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The Key to Overcoming Your Fear of Public Speaking
Start with identifying the source of your anxiety
In August 2002, I stood anxiously before a room of teenagers. It was the first day of school, and I was a brand new high school teacher. I felt clueless and overwhelmed.
I was afraid.
Teaching was, at that time, a career change for me. Just a few weeks prior, I was working in the Washington, DC world of associations and non-profits. That had been my “career” since graduating college. I was now changing career paths to become a high school teacher at a private school in Northern Virginia.
Even though I enjoyed public speaking, I was initially quite nervous. Not because I was afraid to speak in front of people, but because of something else. And recognizing the source of that anxiety was my first step in overcoming it.
You must understand the principle of Cause-and-Effect. Quite simply…
Every effect has a cause.
And this is true even for standing up in front of people. If you fear public speaking, it’s because something has caused you to fear public speaking. By that, I’m not referring to the speaking event itself. I’m talking about something deeper.
