Episode 9 FINAL: 8 tips to conquer your fear of public speaking

The speaker is inviting listeners to join a 5-minute story workshop to help them overcome their fear of public speaking. The podcast is aimed at Christ-led entrepreneurs and leaders who want to make an impact in the world. The speaker shares eight tips to conquer the fear of public speaking, including breathing techniques, knowing your material, and focusing on serving the audience. The podcast also announces a giveaway and the upcoming Season 2, which will feature interviews with Christ-led entrepreneurs. The speaker explains that nerves and anxiety are just adrenaline running through the body. Hey friend, before you jump into today's episode I want to ask you, do you stress out when somebody asks you to tell them a little bit about you? Or when you're on a podcast and somebody asks you to tell us your story? Or maybe when you're at a networking event and it's your turn to shine, do you freak out and fumble over your words? Well, I want to invite you to our 5-minute story workshop happening tomorrow, Wednesday, June 26th at 12 p.m. Eastern. The replays will be sent out because I know this is very last minute. If you're just hearing about this for the first time, you can go ahead and click the link in the description of this show and register right now and join us and get your 5-minute story ready so that you never have to stress again when it comes to sharing what you do and all of the incredible things that you are creating. God bless. Do you dream of sharing your message on stages but are still terrified you'll mess it up? Want to crush your online videos so that you can grow your business but you feel super awkward and hate the sound of your voice? Or maybe you simply want to feel more confident in the boardroom without reading your notes and fumbling over your words? Hello, new friend, and welcome to the Speaking and Storytelling Podcast, a show for Christ-led entrepreneurs and leaders who want to make a humongous impact in the world. I'm so glad you're here. I'm your host, Emanuela, a stage actress and playwright turned speaking coach and story consultant. Whether you want to master speaking on stages, online, in the boardroom, or the classroom, if you believe you're meant to make an impact in the world and you know your voice and story is the ticket to get you there, then this podcast is for you, my friend. Over the past four years, I've helped dozens of entrepreneurs find and tell their stories, speak with authority, and captivate their audience so that they can grow their visibility, further their God-given mission, and change the world. If you're ready to do that too, then sit back, grab a pen and paper, and enjoy the show. Hello and welcome back to the Speaking and Storytelling Podcast. I'm your host, Emanuela Hall, and this is episode number nine, Eight Tips to Conquer Your Fear of Public Speaking. I am so excited to talk about this today because, of course, so many people come to me who are really just straight-up afraid. Afraid to be seen, afraid to be heard, but they have this burning passion to make an impact in the world. They feel God is calling them to speak about something, and they know that their voice and their story is a super important piece to that. So this is a really important episode if that is something that you struggle with. These are just little tips, little tweaks, that you can think about and you can implement the next time you need to either speak on stage, online, at a networking event. These will help you. Now before we jump in, I do want to remind you that this is the last week you can enter the giveaway to win some really great prizes. The first one being a 50% off scholarship to any of my programs, and the other one being access to the Speak with Grit modules inside of the Captivating Speakers Academy. All you have to do is take a screenshot of the review that you are leaving for the Speaking and Storytelling podcast, send it to me, info at EmanuelaHall.com, or post it inside of the Speaking and Storytelling Mastery Facebook community. That gets you an entry, and at the end of this month, the end of June, I will be drawing two lucky winners. So thank you so much if you have already participated, if you have been leaving me reviews, because as you know, this is a new podcast, so every review really, really helps to spread the message to get more people to follow along. Now this is also the end of Season 1. Ooh, very exciting! And Season 2 is going to be interviews. So as we move into summer, it's going to be some past interviews I've done, some past collaborations I've done, and really trying to expand the network of people, of Christ-led entrepreneurs, telling their stories and giving you some valuable, valuable information. So stay tuned for Season 2 coming this summer. All right, let me tell you about these eight tips. The first tip to overcome your fear of public speaking is to remember that you are not alone. I want to let you know that 73% of Americans, and I'm in Canada, it might be a little different here, but the Google just told me Americans have some sort of anxiety around speaking. It's called glossophobia. 73%. So if that is you, even if you're like, I don't have like a fear, but I'm just a little bit nervous, I feel awkward, I don't like it, you are the majority. So if you look around and you think, oh my gosh, everybody's doing it, I'm so, you know, whatever, insert blank, there must be something wrong with me. I want you to remember that there's nothing wrong with you, that you are very much normal. Very much normal. There are different reasons why we suffer from this fear. That'll be another episode, but if you have it, I think it's helpful to know that you're not alone. Remind yourself, I'm not alone, this is normal, and it's okay. Because guess what? All those people you see speaking, many of them probably have that same fear. The only difference is, they're not letting it stop them. That's the only difference. Number two, this is really basic, but breathe. It is incredible how the breath can help regulate our nervous system. It helps to switch the nervous system into that parasympathetic mode, which is our rest and digest and relax mode. Most of us are walking around in sympathetic nervous system all day long, rushing around, feeling like there's some major threat in our lives. This is the world we live in, right? And when you activate that diaphragmatic breathing, breathing in through the nose, filling up the belly with air. Yeah, I said the belly. You're not really filling up your belly with air, but you're blowing that balloon. You're imagining your belly like a big balloon. It allows the diaphragm to drop, which allows your lungs to take in more air, and then you're exhaling nice and slowly out the mouth. Just do that right now. Do that right now as an exercise, and notice how different you feel already. Don't underestimate the power of your breath to help you when you feel that fear of public speaking. And of course, I teach my clients several different types of breathing practices to help them depending on what it is they're struggling with when it comes to speaking, but our voice is something that we cannot ignore when it comes to speaking. Number three, this might seem like a no-brainer, but a way to feel more confident when you speak to conquer your fear is to know your material. If I'm gonna, if I was asked to speak about changing attire, I would not be so confident. Like, Manuela, can you give a talk to the class about Jupiter? This is how I feel when I'm homeschooling. No, just kidding, but kind of just kidding, kind of not. Sorry, not sorry, but if you don't know your material, you're not gonna be confident about it. Speak about the things that you know and the things that you are passionate about. It's gonna make it a lot easier to speak and be prepared, right? Have your material ready, maybe write an outline. That's a lot easier than jumping in and winging it, let me tell you. Now, some people don't like that, they don't like being tied to their script. Just write an outline and try to memorize that. You can go back and listen to my episode on how to memorize. Then you're not tied to your script, but you at least have that material written down somewhere. You know what you're gonna say, you're not totally cold. Number four is be of service. What I mean by that is, remember that this is not about you. Yes, of course, as an entrepreneur, your goal is to make money, to sell things, otherwise you don't have a business. But as a Christ-led entrepreneur, you are there to make a difference. It's about influencing and impacting your listeners. Try and take the spotlight off of, oh my gosh, everybody's listening to me, everybody's looking at me, something on my face, I'm so nervous, I can't do this, I hate this, I'm not good at this, too. Look at these beautiful people. What do they need from me? How can I help them? My story matters. My story is going to make a difference to them. And if you aren't sure how this can help, one thing you could start with is an objective. I want them to blank, so that blank. What do you want your audience to do? Number five, this is one of my favorite. This is really playing a little trick on yourself. I want you to think about the physiological symptoms that present when you have anxiety or when you're nervous, particularly before I talk, but it could be anytime. Now for me, I notice that my breathing gets shallow. It maybe gets quicker. For some of you, it might be like sweaty palms or those butterflies in your tummy or maybe that frog in your throat. Okay, so whatever it is for you, I want you to think about that. Now, picture a different scenario. Picture something that makes you really, really excited. So for me, it's like going on a roller coaster or going on a trip or seeing a friend I haven't seen in a while. And it's like that, that's excitement and adrenaline. Like, yes, I can't wait. We're gonna have a party. It's so fun, like the night before Christmas, right, for a kid. The same physiological symptoms present themselves. Often, your breathing gets more shallow. It gets a little faster. Your hands get sweaty. Your belly gets the butterflies. Your throat gets a lump in it because you're so excited. You have that adrenaline running through your body. You're shaking. You're like, I can't wait to get on that roller coaster. I can't wait to go to Florida, whatever it is. So remember that your nerves and your adrenaline, or your nerves and your anxiety are just adrenaline running through your body. You're just excited. Can you reframe that, right? And can you use those nerves? Can you use that anxiety and channel it into your talk to bring energy to your talk? It doesn't have to freeze you. It doesn't have to make you flee. I've gone into the nervous system here again, but it can make you fight and go and do the thing you need to do. It's there for a reason, and we can have a whole episode on that as well. But for today, just try and trick your mindset, right? I'm not nervous. I am excited. Number six, detach. Detach from the outcome. Yes, we have an objective. Yes, we want our audience to move. We want them to do something. If we are in business, we probably want them to buy something or sign up for something, but you can't force anybody to do anything. We all have free will. All you can do is show up and do your job and then detach. Stop ruminating on what they said, if they smiled, if they clapped, if they laughed, if they sent me a message in my inbox, if they clicked like on that video. That's not your job. That's up to them and God. All you can do is do the work, show up, deliver, be of service, and then let it go. Please let it go, because the more you are worried about how it's going to turn out, the less you're going to be present and in the moment and delivering the message they need to hear, because you're going to be so caught up on what's going to happen after. Number seven, this might be a little bit harsh, but I say this with love, my friend. You, you're not that important. What do I mean by that? We live in a fast-paced world where the average human has the same attention span as a goldfish, which is seven seconds. We live in a world where people just want to go, go, go. They want to see the next thing. You are boring me. Now, that may feel a little discouraging. I don't love it, but the truth is, all those little details, all those little things that you're worried about, oh, you flubbed up on that word. I mean, you hear me. I flub up. I flub up a lot, a lot on this podcast. See, I just did it right there. But most of the time, not always, most of the time, your audience is not hanging on to those things. They are thinking about themselves. They are just experiencing and feeling what you're saying. They're not noticing if your hair is out of place. I mean, if you have a big, like, swatch of ketchup on your shirt, they'll probably notice that. But then they'll turn off the camera. They'll turn off Facebook or wherever you were going live, and they'll forget about it. You aren't that big of a deal. And maybe you're listening to this and you're like, oh, you don't know. I am a huge deal, okay, Emanuela? Which, great. I'm happy for you. But if you struggle with the fear of public speaking, just remember, you're not that important. Your big, scary moment is not a thing to those people listening. Number eight for how to overcome your fear of public speaking is to work on your inner confidence. To work on your inner confidence. And this isn't just about your mind. It's not about saying affirmations and telling yourself, I'm a good speaker. I'm a captivating speaker. I'm a competent speaker. And I'm not bashing affirmations. They do have an effect. Our thoughts definitely impact us. I'm just saying it doesn't end there. Your body has to feel safe. Your body has to remember. So just like I was saying about anxiety and turning anxiety into excitement, that's just a one tool. And it can help you, but it's probably not going to sustain you. Because you need to find that inner confidence. And that inner confidence comes from competence. Which means it comes from the skills. Which means it comes from the skills you've mastered around your presence, your voice, your delivery, your storytelling. When you master the skill set, it's not just practice makes progress, but skillful practice makes professionalism. And sometimes that means getting help. Sometimes you can't just YouTube university your way to becoming a captivating speaker, or a confident speaker, or one who speaks with authority. Sometimes you really have to dig deep, work on your presence, your breath work, understand how you present, how your voice sounds, how it lands. That way you're like, oh I've done the work, now I'm confident. If somebody handed me a violin and said, just practice and you'll make progress, and you'll learn how to play the violin, sure. I'm sure if I fiddled around and maybe watched a few YouTube videos, I'd probably eventually learn how to play the violin okay. I'd make progress. But if I learned how to play the violin, meaning I had an instructor teach me the proper way, who was invested in my learning. I learned the skills, like how to hold it properly, where to hold it, how to put my fingers in the right spots, maybe some tricks on, you know, where to put it under your chin. I'd probably learn better. And that would give me confidence. We can't be confident in things we've never mastered, and we can't master things that we've never learned. Yes, we all have a voice. Well, I mean, 90 something percent of us have a voice that we can use. Thank God for that uniquely designed voice. What a blessing. And most of us can speak a language to communicate ourselves. But it doesn't end there when you are a entrepreneur, a mission-driven entrepreneur. So if you want to overcome your fear of public speaking, master the skills to speaking, and you will get that inner confidence, which is where you will be rooted, and you'll be able to move through that fear. It doesn't mean you're never going to be anxious. It doesn't mean you're going to totally erase all your nerves. And I will talk about how that is actually a good thing. We want some nerves there. That gives our talk energy. When I was doing theater, if I was ever backstage, and I wasn't a little bit nervous, and I didn't have that feeling in my belly, I was worried. I was worried that I wasn't going to bring that energy to my role, that I wasn't going to connect with my audience, because I was kind of like, meh, whatevs. No, no, no. Nerves are not the enemy. Let's recap. The eight tips for overcoming your fear of public speaking are, number one, remember you're not alone. Number two, breath work, breathing practices, if you prefer that title. Number three, know your material. Number four, be of service. It's not about you. Number five, turn your anxiety into excitement. Yay, I love public speaking. Number six is detach from the outcome. Number seven, you're not that important. Sorry to say it. And number eight is work on your inner confidence and your competence. I guess that's kind of like two in one. So, of course, mindset, but also skill set. All right, beautiful. If this is hitting home for you, you know what to do. We have a beautiful workshop actually happening on June 26th, which is just a few days away, I believe, from when this podcast is going to be dropped. Still working on getting my head around how I'm pre-recording things, so bear with me here, my friend. But this workshop is actually going to teach you how to tell your story in a concise five minutes. It's a workshop on Zoom, and I will drop the link down below. Go there, check it out. Come join me on Zoom. It'll be fun to meet you face-to-face, and we'll have a ball. All right, until next time, beautiful. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of the Speaking and Storytelling Podcast. Now, I'd love to hear your voice. What's one thing you learned from today's episode? How did it inspire you, and how will you take action today? You can let me know by leaving a review or visit me on Instagram at Emanuela.Paul. My friend, remember that you were born for such a time as this, so get out there and fearlessly share your unique, God-given voice, because it just might be the thing that changes the world.