Public Speaking – The Voice of Echo

Public speaking and advanced English speaking is a skill that has become the need of the hour. Today, everyone is expected to have some amount of public speaking skills, which is considered the bare minimum. Also people these days, have finally started to realize the importance of public speaking as it is one of the basic skills that a person is expected to have in them. Skills, such as this, are very helpful in a person for their personality development and growth as well.

Now, whenever it comes to public speaking, many people are seen having fear or shyness. They are not very comfortable speaking or delivering a speech in front of a large crowd. It is something very normal for many people. They are also viewed as under confident by many people sometimes. It is however true to some extent. People who are not very comfortable speaking in front of a large crowd are somewhere low on confidence. It is a long process and expecting a change overnight is not correct. It is a process and has to take one step at a time.

Public speaking is a skill that cannot be acquired overnight. It is often suggested to develop from childhood. Children from a young age should be encouraged to participate in various activities that demand them to connect with people as much as possible. When it is imbibed in children from a young age, by the time they are mature enough, they can participate in group discussions and deal with group activities without any fear. Group activities, then, do not intimidate anymore.

People, often try to find ways and methods, to overcome their fear of public speaking. But, they go wrong with the start. A lot of times, people do not realize that it is a slow process and takes time. They should go easy with themselves, instead, they try to overcome all their fear at once and end up ruining everything.

Now comes the question of how can one overcome this challenge or fear. The most effective way is to be patient and give their full dedication. How is this possible you ask? Well, we can always start small. We often have several online English conversation classes which can be a head start for our journey. Practicing in front of a mirror helps one evaluate their performance and their shortcomings, as to what areas need their attention, be it their speaking, posture, or pronunciation. The internet is such a gift to mankind as we find all kinds of resources for our preparation. Lately, several personality development courses have come up which help to keep track of all our progress made. Once they excel in this area now they can move toward the bigger picture. They can always ask our friends and family for help. Make them sit and pretend it to be a formal setting where you are asked to give a speech or a few sentences.

Now I know it is wrong to push someone so radically out of their comfort zone but, unless we move out of that zone we will never be able to better ourselves. These little steps will help us go a long way. Once you get comfortable in a small setting, it is time to level up the difficulty level. Go for a small family function with around 40-50 people and make a toast. With these ways, you will be able to access your progress and help you to overcome the fear you have of speaking in a public setting. These are only some ways you can better yourself and vary from person to person as someone can give their 100 percent and overcome the fear within days, while some may take their sweet time and develop their own pace. Either way, these habits will help you in the long run and keep your fears at bay. The only key to success is persistence and practice. Only you can help yourself if you want to.

Next, you can try going for small functions, that include strangers and not only your close ones. It can be an open mic or some stand-up comedy. These kinds of shows will help you come out of your shelter but at your own pace. Places like these automatically lift your mood and make you feel like interacting with the people around you. You must know what you like or have an interest in so that it makes you feel connected and help you overcome your fear a bit. Open mics are a great start in overcoming your fears. They do not have many people, it only includes only a limited amount of people. The main purpose of open mics is to help you with your confidence in front of a small audience first, before moving to a large crowd directly.

A lot of times, we are clueless as to how should we move forward with our presentations before presenting them in front of a large crowd. A great way to start is to try recording it before the final presentation. Before presenting, if we try recording it every time we practice, it becomes easier to track our progress and keep a check on where we are going wrong. This will help us improve the mistakes that we have been doing and be better every time. It is also very important that we have someone who can help us see our mistakes. Often, it happens that we do not tend to see our mistakes and go on doing the same thing. However, if we have someone to review it, then it becomes easier for us and gives us a perspective of a different person.

Once you think you are ready, you can try testing your improvements. You can start by participating in small settings. For example. If you play any instrument or you sing, you can try to start doing it in small social arrangements, like a house party, a small wedding with close family and friends. This will help you boost your confidence among your close people and gradually with a larger crowd.

Overcoming the fear of public speaking is very common in young and the old alike. It is nothing o be ashamed of. With continuous practice and determination, we can be able to overcome it soon.