My #1 Strategy for Public Speaking Preparation

Does public speaking make you anxious? If so, you're not alone. Studies suggest glossophobia—the fear of public speaking—is the most prevalent phobia in today's society, affecting 75% of people.

But fear not, because in today's video, I have a quick tip that can help you minimize the fear and deliver an impactful message.

• Read the video transcript

  So if you are someone like the majority of the general population who struggles with public speaking, you get nervous for it. What they say, it's the number one phobia. I have a quick tip for you today.

  So I was giving a presentation earlier this week, and up until the day before, I was really struggling with the talk. It's a training that I deliver all the time but some of my thoughts around it and my philosophy around this topic have changed a bit. And I needed to redesign the talk to match where my thoughts are currently.

  And honestly, I change stuff every single time. I never deliver the exact same thing twice.

  But anyway, I was wrestling with it. It was making me anxious. And so the day before I completely revamped and redesigned this talk. And when I did, I felt so much more excited.

  It reminded me of this powerful quote that I heard from Andy Stanley a number of years ago. It has stuck with me. And he said, this is paraphrased, something like, until you care more about what your audience will get out of this talk and how it will impact them than you do about how you will look delivering it. You're not ready to give it. Until you care more about what the audience will get out of it, than you care about how you will look. You are not ready to deliver that message.

  And this was the turning point for me. Once I redesigned it, I felt excited about what I could deliver to them and how it might impact them. I felt a huge shift.

  And so when you are preparing for a talk, for a presentation I really want you to focus on the audience and focus on what they need and what they can get out of it. And once you get to a point where you know you have something that will benefit them the fear may not be completely gone. You may still be a little worried about how you look and how you perform, but it will, it will change your perspective and your anxiety levels and your excitement completely. So stick with it until you get to that point.