Nearly everyone experiences feelings of nervousness, apprehension and anxiety when they speak in front of an audience.  There is not a single cause, or a single cure, but there are things you can do to reduce feelings of nervousness over time.

Practice and prepare.  When you are well prepared and you have practiced you will feel better about the quality of your presentation.  Practice helps you catch embarrassing errors before you present in front of a group and commits some of your presentation to memory.  When you do speak, you will have much less to think about and will be able to handle unexpected changes with ease.

Breathe.  Many people forget to breathe or breathe too fast when they get nervous.  Taking a few deep breaths can help you return to a normal rate of breathing, and can relieve feelings of nervousness.  To read more about breathing click on www.sas.upenn.edu/cwic

Have a conversation.  Many people view speaking in public as a single-shot opportunity to meet expectations of perfection.  Implicit in this belief is the idea that audiences pass harsh judgement on a speaker every time they stumble.  Presenting without error is impossible, and attempting to do so can make you feel so anxious that you become even more prone to make mistakes.  It also inhibits your ability to express yourself.  In conversation people commonly make mistakes, acknowledge them, correct them and continue without much notice.  If you can reorient yourself from “public speaking” to having a conversation with your audience, you will be less anxious and you will probably feel freer to express yourself.  When you feel comfortable expressing yourself, most people will enjoy listening to you, perfect or not.

Think Positively.   Many people feel dread at the mention of the possibility that they might, one day speak before an audience.  If the mere thought of speaking in public gets your heart pounding you may be conditioning yourself to react strongly when you speak.  Try not to respond to the notion of speaking in public negatively.

Seek Opportunities.  Feelings of anxiety do decline with experience.  The more opportunities you have to speak, the more you will improve and the better you will feel about yourself when you speak with an audience.  School is the perfect place to develop your confidence because the environment is very supportive and, compared to work-place settings, the pressure to succeed is relatively low.

If you’re still nervous…
If you still think speaking in public is overwhelming, you might come to the CWiC Center to speak with an advisor about more strategies for handling your nervousness.  Also, check the events section on our web-page for one hour workshops on anxiety.