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Post-lockdown stage fright? These experts remind you how to speak in front of a crowd
(CNN)"If you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy." When comedian Jerry Seinfeld delivered that punchline during a Broadway show in 1998, he was appealing to a wide audience.
1. Have a clear, written intention
2. Be empathetic
3. Keep it short and sweet
4. Bring your message to life
5. Use an appropriate volume
6. Move around
7. Use your vulnerability
8. Build a relationship with your audience
9. Be Brave
I have spoken at several events over the years. I'm always nervous before the event all the way up to the podium. Once I start I'm actually relaxed and I have enjoyed it. Speaking at my brothers funeral was not what I had planned on as I could hardly put a sentence together to talk to one person. I had a few notes but they went out the window when I began speaking. Words came so easy to me that I even surprised myself. I felt a calmness and ease in front of everyone.
Even pre-lockdown i HATED speaking in front of large groups of people. Unless it was something i felt strongly about or if i knew it like the back of my hand. It goes as far back as "popcorn reading" as child. When the teacher would randomly call on a student to read exactly where the previous child left off . I would get so nervous that itd mess up or wouldnt be able to pronounce a word that id speed read pages ahead just so that if i was called on i knew i could read it confidently. Most of the time i still messed up. Oddly though, im apart of the training program at work, where we have to get up in front of the new hires and teach them different segments, presenting slide shows ,etc. This i dont find as hard because i know it like the back of my hand and dont have to rely on the slides behind me and i can freestyle a little bit.
Even prior to covid I was never really a fan of speaking in front of people, I took a public speaking class while I was in highschool my senior year and it really helped me to get over my fear of speaking. Even with covid and our lockdown I don't think it really effected me in that particular way.
@abigailcochraneiectskin-com I hated popcorn reading! I would pray so hard my teacher would not call on my name because I hated speaking in front of my classmates especially when it was elementary school age.
@deborahwatersiectskin-com I am the same way, I will write down everything I want to say and rehearse it over and over but once you actually start speaking its almost like you don't even need the paper anymore and it just flows out. Then you kind of feel silly for being so nervous.
Public speaking is a NO for me personally. I have never been brave enough to speak in front of a big crowd by myself. Even when reading or speaking in front of people I know, I still get a little anxious about it. During my junior year of high school I was in drama and I hated every time I had to act out a skit or read something out loud in front of the entire class, but I had no choice because my grade depended on it. During the time I was in drama we were working on a play for the end of the school year and lucky I didn't have to be in it (or so I thought). My teacher knew how I felt about being in front of big crowds so she made me the student director of the play. On the night of the play the main character had a panic attack and couldn't get on stage. My teacher pulled me aside and told me I had to play the main character role. I have never been so terrified in my life.
@keyonnastarksiectskin-com Wow I can completely agree with this. I remember my junior year when I had to pick classes out and my guidance counselor had recommended that I take public speaking, I was terrified. Even after taking the class I am still terrified now. I have to go over what I am going to say in my head at least 20 times before I actually say it. It's a mental thing i'm trying to work on and sometimes we have to tell ourselves to just fight the fear and do it anyway.
Public speaking was never a enjoyable thing for me to do. I always get nervous and scared no matter how much I would practice in the mirror or in front of family. Whenever I do public speaking I always try to find somebody that I know in the audience. It relaxes me and makes the public speaking seem more like a conversation. I feel post the lockdown it has gotten worse because for a while we barely had any close interaction with others.
@keyonnastarksiectskin-com I definitely understand where you are coming from. I took drama one year in middle school and lets just say never again. I dreaded going to that class every other day. I also made it my mission to get a backstage job during the play we had.
@gabriellemrasiectskin-com Fortunately for me in college I took my public speaking class online so I had to record all my projects and posted them. I felt less anxious doing it that way and also seen a improvement in my progress.
In high school I was very shy and to speak in class was not for me. I took speech class in college and was a little better. Now I have learned to really like speaking to audiences. I find it fun.
Public speaking has always been a huge no for me. I get very anxious and stutter when I talk in front of big crowds. I took a public speaking class 2 summers ago but it was online due to covid so that didn't help me much at all because we would just record ourselves talking and send it in. I think the pandemic may have made it worse for people since there was not really any social interaction for the time we were in lockdown.
@abigailcochraneiectskin-com I hated popcorn reading! i would always get so anxious my teacher would call on me.
@camiryndavisiectskin-com I took mine online as well but I feel like it didn't help me much because i really get anxious when I physically see a large crowd of people.
diagnosed social anxiety here ? , it was not until my teenage years that I started experiencing intense fear of large crowds, and would be desperate to get out of class presentations, from sweating my shirts, shaking, intense fear and sadness. Managing this early on in life can help overcome this overwhelming fear into adulthood. Working towards smaller victories that always make you anxious can help, and then taking something like a drama class, or a public speaking class can also help with this feeling!
@deborahwatersiectskin-com I agree! emotions can be heightened and intense at a young age that most people grow out of including myself.
I started to get social anxiety when I was in middle school. When I have to speak publicly it does not go well for me, I stutter, forget what I am even supposed to be talking about and my face will start to get red.
@abigailcochraneiectskin-com Gosh I remember popcorn reading and it was the worst. It always gave me anxiety. I was more worried about when and what I was going to read rather than what I was supposed to be learning.