HOW TO OVERCOME FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING? HOW TO FIGHT STAGE FEAR?

Stage Fright or Stage Fear

Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted to prove your caliber but couldn’t really do it just because of one single thing, that is self-doubt? Have you been there, right in front of the mirror trying to build confidence but end up consciously questioning yourself, “Will I be able to address the people?” 

I have been a very successful public speaker and I really love the art of public speaking. But getting over my stage fear not only helped me in my public speaking skills but also had impact on my overall personality.

Glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, is remarkably common. In fact, some experts estimate that as much as 77% of the population has some level of anxiety regarding public speaking. Facts apart, even in my personal life at my high school or college, I have seen people mess up with their public speaking abilities by doubting their own potential. Over practising, going cold, bothering too much about what will happen if anything goes wrong are true signs of stage fear.

 

I have encountered people shivering backstage and they eventually end up ruining the performance to quite a great extent. It is really very normal and is sportingly accepted by the audiences but, is never promoted. Having a bad impression in front of a hundred people is something you really don’t want to carry. There are multiple ways of dealing with this acute situation. Multiple ways to avoid yourself from any kind of embarrassment that you might have if you cannot make it!

I would like to dive into the matter by sharing my own experience. I remember, I was in my 5^th grade. Those were the days of winter and it was Swami Vivekananda’s Birth Anniversary. Swami Vivekananda is a recognized Indian Monk who inspired millions of people and left us with a purpose to live. On his birthday, Rama Krishna Mission, a spiritual organisation which forms the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as the Ramakrishna Movement; presents the youth of Mumbai City, an opportunity to speak on various inspiring instances of the life of Swami Vivekananda. Any student from any secondary school of Mumbai can participate in the competition and the best speaker is awarded. Gathering every piece of courage in me, I stood up for the competition and hence got enrolled. Days passed by, and I kept on memorizing the entire speech. One month of preparation time was given to us, and I made each minute of it count. Finally the day rises and I find myself sitting in the right hand corner of the auditorium. Names were randomly picked and the students walked up to the stage and made their impressions. Forty-five minutes into the game and my name was called out. Folding the reference paper into four, I place it in my pocket and walk up to the stage. The timer goes down and I start. Thirty-eight seconds into the speech and damn! I am sweating. By now I was already done with three-fourth part of my speech which is expected to take around two minutes but I turned out to be a rap god! One minute of stage appearance, and I was done! You won’t believe, I delivered my three minute speech in just a minute, GOD SPEED! I was very nervous. It seemed as I am in a do or die situation. I was fast, not understood and hence disqualified. That night, I cried to sleep. I made myself a promise to be a winner the next year. Months passed, the same opportunity in the 6^th grade and I failed. By now, I was in my 7^th grade. I failed again. I decided to give myself one last opportunity. It was in my 8^th grade when this district level competition came into the picture. The winner was to be entitled as the ‘Best Speaker’ of the year and I was pretty sure I am not going to be that. But this time, I changed my strategy. I used a very unique way. I will be telling you the ways in the upcoming minutes. So, I had a plan. I chose to use the ways I could never think of. Until now, every time I stood up, I would always end up messing my speech. I would stop in between or get distracted or forget my speech. Considering all these symptoms, I decided to find a way to win over all these problems. Practising smartly, believing in myself, building up the confidence I never had and treating the root cause of my stage fear, I figured out a plan. And guess what, I was awarded as the ‘Best Speaker’ of the year. The following two years I stood as the ‘Best Speaker’ of the district and in total I made a record of being the ‘Best Speaker’ of the district for consecutive three years.

 

So what actually happened? What magic did I make use of that made me the ‘Best Speaker’? How did I go from nothing to everything in just a year?

 

I ensured of five key points to any successful stage performance. Practising these, and gaining a command on these aspects of public performances, you can win anything.

 

The five key points are:

l Willpower

l Self-Belief

l Persistence

l Tolerance

l Positivity

 

1. WILLPOWER

"When there’s a will, there is always a way. Perhaps tomorrow, if not today."

After failing for three consecutive years, I was filled with embarrassment. I really wanted to change the perspective my friends had about me. Blabbering for a minute or so and then walking home; I was tired of being a loser. I had the will to bring in a change. And hence I decided to do it. You can do it too. You have the power to bring in the change in your personality. You carry the strength in you to address not a hundred, not a thousand but a million of people. You are just not willing to. Make it a thing! Take a pen and jot it down every time you feel low that you are going to change. You are going to change for good and get rid of the stage fear. It is just another elevated platform where every ordinary person like each one of us makes his views public. It is simple, easy and doable.

 

2. SELF-BELIEF

"Self-belief is the first requisite to great undertakings." 

One of the first steps that brought in a big impact was my approach. I believed in my potential even though no one did. People teased me and they still do. 

Every great person faces criticism in and out. But believing in yourself and thrashing every destructive criticism is what self-belief helps us do. You need to be confident about yourself. You need to believe that you are not a loser. You are just not doing things in the right way. Find a unique way. Find a way you believe in. Rush through the obstacles. Always be confident about the abilities and qualities you are born with and the victory is yours.

 

3. PERSISTENCE

"Persistence guarantees that results are inevitable." 

One factor behind any worldly success ever achieved, by any person is persistence. This act of prolonged efforts in-spite of difficulties is going to pay you like anything. Over the time from grade five to grade ten, I learned this practise of being persistent, to be a winner. It doesn’t matter whether you have it in you or not. It does not matter whether it is your first time or the last. It doesn’t matter if you are competing against a hundred candidates or a thousand. Persistence will surely forge the spirit of a winner in you. And at last it is just a public performance. If you grind enough, you will make it at any cost!

 

4. TOLERANCE

"Peace begins with tolerance and respect for everyone. And the highest result of education is tolerance." 

Whenever you are on the path of doing something big and extraordinary, people will let you down. They will send in hate like nobody ever did. They might laugh at you right in front of you. But you need to tolerate. There are many challenges a public performer or a stage performer faces. Except for the times where the audience is decent and believes in providing a comfortable environment for the performers; you are expected to face unpredictable challenges. Challenges wherein people won’t cheer you up if you fumble a bit. Personally, I have faced audiences wherein they purposely tried to distract me. They might just come up and make a sarcastic comment that may result is a sudden drop of your moral. For all these nuisances, you need to improve your level of patience and tolerance. You will have to have measures and quick ways that will immediately cheer the inner you in order to keep up with the performance. You will have to learn the skill of moving on in no time. Because, I have seen people run backstage just because of one criticism. You really don’t want your months of preparation and practise to result in failure because of an intruder. Winning over these difficulties is going to give birth to an all time winner attitude in you.

 

5. POSITIVITY

"Train your mind to see the good in everything. Positivity is a choice. The accomplishments and happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts."

 

This last key to successful stage performances might not be a choice that everyone would like to make. But for the people who believe in the fact that “What you see in your mind, is what you become”; you are going to enjoy the implementation of this technique. Imagining your successful presentation, speech, dance performance, mono-act or whatever public performance you are about to make is very enjoyable and motivating. Feeling the loud applause post performance, those words of appreciation and shower of blessings is going to inspire you throughout.

 CONCLUSION

These five key-points I believe will bring in some change. I always make sure to be fulfilling all of these before my performances. Apart from these ways, you must also strive to figure out your own unique way of fighting stage fear. Remember your unique way of practising is only going to make you stand as a unique performer. Recall all your old performances and try to find the flaws. Work on them until you master them. And that’s it! You are a successful public performer.

 

Originally written and

arranged by,

SARVESH KULKARNI