How to Get Rid of the Fear of Public Speaking

culled from:wikihow.com

Steps

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Practice your speech at home or with a small group of people with whom you are comfortable. On the day of your speech, pretend the crowd is just another practice session you are doing with friends or family.

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   Before your speech go to a park and just keep talking about your speech—you don't have to speak to anyone, all you have to do is just speak to yourself about the topic. You’re probably thinking: “What's the point of this?” Well, the more you talk about the topic, the more you will remember.
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   Remember everything you need to cover in the speech. Get a broad idea of what you are talking about so you can wing it if your nerves take control. When a speaker is nervous they tend to stumble and use a lot of umms... and ahhs... This is followed by staring at the ceiling. If you reach this point it might be necessary for you to put away your palm cards and just talk to the crowd about what you know, covering the basics. The problem of doing this is that you might go overboard and talk way too long.
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   Use only palm cards nothing else. Palm cards look formal and professional. A symptom of nervousness during a public speech is that some people hide behind an A4 piece of paper; but using palm cards won't give you that temptation. You can make palm cards by cutting an A4 paper into six pieces, write the subtopics and just a few points on each subtopic.
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   Speak up, but don't scream. The more loudly you speak, the more confidence you will show and the more confidence you will gain. This will make you look professional—but don't go overboard, as speaking too loud will make you seem like you don't know how to read English. And speaking too quietly will make you look nervous and vulnerable.
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   Move your hands to demonstrate what you are talking about. For many people who fear public speaking, all they need to do is use more hand gestures; this will cure their fear of public speaking. However, moving your hands too much and you will seem overly enthusiastic. Remember, everything you do has to be based on precision.
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   If you have followed these steps then you can be confident. You have done everything in your power to prepare to make the ultimate speech, you’ve taken every precaution, and even made backup plans... So why be scared? Just relax and feel as if you are right at home.