Stage fright: it's the sinking feeling we've all experienced at one time or another when preparing to speak before a group of people.
The specific physical and emotional effects may vary widely, but we can all identify with it.
Let's face it: whether the group is five or 500, the fear can be not only discouraging but also debilitating.
It can make all the difference between an effective presentation and one that virtually ends before it's started.
Because it's common to nearly every member of the human race (isn't that comforting?), stage fright has been analyzed to death for centuries by multitudes of those who claim to understand it thoroughly.
Though no one genuinely understands this common fear completely, what's reassuring is the fact that plenty of people through the years have been able to defeat their public speaking fears and take charge of themselves when they've had to make presentations to groups large, small, and in-between.
With the right mental attitude and the use of some practical, simple techniques, many have been able to put aside their fears and communicate effectively before groups.
One of the most powerful weapons against stage fright is also one of the simplest: preparation.
It can't be stressed enough: preparation, preparation, preparation.
Let that sink in until it grabs hold of you.
You can psyche yourself up to the nth degree and feel totally confident and fearless as you walk to the speaker's stand.
But if you haven't full prepared the material you're to present to your audience, you might as well toss it all out the window.
Let's state it as succinctly as possible: you need to be totally, totally saturated with you subject.
You should know it thoroughly and intimately, inside and out.
You need to rehearse it backwards and forwards.
You need to eat it, drink it, sleep it, massage it inside and out.
It should be so much a part of you that it fairly oozes out your pores.
With such intense preparation, you and your subject should be almost one and the same.
Don't worry: you're still going to have your notes in front of you, but you won't be a slave to them.
They're there to keep you on track and to prevent you from rambling.
However, once you've saturated yourself with you material, you'll be so much more at ease that you'll find that your notes are kind of like the bumper guards used for young children in bowling alleys: they're there help you keep the ball rolling, to keep it on track to its intended goal.
Despite the many constraints on your time that seemingly conspire to cut into your preparation time, realize that excuses don't matter to your audience.
You absolutely must give priority to the full preparation of your presentation.
If you do this, your confidence will soar.
And as you successfully complete one speaking engagement, you'll find this confidence lifting you more easily and positively into your next one.
You'll be amazed!