The Surprising Genetic Link to the Fear of Public Speaking

So when I recently discovered that there's an evolutionary component to being in the spotlight, it made a lot of sense to me.

Did you know that the fear of public speaking is linked to prehistoric man?

Predators seek the easy prey: those who are alone, vulnerable, in a flat, open area. More than two million years ago, early man learned that his chances for survival plummeted when he was standing alone in open territory (no place to hide), unarmed, in front of a pack of animals that were staring at him, licking their chops.

The odds were high that he'd soon be attacked. So our ancestors developed a fear response to this type of life-threatening situation.

Over millennia, this fear became programmed into our genes. And although your audience today isn't a pack of hungry wolves, the vulnerable feeling persists.

Though it's a bit of a stretch, your genes are programmed to look for threats. It's called adaptation, and we're geniuses at it.

The modern twist on this genetically programmed anxiety is to fear humiliation, embarrassment and rejection. Granted, these are big fears. Not life-threatening, but they are some of the biggest fears of modern life.

It's natural for you to want to avoid embarrassment like the plague because you don't like it when your self-confidence takes a big hit. Ditto when you're humiliated; you temporarily lose your sense of identity.

From asking a hottie out on a date to speaking in front of a hundred people, performance anxiety touches your life in a wide variety of situations. The key to mastering your biology is to understand it, then find ways to plug the holes in your self-confidence.

When you recognize that public speaking triggers a lot of nervous energy, you can learn to focus that energy in a beneficial way. Nervous becomes excited. Motivated. Passionate. Engaging. Likable.

When you're nervous, your energy is scattered. Your thoughts are dominated by self-doubt and worry-neither of which help you deliver a strong presentation. Others will pick up on your nervousness and will be turned off by it.

But when you speak from your passion, you are your most persuasive. Passion is both attractive and contagious. People want to be around you; they're more open to hearing and agreeing with you when you speak from your heart.

Writing a Speech Is Like Planting a Garden

Now that the nice weather is here I have been thinking about gardening and speeches, and I have realized that they have many things in common... and not just that they are both hard work...

Do you garden? If so, you probably look forward to receiving the seed catalogue, poring over them and deciding what to put in where in your garden - flowers or vegetables, what kinds, how many. You may read books about perennial planting, or container gardening. You talk to other gardeners to get advice about the best flowers or vegetables to plant for your soil, and maybe get pictures of their garden so that you know what you are looking for. You might want to attract hummingbirds or other birds to your backyard and so you look up information on what types of shrubs to plant. Then you have to decide where your garden will be, how big, will you have a pathway, what will your focus be. You need to make sure that you have different colours and plants throughout the garden and not just bunch them up in one place. You might want to put in a path so that people can leisurely stroll through your garden. Perhaps you will have a bench where they can sit and pause as they view your garden, perhaps close to your piece de resistance - the most beautiful flower or amazing vegetable plants.

If you are a speaker who is a member of Toastmasters International, each month you receive a Toastmasters magazine with many articles and suggestions for speeches. You also read through your manuals deciding on what type of speech you will give (you do, don't you???) and if you belong to more than one club, to which club you will give it. You may keep a file folder of funny stories that you have found, or those from your personal experience. You talk to other Toastmasters and ask for advice about how to craft your speech, what to put into it and what to leave out. Then you decide on a plan. What will you use to attract the attention of the audience? What colourful words or alliterations can be used to draw people in? Then you think about the body of your speech. You will need to have it move at a gentle pace so that everyone will be able to understand what you are saying. You will need to add pauses for particular points (your best flowers) so that people can appreciate what you said.

You will want to fill out the body of the speech, just as you would the garden - a few points here, a few more over there, leading the audience gently down the garden path of your speech to the conclusion where you give them your best parting tip.

I am sure you can now clearly see how crafting a speech is like planting a garden. If you follow this "speech gardening plan", you will be sure to create excellent speeches. Just remember the following:

Just as a garden needs a variety of colour - a speech needs colourful words to draw pictures in the minds of the audience.

A garden contains many different types of flowers and/or vegetables. A speech needs many points of interest or stories.

A garden needs a path to guide the viewer. A speech needs to be linked with words and phrases to lead the audience from opening to conclusion.

People often want to "stop and smell the roses." The audience needs time to pause and ponder a particularly powerful statement. The speech needs to be nicely paced and not rushed.

In a garden it is important not to bunch everything together, but to spread it out so that people can enjoy it. In a speech it's important not to rush or to put all the information in the first paragraph or the last paragraph.

Oh yes, one more thing. A gardener has to work on his or her garden and pull the weeds on a regular basis in order to keep the garden beautiful and a speaker needs to read through and weed his speech in order to take out extraneous words to make it fit the required time frame.

Five Reasons Why You Must Make Visual Contact With Your Audience!

Should you make eye contact with individuals in your audience? The answer is: Yes. In fact, it is essential that you do so.

It Shows Speaker's Interest In Reaching Audience!

Here's why. When you speak to an audience, you are attempting to communicate with them. That's what public speaking is, one person attempting to communicate with others. And what is communication? The flow of ideas from one mind to another, or to a group of individual minds.

In everyday life, if you're talking with someone, and they look first at their watch, then at the ceiling, then at a magazine they have in their hand, and finally at others passing by, what feeling do you start to get? You begin to feel that they have little interest in communicating with you, and you're probably right. Why? Because they never look at you!

It Builds Trust!

Similarly, when a speaker looks over the heads of those in his audience, or at the back wall, in an effort to seem to make visual contact, no one in his audience is fooled. He might as well focus on his notes and not look up at all. The effect on the audience is the same. It becomes easy for them to feel that the speaker has no real interest in them, but is simply giving a speech. So making eye contact builds trust.

Holds Interest of Audience!

Another benefit of making visual contact with various individuals in the audience is that the entire group is more likely to feel that you are conversing with them, rather than giving a speech to them. People find it easier to pay attention to a conversation they're engaged in than to a speech someone is giving. To be conversational, we have to look at members of our audience. This helps to maintain their interest.

Provides Feedback!

In one-on-one conversations, we look at the other person to get feedback. Even if they make no reply to a statement we make, we try to fathom their reaction by the expression on their face. If they smile or nod their head, we take that as agreement. That feedback encourages us to continue. If they frown or shake their head from side to side, we know they may not be in total agreement with what we just said, and we may give a more detailed explanation to convince them.

Speaking to an audience is similar. We need feedback, to see whether they seem to accept what we're saying, or if more explanation is needed. The person in the second row who smiles and nods her head is telling you what you need to know. She's saying that she both understands and agrees with you. But how can you perceive that if you're looking at the back wall?

It Gives Emotional Support To The Speaker!

A fifth reason to look briefly at different people is your audience is the emotional support you'll often receive. While you are not primarily seeking support, you'll often somehow sense that the audience is emotionally in tune with you. You cannot sense that if you avoid looking at individuals in your audience. This, in turn, is a powerful stimulant to you as a speaker, and may even improve your presentation.

Why You Should Not Seek Perfection in Public Speaking

When you have a job at hand, is your goal to do it perfectly or to the best of your ability? Be honest with yourself in answering that question because, in public speaking, it could mean the difference between a dynamic presentation and one that is so-so.

Without a doubt, there are some things I want done perfectly - like the surgery on my dog's eye to remove a large cyst or the adding of numbers when I do my taxes. When I was a child, my mother taught me to sew and we made identical dresses with a striped pattern. I can't tell you how many times she had me rip out the seams until I had matched the stripes perfectly. I know this was one of my best lessons in life.

There are other things, however, in which seeking perfection will thwart your success. Any type of live performance, be it on a stage, the football field or a baseball diamond, is subjective. Who is to say that the game, the concert, or the play is perfect? What I may think is perfect may not be what you think is perfect. In that sense, seeking perfection is a waste of time.

If you want to be able to speak and do it well, I suggest you:

1. know your material inside and out (which you have practiced out loud over and over and over again); 2. speak with emotion, with life, and with passion; 3. make eye contact with your audience; 4. breathe; and, 5. believe in yourself.

When you can incorporate those 5 rules into your delivery, you will then be achieving the best you can do. What this means is that you will give an excellent speech or presentation. No, it will not be perfect. In fact, you will probably make a mistake or two. Remember, your audience is not looking for perfection from you: your audience is looking for a great message that inspires or motivates or persuades them.

Deliver your message just as if you were having a conversation in your living room and you will be creating an intimacy with them that is not possible if your material is memorized or read from a script. Watch those who are really skilled at public speaking and you will see that they all share that one characteristic in common. They treat their listeners as if in conversation and they don't worry about a couple of mistakes.

Next time you are scheduled to speak, stop fretting over the unattainable and seek that which is easier to accomplish and much more dynamic in the long run.