You are not alone if the thought of speaking in public scares you. On the contrary. Everyone feels fearful of presenting and public speaking to one degree or another. Giving a presentation is very worrying for many people. Presenting or speaking to an audience regularly tops the list in surveys of peoples top fears - more than heights, flying or dying. Here is a popular saying (which features in many presentations) about giving presentations and public speaking: Most people would prefer to be lying in the casket rather than giving the eulogy. I first heard a speaker called Michelle Ray use this quote in the early 1990s. The quote is often credited to Jerry Seinfeld, although the basic message is much older. For example (thanks Dr N Ashraf) the ancient Tamil work Thirukkural (also called Tirrukural) includes the following words in its aptly titled chapter, Fearlessness in an Assembly: Many are ready to even die in battle, but few can face an assembly without nerves. Couplet 723, from Thirukkural/Tirrukural, also called the Kural - a seminal guide to life and ethics attributed to the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, said to have lived between about 200-10BC. I am grateful also to R Ersapah for an alternative translation of couplet 723, and below, a more modern literal interpretation: Many encountering death in face of foe will hold their ground; who speak undaunted in the council hall are rarely found. In more modern language this means: Many indeed may (fearlessly) die in the presence of (their) foes; (but) few are those who are fearless in the assembly (of the learned). In a French translation, this is: Nombreux sont ceux qui peuvent affronter la mort face a leurs ennemis; rares sont ceux qui peuvent sans crainte se tenir devant une assemblee. The title of Tirrukurals chapter 73 is: Not to dread the Council (French: Ne pas craindre les assemblees). Couplet 727 says, amusingly and incisively: The learning of him who is diffident before an assembly is like the shining sword of an hermaphrodite in the presence of his foes... (French: Les connaissances de celui qui a peur des auditoires sont comme lepee tranchante que tient leunuque en presence de son ennemi... ) I am informed (thanks again R Ersapah) that all of chapter 73 fits the theme of public speech being one of the greatest challenges many people face in their lives. This is further evidence that speaking in public is not just a modern fear - this fear has been in humankind for at least 2,000 years. Incidentally the English translation of Tirrukural comprises various chapters such as: Domestic Virtues, Ascetic Virtue, Royalty, Ministers of State, The Essentials of a State. The English Translations are by Rev Dr G U Pope and Rev W H Drew. The French translation is by a Mauritian author M Sangeelee. Im always keen to receive and share old examples of public-speaking-and-fear analogies - if you know any please send them. 2. Understanding/overcoming fear of public speaking and presentations The key to managing and controlling anything is first to understand it, especially its causes. The cause of fear is (a feeling of) insecurity and/or an unfamiliar or uncontrollable threat. In the context of presentations and public speaking this is usually due to: lack of confidence, and/or lack of control (or a feeling of not having control) - over the situation, other people (the audience) and our own reactions and feelings and (in some cases) possibly a bad memory or experience from our past The effects of these are heightened according to the size of the audience, and potentially also the nature of the audience/situation - which combine to represent a perceived uncontrollable threat to us at a very basic and instinctive level (which we imagine in the form or critical judgment, embarrassment, humiliation, etc). This audience aspect is illustrated by the following: Most of us would not feel very fearful if required to give a presentation to a class of 30 five-year-old children, but we would feel somewhat more fearful if required to give a presentation to an interview panel of three high court judges. So audience size is not everything - its the nature of the situation and audience too. As such audience size and situation are circumstantial factors which can influence the degree of anxiety, but they are not causal factors in themselves. The causes exist because of the pressure to command, control, impress, etc.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 10:19:19 +0000
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