There is an official term used for people who have a fear of public speaking. It’s called glossophobia and it is not something to gloss over should you want to take your career or business to the next level.

It is the term used to define a person with speech anxiety or the fear of just generally having to talk to people. The American National Institute of Mental Health conducted research to gather glossophobia statistics in September 3, 2016, that was published by Statistic Brain. They gauged that 74 % of people in America suffer from speech anxiety.

That’s an amazing number!

What that says to me is there are a lot of people out there who aren’t reaching their potential in their careers, in their business and in social situations.

I am concerned.

Not just about that person’s loss of income and business potential, but also because I know from experience how devastating fear of public speaking is to your confidence.

Fear of Public Speaking – The Future

Like many people, I honestly feared public speaking more than death. As a kid, having a fear of speaking when you are in school is a nightmare. It doesn’t matter if you are still in school, at uni, a data entry person, a CEO or a mum, when you feel that lack of confidence inside, you suffer. Especially when you are called up to speak, and even if you avoid it at all costs, it still pops up pretty often in life.

Activities that require public speaking.
• Family events (weddings, funerals, birthdays)
• Staff meetings
• Work functions
• Award ceremonies
• Presentations
• Classrooms
• School Functions for parents
• Tests/Examinations

Imagine if you missed all of those things?

So what happens in our brain that stops up from getting up and lapping up the spotlight?

To put it simply we think the very worst. We instantly think of the worst-case scenario – complete humiliation, total rejection, peeing your pants, instant death.
When our brain senses any danger, however small (either physically, mentally, financially or emotionally) it shuts down all motivation. If you are in any kind of danger you will have no motivation what so ever to continue. That’s instant. You then magically remember every time (real or imagined) when you humiliated yourself in public or got in trouble for saying the wrong thing or messed something up.

Fear of Public Speaking – The Past

It might not have actually happened to you, we can also remember things that happen to other people, or even in movies. Maybe the scene from ‘Carrie’ goes sailing through your mind.

This causes panic. You are never going to survive this. You never have before. A second or two after that, when the chemicals your brain releases enter into your bloodstream, you experience the preservation of fight or flight mode, or maybe you get caught in the frozen state between the two while your brain frantically tries to work out whether to run and hide or punch the guy with the microphone in the face.

Sometimes being frozen causes fear all of its own. The pressure of not being able to decide, the stress building and the adrenalin running through you is a situation you also want to avoid at all costs. So being in a place where that might happen is a problem.

That’s the really big stuff. The small stuff is that public speaking (doing anything new really) feels uncomfortable. We just don’t like being uncomfortable so we stay where we are and do what we know.

That then means we are less likely to be noticed, less likely to be promoted and less likely to get that well-earned pay raise and less likely to be successful in all aspects of life. To grow as a person, in skill and in personality, we must learn to step outside the comfort zone.

Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking

There is a solution. I’m living proof that you don’t have to live with Glossophobia forever. I now speak to large groups, small groups and people of immense influence and I love it.

Anyone can do this, that’s why I created Influence Now!

It’s a training that teaches someone who is petrified of public speaking, and teaches them how to be an amazing presenter with the right mindset. It’s all about how to take the stage and influence a room of people with your words and your passion. I love watching shy people come into this course and walking out full of confidence and certainty.

It’s a great feeling, knowing that anyone can overcome a crippling fear in a few days using mindset techniques that stop you from spiralling down the road of worse case scenario.

Influence Now is about creating more choices for you.

Creating Influence Through Public Speaking

If you want business success in the current market, you need to know how to stand up for yourself and stand behind your product or service. That’s not going to be possible under a cloud of fear, caring what other people think, freezing up and obsessing about saying or doing the wrong thing. Let’s get that out of the way so you can start actually living life to its fullest potential.

At our Influence Now training we start by tackling the small stuff. We get you comfortable with being uncomfortable. We create a space that is safe, with people you can trust. In our training you can be yourself, you are never asked to fake it or be inauthentic to reach your goals. The trainers, the students and our dedicated team members accept you no matter what.

Now you are ready and excited about taking a forward step. We teach you how to get around the big stuff. The easiest and fastest way to do this is to practice. We show your brain that worse-case scenario actually only happens in your head (or a Batman movie). The reality is much different. You will practice and be given the opportunity to improve through self-evaluation, skilled trainer support and lots of encouragement.

At the end of our five days training you will have become skilled in how to:
– Feel comfortable in a crowd
– Effectively communicate your message
– Create a positive emotional anchor to activate whenever needed (i.e courage, motivation, determination, confidence)
– Use body language and stance to your advantage
– Connect and engage with people no matter who they are
– Have confidence in your ability to talk
– Deliver a message people will listen to
– Overcome your fear

We give you all the information, cues, tools and techniques to get to the other side of any public speaking phobia. You can then use these tools anytime you need to.

It doesn’t matter what the occasion or event, a job interview, a meeting with your boss, a new business venture, everything you learn at Influence Now is flexible and adaptable to whatever your current need might be.

We also offer a lifetime re-sit so that you can brush up on your skills and take your public speaking ability to the next level so you take the stage and captivate a crowd at a moment’s notice!

I would love to see you there,

Matt Catling

 

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