The real reason you find public speaking stressful (and what to do about it)

Remember the first time you drove a car? Or the first day of a new job? You had never done those things before. Nervous, heart racing and most likely heightened stress.

As you got used to driving and long after passing your test it became an activity you do on autopilot. No nervousness or stress, just a means of getting from A to B. You know how to drive the car. You have done it regularly through practice over and over again.

If you have a break from driving, or end up driving a new car you get that rusty feeling, and maybe there is more stress as a result.

Public speaking follows the same path. You are finding public speaking more stressful than it needs to be because the intentional practice has not been in place as you had with learning to drive. You don’t practice between high pressure speaking environments (board meetings, interviews, speeches) and it leaves you feeling rusty which leaves your performance up to chance. So what are the solutions?

Recent Reps

Confidence is success remembered. The easier it is to recall past successful public speaking practice the more confident you will be. With confidence comes reduced stress. Just like driving a car, you should speak in public regularly.

Have a speech coming up? Build a daily speaking habit for the 2 weeks before your event. That means speaking in front of people, not just practicing your…