Need help with stage fright

Ah man! Think I might be slightly too late for advice on this, but I used to have stage fright but solved it and could give you more advice on it if you want?

I found the principle of this TED Talk extremely useful, as a starter! Let me know if you want any other thoughts!

 

That would definitely make me nervous. I know I hated being called up to the front of the class to write on the whiteboard or answer questions while standing by my desk. My advice would be to rehearse alone so that you can find your footing and the places to add little nuances and flare. Once you do that, go through the scene with your parents, siblings, or friends. Ask for advice on what you could do to make the performance better, and revise. Rehearse alone, but visualize an audience. Focus on your delivery, rhythm, and the performance itself. The audience is a group of people, so try not to single anyone out, or otherwise acknowledge anyone making silly faces or whatever. Just view the audience as one person, and your performance as a conversation or statement to that one person.

Lastly, it's something the whole class must do. You'll see people do well, you'll see people struggle. What's more, you'll see people who think they're all that try too hard, and they'll look like jackasses for it.

 

They always tell you to imagine the auduence in their underware to get over this but I say to imagime them in your underware!
Ha ga... Goid luck it gets better with practice.

 

KeenEye, you aren't alone with your discomfort of public speaking. I share the same fear. Most of the time, I'm able to hide/handle it well but I'm totally freaking out on the inside while I'm being the center of attention. I have to speak at a military retirement ceremony in a few months...to prepare myself, I will probably check out the video that our friend, 'SerpentEagleHeart' was kind enough to share, and also try to find opportunities that would allow me to speak in front of crowds more often. What class are you in by the way?

 

I remember they always used to teach us to use palm cards with dot points of key bits of info etc when giving these sorts of class presentations. My hands were always shaking so much I couldn't read a damn thing, or I'd have the palm cards torn up into little shreds, dropping little bits of paper onto the floor in no time. I got reasonably good at being able to ad lib. I don't know why teachers insisted on making these things so hard - I mean why couldn't you stand behind a podium where you could feelless exposed and self concious with some nice big A4 notes settled on it nice and close and easy to read!

 

You are not alone. People fear public speaking more than death! Embrace the nervousness and expect the worse. You might stutter, turn red, sweat but if you try to fight it, it honestly makes it 10 times worse! Take 5 deep breaths when you first stand up and let it go.

 

There is a group out their called "Toastmasters International", that is an awesome place for anyone who is deathly afraid of public speaking to find help. The group is freaking awesome. Check it out...
http://www.toastmasters.org/

The group is really meant for people who already have a job, and many companies will pay for their employees. At my work, we have numerous people who joined the group because english was their second language. They would start the group being quite terrible at public speaking, and by the end, they were awesome.

Some advice... the only way to get over the fear of public speaking, is to speak in public, the more you do it, the less it will bother you.
Another tip... instead of avoiding your anxiety about public speaking, turn the anxiety around, try to look forward to the rush your body will feel while public speaking. Your heart rate goes nuts, your adrenaline pumps. It really is a thrill, so, think of it as a scary roller coaster ride that you want to conquer. Imagine how you are making yourself a better person and feel proud of the fact that you were able to force yourself to get up in front of a group of people and talk. Feel that pride while you are speaking.

 

Hey keeneye.
as per my experience stage fright will never go away completely.
My suggestion is to go for it. maybe u'll suck for a few times in the beginning and then u'll not. its a numbers game. the more u'll do it the better u'll get.
And for sure there are a lot techniques u can learn.

Also read Dale Carnegie there are courses books etc. Trust me it will help u a lot.
Warren buffett took Dale Carnegie course and that changed his life.
I hope this helps
Give it a try and please do let us know what helped u and how.