How I Get Over Public Speaking Nerves

Every few weeks, I'll do a Q&A on my Instagram Stories where my audience can ask their questions about public speaking.

Inevitably, somebody always asks me some version of "How do you get over nerves with public speaking?"

And I get it.

Public speaking is really something we've been primed to fear from a young age. I remember singing 'Yellow Submarine' on stage as a 7-year old, wetting myself and thinking, well, I'm never doing that again.

Glossophobia - the posh name for the fear of public speaking - apparently affects 75% of the population. So MY question really is: if so many people are scared of public speaking, how do so many people do it every day?

How are there so many professional speakers?

How are we all getting by?

I refuse to believe only 15% of the population are using their voice on stage.

And here's the secret that nobody really wants you to know. My real answer to the question of public speaking nerves:

YOU DO IT NERVOUS.

Yes, there are things that I do to limit nerves on the day. I don't drink caffeine. I try to workout the day before. I get a good night's sleep. I make sure I'm prepared and know my script.

But, ultimately, EVERY time I step on stage at a conference, for the first few minutes at least, I feel nervous. I've hosted over 150 events as a global emcee and I've NEVER not been nervous.

My knees feel weak. My palms are clammy. My stomach churns. And then, within a few minutes, the muscle memory kicks in and I think "Oh, I've done this before" and my nerves calm.

That's how you get good at public speaking. Repeating an action again and again until the familiarity overtakes the nerves. If you don't start practising speaking to audiences - flexing that muscle - you'll never get to the point where the familiarity takes over.

Public speaking is a skill, like any other, than needs to be practiced to be perfect. You wanna get better at it? You gotta keep doing it. Nerves and all.

The mistake we make is thinking nerves are a warning sign AGAINST doing something. Make friends with your nerves.

Really, they are just the feeling you get when you're stepping into something exciting. It's a sign of growth and personal development. Remember, nerves are a sibling of excitement and we need to stop thinking they're these negative things that we have to rid ourselves of somehow.

With public speaking, sometimes you do it nervous, sometimes you do it feeling sad, sometimes you do it feeling uncertain, sometimes you do it feeling tired (mamas, I see you). But the most important thing? You just keep doing it.

Need an emcee for your event? I support organisations all around the world as a professional emcee, moderator and host. Get in touch: angelica@angelicamalin.com