There are many effective techniques to conquer stage fright and fear of public speaking -here's a technique that works quite well, and has an additional hidden benefit:
If you've already tried traditional methods to get rid of stage fright and it hasn't worked, it's time to try more serious public speaking training techniques.
Stage fright is caused by how you hold representations in your mind - a fancy way of saying that whether you know it or not, you're running scary movies in your mind that create fear.
Using this public speaking training technique you can conquer stage fright quickly and easily.
One of the most effective public speaking training techniques you can use to get rid of stage fright is what I call "The Hero Process", here are the steps:
1. Identify Your Hero:
Who can you think of that would never have stage fright, not in a million years? Who can you think of that could confidently speak to any size audience? This person may be living or not, real or imaginary, someone you know personally or not. Important: pick a Hero that would not have stage fright, ever.
2. Observe Your Hero:
It doesn't matter if you observe your Hero in your mind, on a video, or in person. What you're looking for here is the outward demonstration of a total lack of stage fright - in other words, how does their face, their voice and their body look when they're calm and confidently speaking to an audience? Make detailed notes about their face voice and body.
3. Become Your Hero:
Emulate and act like your Hero - stand the way s/he would stand. Make your face like their face. Speak the way they would speak. Feel all the feeling of calm confidence they would feel. Try practicing parts of your speech being just like your Hero.
4. Rinse Then Repeat:
Go back to being yourself for a minute or so, then practice being your Hero again.
3 tips that make this method work best:
1. Don't "impersonate" your Hero, just emulate the qualities they have that make them free from stage fright.
2. Use 2 spots on the floor that are six-feet apart; on one spot, you are you. On the other spot, you transform into your Hero.
3. Try different Heroes: if one doesn't seem to make a difference in how you feel, try another and another until you can speak free from stage fright.
Summary & Bonus Tips:
This is not "fake it until you make it" because the Hero Process literally rewires neural connections in your brain to short circuit stage fright and build new neural connections for calm confidence about public speaking. Remember - you are emulating, not imitating. Use this 2 ways: to practice speaking without stage fright, and to stop an on-stage panic attack by becoming your Hero and instantly calm down.
Bonus tips: by emulating your hero, you can also become a much better and more effective speaker more quickly. Feel free to emulate several different heroes, or even take the best qualities of various heroes who are great speakers and build a "super-hero" to emulate.
For more pubic speaking training articles visit http://www.bestpublicspeakingtraining.com
David Portney is the author of "129 Seminar Speaking Success Tips" and the founder of the Academy of Public Speaking http://www.bestpublicspeakingtraining.com
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