Being a big hit as a presenter usually means speaking to big audiences. Does that scare you? Here's how to speak to a large group without fear. 

Someday, you'll speak to an audience that's so large it scares you.

If you're lucky.

You probably already know that even famous performers get stage fright. But oh, the rush of performing live, preferably to lots of applause. And the opportunity to reach large groups of people (spelled S-T-A-K-E-H-O-L-D-E-R-S)! We all know this truth: the more successful you get, the bigger stage you'll be speaking on . . . literally and figuratively.

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Spin Your Head In a Different Direction

One other truth that's not so pleasant, however, is this one: speaking in front of a crowd is nerve-wracking for most human beings. One key to overcoming that way of thinking is to focus on the word 'crowd' in that sentence. If you want to control your stage fright, you should banish it from your vocabulary.

An audience isn't a crowd! It's, well, an audience. For any performer, whether in business or otherwise, that's a word that should resonate with all kinds of positive associations. 

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So, stop thinking of listeners as a crowd. Without becoming that girl in The Exorcist, you need to spin your head in a different direction. Audiences are people who share your interest in a topic and are looking forward to hearing what you have to say. Start from that premise, and any expectations you have for your upcoming talk will be radically different, and wholly positive. 

Understand Why You're There

Do you ever wonder, "How am I doing?" when you're in the midst of your speech or presentation? Of course you do. It's entirely human. We all want to do well, benefit those who are listening to us, and be thought of as a good public speaker.

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There's a danger here, though, and it's this: how you are doing doesn't matter much, and it's the wrong target to be concerned with. How your listeners are doing, of course, is the prize . . . as in, "Keep your eye on."

The earlier you get into that mindset for an upcoming speech or presentation, the easier things will be for you, and most important, the more your audience will benefit. Everything should revolve around your objective of meeting the audience's needs, from understanding your purpose, to building your presentation, to gauging in performance how it's going. When you take yourself out of the how-are-things-going equation, it's amazing how efficient you become at getting your message across in a way that will change people's minds and activate them.

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Point Your Energy in the Right Direction

You can even think of all of this in terms of science. Energy is a property that's also ready for you to harness for public speaking success.

Remember the third of Newton's laws of motion? (You were hoping I'd get that into this article, weren't you?) In case you cut your Physics class that day, it's this: if one object exerts a force on another object, there's an equal and opposite reaction from that second object. 

Voila! That's you and the energy you create while speaking to an audience. If you direct your energy outward toward listeners, that is, it will bounce back from them to you. Isn't that what dynamic speakers are doing at every moment of their talks? If, on the other hand, you direct your energy toward yourself (the "How am I doing?" dynamic), it's isn't really going anywhere. Once again: everything is about the audience. Turn your full energy (and focus) on them, and there will be reciprocal energy bouncing all over the room or conference hall. 

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Get Physical, Baby!

Now, it's time to get out of your Newton-sized head and into your body. The more you can make your presentations concrete and actionable, the better, and thinking of your speech as a physical activity and not just an intellectual one is essential.

We can even get more hands-on than that (literally). One of the things that will excite your listeners in terms of your speaking, is what they are seeing during your performance. Face it: data is fine, but it's not so good at getting on its feet on stage. But you should be! 

There are three benefits to getting physical in a speech. First, your audience has a visual reference point for everything you're saying. Another way to put this is, you're activating not only their prefrontal cortex, i.e., the analytical part of the brain. You're also "lighting up" the cerebellum, which is responsible for movement and motor control. Second, you are gifting listeners with a synergy of verbal content and physical evidence/reinforcement, which is greater than the sum of the two parts. 

Lastly, you're revving up the excitability dial for the audience by adding a physical component to your talk while allowing yourself to enjoy the moment more. And that's just more interesting and fun for everyone present. After all, who wouldn't want to join the dance instead of languishing on the sides of the dance floor?

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Gary Genard is an actor, author, and expert in public speaking and overcoming speaking fear. His company, The Genard Method offers live 1:1 Zoom executive coaching  and corporate group training worldwide. In 2022 for the ninth consecutive year, Gary has been ranked by Global Gurus as One of the World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals. He is the author of the Amazon Best-Seller How to Give a Speech. His second book, Fearless Speaking, was named in 2019 as "One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time." His handbook for presenting in videoconferences, Speaking Virtually offers strategies and tools for developing virtual presence in online meetings. His latest book is Speak for Leadership: An Executive Speech Coach's Secrets for Developing Leadership Presence. Contact Gary here. 

Main photo credit: John-Mark Smith on pexels.com.