How to overcome the fear of public speaking: Control your anxiety.

January 16th, 2017

How to overcome the fear of public speaking: Control your anxiety.

One of the certain things in life I found is that we all will end up spending most of our time as a salesman. If you applying for a position as an employee you are selling yourself on that interview, you will try to convince the employer that you are the best option to hire. If you are an entrepreneur there is no option but becoming the salesman for your product or service. You might say that if you are a doctor, dentist or similar you are not a salesman, but the competition is tough and of course, you need to have the best technical preparation but also you need the confidence to present interesting proposals and if you use other supporting elements the probability of success will be higher.

We are all whether you like it or not on sales.

 

One of the most common characteristics in humankind is that we have a condition identified as, Glossophobia (unusual fear or anxiety of speaking before an audience), and knowing that almost everyone is very anxious to speak before an audience, it could be an incentive to reduce that anxiety.

On many occasions, we have faced an audience and whether it was small or large, the old feeling flourishes and we resign ourselves to doing our best.

Due to the lack of preparation and necessary practice, we find it stressful in most cases. Deep in our brain the idea of ​​doing it, makes our legs weaken, our hands start to sweat and our voice begins to fail, long before the occasion begins.

When we learn that we have to give a talk or make a presentation, many things can happen until the moment of truth. And they would depend on the strategies we use to prepare for that moment.

You can rely on your self-confidence or your capacity as speaker, experience or on the ignorance of the audience on the subject.

You must evaluate what you are looking for by being there in front of the people at that moment; meet a requirement of your superiors or relatives, inspire, convince or motivate.

And what happens from that moment until you get on and off the stage? At that time you probably think, what could you have to do to overcome that fear to speak in public?

Practice creates perfection, therefore, you must find a space in advance to practice constantly as well as to obtain feedback on your progress in a friendly environment. Toastmasters gives you that opportunity to master the technique and control that anxiety. Visit us and give yourself a chance to eliminate the anxiety you experience.

Last session

We had our second session of the year. All members are wanting to get into the new Toastmasters program, The Pathways. All the expectation we had finally came to reality. Some are taking the challenge and are preparing their first project. Yes, the first one, even though some are experienced with a long career in Toastmasters. It is a new start to get new competencies and reinforce what was learned.

As usual, we had a lot of members on the audience and some guests who are interested in the program. Our club has a good reputation for being one of the best Toastmasters Club in the city. Come and visit us and live by yourself this great experience.

Prepared speeches.
The first speech was by Nora Pinelo, one of the newest members who is starting the Pathways program with her first project, The Icebreaker. In her project which, she entitled; “A trip through my memories”, she talked about the journey from her hometown to this city. It had tough times but also it has been a wonderful experience that helped become the hard working woman she is now.

Nora’s evaluation was made by Raul Huerta.

The second project was delivered by Francisco Ruiz, he also presented his first Pathways project. The title was; “Your son, your life teacher”. This wonderful speech gave Francisco to introduce himself to the club, which is one of the objectives of the project. He talked the experience he had of being a father of a great son who has special characteristics. By the way, he is an active participant in our sessions. Thanks for sharing with us your pride and dedication.

The evaluation was from Sergio Cisneros.

The third project was presented by Marlon Vazquez, a friend from our brother club, Nini Trevit. An experienced speaker who has advanced qualifications in Toastmaster’s organization. He has the challenge to gain more experience in a different language, so he presented his second project, from the Competent Communicator manual. The tile of the speech was; “Meditation”. He shared his experience on this activity which it has given him great benefits to his peace of mind.

The evaluation was from Ignacio Gómez, also from Nini Trevit.

Table Topics.
Table topics were presented by Sergio Cisneros. He presented some questions that everyone had the opportunity to participate. A good way to motivate to participate in the 2-minute experience. His smart questions forced the participants to make the brain work harder.

Duty Holders.

General Evaluator:	Miguel Delgadillo
Grammarian:	Armando Yépez
Ah-Counter:	Jorge Rivera
Timer:	Arlene López

Thanks team for your support and your feedback to help us improve every time.

General Information

·       Online Tool

Take a look at the calendar we have on the web to save a place for the following sessions. We need to look in advance who will be the speakers and duty holders to have better sessions.

·       Officers Training sessions

Be prepared for the coming training session. This event is mandatory for Club officers and optional for any club members. Is going to be an exceptional learning experience. The place for this sessions is still pending to be announced, be prepared to live the experience.

Next session.

The next session will be next Tuesday, January 25th.  Our sessions are taking place every Tuesday at Torre Mayor 9^th floor, Paseo de la Reforma 505 at 8:00 p.m., please be on time to make all the arrangements to start as usual.

Remember that we have Spanish sessions on Wednesdays.

Keep on practicing!

Bring guests to the session, everyone needs this space to practice and develop their communication and leadership skills.
If you need more information send us an email or follow us on Meetup.

Great opportunity to learn.

We will be waiting for you.

Jorge A. Rivera CC, CL