The only newsletter you'll ever need to overcome the crippling fear of public speaking and gain the self-confidence you've always desired. (Published Weekly)
A Glimpse of a Life Free of Speaking Anxiety
Published 3 months ago • 3 min read
26th Issue of Newsletter
Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety
I flew to Chicago this past week and the first thing I noticed was how humid and hot it was compared to Denver.
God! I'm blessed to be living in Colorado, especially in the summer.
The purpose of my trip was to attend a conference and deliver a 20-minute-long technical presentation to a room full of researchers and experts in the field of electric vehicles.
I finalized the slides only 2 nights before the presentation day and allowed myself a limited time to rehearse the content.
I rehearsed the complete slide deck just 3-4 times and felt confident and ready to deliver it. (Preparing a talk without slides would surely gonna take more than 3-4 times of rehearsal)
If I were to prepare for the same presentation before overcoming my public speaking anxiety ...
I would've rehearsed it over a dozen times for 2-3 weeks and still would've felt worried sick by the mere thought of facing the audience from that stage.
I would've spent more time memorizing and cramming slides and less time enjoying my trip.
Does any of this sound familiar Reader?
Now ...
Looking back at my 3 years younger self, I'm extremely grateful I have invested in myself and gained the freedom and self-confidence I've always desired.
And that's exactly how you are gonna feel when you start investing in yourself and take the first step to becoming an anxiety-free and confident self.
On the presentation day, Friday June 21st ...
I woke up a couple of hours before the presentation time and read the slides one more time—while I was in the washroom ;)
I reached the presentation hall an hour ahead of my scheduled time and sat in the audience to listen to others' presentations.
I hate to admit but I found myself wearing the (metaphorical) hat of a public speaking coach and picking on others' mistakes ha ha ... maybe that's a topic for another day ;)
While I was waiting for my turn to take the stage ...
I felt nothing but a sense of self-confidence and good-enoughness.
No heartbeat racing.
No sweaty armpits.
No nerves.
There was one thing on my mind:
"If it weren't for my public speaking training, I would've been a complete mess while waiting for my turn to speak".
The host invited me to the stage. I took the stage and it felt as if that's where I belonged ...
On stage.
Not in the audience.
And this is exactly what I want you to feel ... a sense of belonging on stage.
[Me ... presenting at a conference in Chicago, USA]
I was facing a technical audience of 30-35 people.
And I have no shame in admitting that I felt some nerves in the beginning when I took the stage
... which is quite normal.
It is something every public speaker experiences.
If someone says, they don't feel a thing when they take the stage, there are 2 possibilities:
Either they are lying
Or they don't care about their audience and the topic they are speaking about.
My nerves went away after 1-2 minutes into the presentation.
I made a few delivery mistakes, for example, a couple of stutters and a couple of fillers here and there.
But the overall presentation went better than I expected and most importantly I got my point across.
Because I got a ton of interest and a dozen questions from the audience at the end of presentation.
The strangest thing I did for the first time was handling a difficult and unexpected question gracefully.
Strangest because it has never been graceful in the past.
Most struggle in such situations ...
They get defensive, confused, and find themselves nervous when answering tough questions.
I acknowledged that it was a great question and surely it would serve me as a guide to do more research in the future.
I could've even told the person who asked the question to reach out to me via email and I'd be able to better respond after doing some digging into it.
That's a wrap.
This week's issue is in NO WAY an opportunity to praise myself or boast about my public speaking skills.
The ONLY purpose of this writing is to inspire you and give you a hope that if an extremely introverted and shy person like me can make this transformation
... so can YOU!
All you need to do is to take that first step.
I don't want you to feel stuck and alone.
I am and will be with you on your transformation from fearful to fearless public speaker and most importantly, a self-confident person.
If you know someone who could benefit from this newsletter, I’d love to have them join our community of fearless public speakers. They can subscribe here.
BRINGING IT HOME
TL; DR
I hope you can visualize yourself being an anxiety-free confident speaker. Someone had said it quite nicely ...
"If you can see it, you can be it".
Feel free to reply to this email if you have questions or feedback on this newsletter.
ONE MORE WAY I CAN HELP YOU
Free Discovery Call - Book your free discovery call now to uncover the root of your anxiety and fast-track your journey from nervous to confident speaker.
The only newsletter you'll ever need to overcome the crippling fear of public speaking and gain the self-confidence you've always desired. (Published Weekly)