“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
Looking beyond Jerry Seinfeld’s humorous anecdote, a recent gallop poll found that 40% of adults have a fear of public speaking. According to CTRN, while each of the 1,300 “listed” phobias presents their own degree of difficulty and inconvenience, for someone in business the “Fear of public speaking can cripple your career, since it’s almost impossible to be successful in business without speaking to a large group at some point.”
In this segment of the PI Window on Business Show we welcome New York Times Bestselling author Dr. Larina Kase whose book “The Confident Speaker” has been praised as being “the single finest book” on the subject of overcoming the fear of speaking to successfully project a strong persona to every audience member.
Also joining our discussion is professional humorist Sally Edwards, whose one-woman presentation “Laughing All the Way Home” focuses on making her audience the stars of the show.
Regardless of whether you are a beginner that has just been assigned the task of giving a presentation to fellow workers, or a seasoned pro from the lecture circuit, this segment will engage, entertain and empower you in your continuing evolution to becoming a more effective public communicator.
Segment Link: Death Before The Eulogy And Other Myths of Public Speaking (July 14th)
Public Speaking Expert David Portney
July 11, 2009
I and my students have found that fear of public speaking quickly evaprates by doing a little speaking – not because it “conditions” you to not be afraid; rather, because one quickly discovers that there is “no monster hiding under the bed” after all.
Hope that helps!
Best,
David Portney
procureinsights
July 11, 2009
Thank you for providing your thoughts David.
Be sure to tune in on Tuesday as I am certain the question of experience versus conditioning will come up.