Fear of public speaking can hurt your chances of giving an effective presentation at work, preventing you from impressing clients or coworkers when it matters most. Fortunately, there are several strategies for overcoming work-related stage fright.

Public speaking is one of the most common and pervasive fears. Many people have to confront it on a daily basis because jobs across a range of industries require employees to perform in front of others. Whether they are regularly giving presentations or occasionally speaking in front of coworkers and managers, even the most confident workers at any level of an organization can be affected by stage fright. This means that learning to beat the fear of public speaking is a key part of professional success.

“Your career is built upon a series of live performances. At each important step of our lives, whether in an interview or an office meeting, we come under close scrutiny of other humans. For many people, the feeling of being scrutinized and judged impairs efficient delivery of speech and presentations… a syndrome popularly known as stage fear,” JobsJournal.com explains. “It can devastate your career if you fail to conquer it.”

When considering stage fright, it’s important to remember that the problem is not isolated to nervous or shy personalities and can, in fact, afflict nearly anyone placed at the center of attention. The altogether familiar scenario of speaking in front of an audience is one of the most widely-cited fears.

“Performance anxiety in its various forms is the most common phobia in the United States. It’s often called ‘stage fright,’ but it doesn’t have to involve a stage. Anyone whose activity brings them to the attention of an audience, however large or small, can experience performance anxiety,” AnxietyCoach.com notes.

The typical effects of stage fright or public speaking anxiety include sweaty hands, a dry mouth, trembling knees, a quavering voice, an elevated pulse rate and a sense of queasiness. A combination of these factors can impede your ability to speak with clarity and confidence, and may make it difficult to think rationally.

According to professional development firm Impact Factory, the core set of concerns that lead to stage fright during a presentation are:

• That you’ll be judged harshly;
• That you’ll be viewed in a foolish light;
• That you might make a mistake and lose track of your progress;
• That you could be humiliated;
• That you’ll never do as good a job as someone else;
• That the audience won’t like you; and
• That the audience won’t understand what you’re trying to say.

Careful preparation can be an effective way to overcome many of these issues. Even within a short timeframe, rehearsing a presentation for work improves confidence and provides a more informal setting to see how your efforts will be received.

“Use that energy to practice, practice, practice,” Fortune magazine advises. “Run through your entire presentation, ideally with an audience of a few trusted peers or family members, and do it over and over again until you are so comfortable with the material that you can easily imagine repeating the performance one more time for your real audience.”

Although rehearsing can be helpful for any business presentation, there may be some aspects of stage fright that it cannot help with. The Mayo Clinic offers the following tips for conquering pervasive public speaking anxieties:

• Don’t avoid it. It’s unwise to ignore a looming presentation. Instead, face your problem and take deliberate steps to address your stage fright.
• Know your topic thoroughly. The better you understand a topic, the more you’ll be able to stay focused on it and recover in case you stumble.
• Get organized. Make sure the information you want to present is planned out ahead of time and that any props or visual aids are ready.
• Use audio/visual aids. If you’re nervous about having all the attention focused on you, offering audio or visual elements in your presentation can shift some of the focus away and help express your points clearly.
• Know your audience. Identify what your audience expects to hear from you, and if there will be a Q&A period, try to determine what they might ask and how you would respond.
• Focus on your material. Remember that people care more about the information you’re delivering than the way you deliver it. Odds are they won’t notice minor mistakes or nervousness.
• Trust your audience. In most cases, your audience will be rooting for you and want your presentation to go well. They probably also know that public speaking is challenging and can sympathize.
• Don’t be afraid of silence. If you lose track or need a moment or two to recover your focus, don’t fret: audiences usually don’t mind a pause and what can seem like a long silence from your perspective is actually just a few seconds to everyone else.
• Recognize your success. Though your presentation may not have been perfect, don’t be overly critical of yourself and learn to appreciate your successes.
• Get support. You’re not alone in having stage fright. In fact, there are many organizations, both non-profit and commercial, that can help you with public speaking skills.

“Anxiety is a normal reaction to any new situation or to an event that triggers some previous trauma. You’re likely to be unaware of the underlying roots of your anxiety. What you’re more likely to experience is the feeling of panic,” public speaking consultancy Toastmasters International explains. “The good news is that the jitters are a learned behavior. And anything learned can be unlearned.”

Related

5 Things to Know for Public Speaking

Tips for Public Speaking (without the Flop Sweat)

Resources

Conquering Stage Fear to Build a Better Career
JobsJournal.com, 2010

Blocked by Performance Anxiety?
by David Carbonell
AnxietyCoach.com, 2009

Public Speaking — The Art of Speech Making
Impact Factory

Beat Stage Fright at Work
by Anne Fisher
Fortune, Dec. 1, 2009

How Can I Overcome My Fear of Public Speaking?
by Daniel K. Hall-Flavin
MayoClinic.com, March 24, 2009

Beauty and the Beast: Changing Your Fear from Fiend to Friend
by Judi Bailey
Toastmasters International, December 2007