Public speaking is a fear that many people have. It’s natural to be afraid of it but overcoming your fear can be accomplished with just a little preparation and confidence in yourself.

Tips to overcome your public speaking fear:

Breathe.

Breathing exercises can help you to relax, focus and reduce your anxiety.

• Slow down. Take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds before exhaling slowly. Repeat this several times until you feel calm and ready to go on with your presentation.
• Avoid the “tension headache” by practicing slow breathing both in the morning before going into work and at night before going to bed so that its effects will last longer than those of other exercises that only last for a short period of time (such as deep abdominal breathing).
• Practice mindful meditation techniques such as focusing on your breath or counting backwards from one hundred by sevens – this will help you remain calm during stressful situations such as public speaking events!

Embrace the butterflies.

Don’t try to fight them, just let them pass. If you feel butterflies in your stomach as you walk up to the podium, don’t worry—it’s normal! These feelings are a sign that something exciting is about to happen (and if it doesn’t happen, well…that’s okay too).

The best way to get through this feeling is by focusing on what’s ahead of you: the crowd and your message instead of worrying about what might happen next or how nervous you feel right now.

Don’t let the butterflies distract you from your message! It can be easy for people who are nervous speaking in public spaces because they get distracted by their own thoughts when they start talking; however this only makes things worse since then they might not remember anything they wanted say during their speech anyway because all those thoughts have been running through their head instead of being focused on whatever it is said out loud at this point so basically just stay focused on saying whatever needs saying without getting distracted by anything else going on either inside yourself or around outside yourself.”

Do your homework.

The first step is to do your homework. You should know the material and be able to deliver it confidently and clearly.

Practice your speech out loud with a friend or family member who will give you honest feedback on how you’re doing—and ask them for help if necessary.

Practice out loud.

When you’re learning to speak, having someone in the room with you is a great way to stay motivated and focused. You can use this method as a practice run before going onstage or speaking at an event where there will be people watching—and they may even ask questions!

If you have friends who are willing to help out by acting as an audience for your performance, that’s even better! A good way to practice is by having them sit near each other so that they’ll be able to see when their partner makes mistakes (which will happen from time-to-time).

Another option would be recording yourself speaking; this is especially useful if there isn’t anyone around who can listen closely enough during live performances like speeches or presentations because then no one will know if anything was off until after everyone else has left the room.”

Plan your appearance.

• Prepare a short speech outline that you can use to guide your presentation.
• Practice speaking in public, even if it’s only at home with friends and family. (A lot of people do this!)

Plan your pacing.

To help you prepare for your presentation, it’s important to plan how long you’ll speak for and when you will take a break. You should also plan what will happen during question-and-answer sessions or other parts of the presentation that require additional time.

For example:

• Define your goal in terms of number of slides (the number up until which I want to talk). For example: “I’m going to use five slides” or “I’m going to cover everything from slide 5-10.”
• Make sure there is enough time for questions from the audience (e.g., 10 minutes), so that those who are interested can ask questions beforehand or afterwards via phone or email instead of being stuck behind stage with nothing left but their own thoughts about why they should care about what I just said – which would only make them feel worse about themselves as well!

Consider the room.

Think about the room. What is the size of the room and how many people are there? Is it too hot, too cold or just right? Will you be speaking in front of a crowd that’s quiet or loud? Is there any background noise—music playing over speakers, for example—that could distract from your message and make you feel self-conscious about speaking up?

Think about what will happen when you’re actually speaking. How does this feel to others who might hear or see it? Are they judging me as an individual (or collective)? Do I want them to judge me as an individual (or collective)?

Remember that most people want you to succeed.

When you’re up on stage, it’s easy to think that everyone else in the room is rooting against you. But remember that most people want you to succeed and will be rooting for your success. They want to hear what you have to say, be inspired by it, and learn from it.

So don’t worry if no one says anything after your talk! If the crowd is silent or even rudely unengaged at some point during your talk (which happens), just take a deep breath and keep going—you’ll still end up getting through what needs saying in an impactful way later anyway!

Check Out Our Article: How to develop self-confidence in just 10 minutes a day!

Confidence comes from competence.

You can have all the skills and experience in the world, but if you don’t know what to do with them, it won’t matter. Confidence comes when you know that whatever task is before you, no matter how difficult or unfamiliar it may seem at first glance, there’s nothing holding back your success. And that’s what helps build confidence: knowing that whatever happens next will be handled well because we’ve done this before (and will continue doing so).

Get feedback from a trusted source.

The next step is to get feedback from a trusted source. This can be a friend, classmate or colleague who knows you well and has seen your work before. Or it could be an anonymous survey administered by a third party (like Google).

You don’t want someone who is likely to be too harsh or lenient. For example, if you ask your best friend how they think your presentation went and they say, “it was great!” then that information will make them feel good about themselves and may encourage them not to give any constructive criticism in future meetings with you at work—which would be terrible for both parties involved!

Keep it simple and clear.

• Focus on one topic, not two or three.
• Use simple language (no jargon).
• Use short sentences that express your point clearly.
• Use simple words to explain the concept you want to communicate in your speech or presentation, rather than using big words that sound impressive but have no meaning for most people who might be listening to you speak out loud or read what you wrote down on paper at home later on after finishing editing it for grammar and spelling errors (if applicable).

You can overcome your fear of public speaking with a little preparation and confidence in yourself

• Preparation: This means doing research on the subject matter, learning about how to structure your presentation, and getting feedback from someone who knows what they’re talking about.
• Confidence: You’ll want to be confident that you’ve done enough preparation so that when it comes time for you to speak up in front of an audience, all bases will be covered.
• Being clear: Don’t ramble! Be sure not only what you want to say but also why it matters in order for others listen attentively during any given speech or presentation; this will also help keep things simple as well as clear.* Simplicity: The less information there is at once (elements), then easier it’ll be for everyone else listening to understand what’s being said correctly without having extra information thrown into their faces like fireworks going off behind closed doors while trying hard not fall asleep because they’re so tired after working long hours all day long at work.”

Bottom line

The best way to overcome your fear of public speaking is to practice. The more you do it, the better you’ll get at it and the less nervous you’ll feel. As long as you’re confident in your ability to speak and present yourself well, no one will have any reason not to listen!