It’s taken belief for me to get to the point where I’m at right now. When I started my Public Speaking Coaching business, I set out to eliminate one’s fear and hesitancy of Public Speaking. If you think of ghosts, strangers, drowning, heights… what do these all have in common? According to a 2014 article by the Washington Post, these were some of the top fears shared amongst Americans. So what does this have to do with “believing in yourself”? Well, Public Speaking is also included amongst those top fears. So if you ever lacked confidence in this area, then you now know that you aren’t alone. On average, if you ask a person to speak in front of an audience, they would be hesitant to do so. But it’s not because they haven’t done a form of it before. It’s because they don’t truly believe in themselves.

When I take on new clients, the first thing I look for isn’t their skillset. I simply look for if they believe that they can be a great Public Speaker. Do you believe that you can put forth the constant work to get better at it? When it comes to accomplishing a goal or overcoming an obstacle, one has to believe that they can do it.  From talking with a group of friends, jumping on an hour long conference call, at one point of time during the day we are designated public speakers. But it sucks because many of us feel that we have to be speaking in front of at least a hundred people at a time to be looked at as a Public Speaker. News flash.. that’s simply not true. Very few people start out with a large audience. They have to work for it. And to get to the point where you are constantly in demand and you warrant large audiences, you have to believe in yourself.

The fear associated with Public Speaking holds so many back. You have an innovative idea that needs to be heard, but you are worried what others may think of you when they hear you speak. You did an amazing job handling the latest two week sprint, but when your boss ask you to highlight some of your teams achievements on the next conference call, you quickly suggest someone else do it. This hesitancy ultimately will affect your growth both personally and professionally. And many people already know this, yet they still don’t try to overcome this fear. The fear you have may never go away. But your belief can only get stronger the more you attempt to do it. As with anything you want to be good at, repetition is key. Even amongst the mistakes you make, if your belief stays consistent, you will see an improvement in your speaking skills or whatever your craft is. At a certain point, your belief will outweigh your fear.

Why fear something that you already do every day? That doesn’t make much sense does it? I get it, you don’t look at your everyday conversations as forms of public speaking, but they are. A report by Esurance stated that 1 out of every 366 people  will likely get in a car accident. Yet most of us still drive every day, in traffic… at night. Since I’ve gotten my license at 17, I’ve been in three wrecks. One in which my car was hit so hard that it almost went into a neighbors pool. Still to this day, I drive and don’t think too much about. Think about the many things you do that can truly affect your life, yet you still do them anyway. We can talk about health, relationships and general risks we take every day. Try applying that same risk-taking attitude to Public Speaking, because what you have to lose is far outweighed from the many things you can gain. All you have to do is believe in yourself and keep trying, even if that means messing up as you learn.

Make your next presentation, your best presentation!

Sincerely,

Julian A. Leonard
(Founder of The JLeonard Group LLC)

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