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I remember the 15 Year old me. I was an extremely introvert guy participating in school debate competitions for the first time. While I was speaking in front of the audience, my legs (hidden behind the dais) would be shaking (the first few times). Somehow, I learnt to control my fear of public speaking and manage to put my points across.

Courage (faking courage) is probably the strength to do a thing well without letting the fear of failing paralyzing you.




I remember I was the lead developer at a small software company, and we had an annual user conference with some training sessions. As the "big picture" software person, I didn't have to lead "how to use the software" sessions, but I did have to give sessions on things like platform direction.

I remember one time... it might have been the second of these presentations I ever gave, I think? I was just really nervous at the beginning of the presentation. I don't know why it happened then as opposed to the first time or the third time, but for whatever reason, that's when it happened. And I could tell my voice was quavering in a way that had to be obvious to everyone, so it was like the sort of public speaking moment that people who are scared of public speaking are afraid of. It was pretty nerve wracking.

So basically all I did was force myself to keep going, quavering and all. The audience was completely sympathetic -- they were at the conference to learn about our software, so they wanted me to succeed at telling them about it. So even if it started out rocky, they were paying attention. And after a couple of minutes of not getting booed out of the room, I managed to settle down, get my voice under control, and make everything go more smoothly the rest of the way.

Now that I know what can happen if public speaking goes badly, and know that it's almost certainly going to be ok even if it does, I don't let it stress me as much. I still get nervous, but it's never any sort of paralyzing fear or anything. I know if I just find a way to keep going, I can probably make it work out ok.

That's actually true of an awful lot of things in life.


You probably know this already, this comment is just for those who don't.

If you are trembling before public speaking is probably adrenalin. It is hard in the first minutes. But it is good for you, it makes you more alert, smarter and better overall. It is just difficult at the beginning, but once you start talking, it fades away and you will feel better. Keep that in mind.


And don't forget to clench your butt.

I'm serious. It gives the energy somewhere to go so you aren't fiddling with your hands or fidgeting around and it's invisible to everyone in the audience.

Also improves your posture. Win-win.


Just don't try to walk while you're doing it.


And maybe take a potassium supplement or have a banana for breakfast so you don't get a cramp.




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