Does the thought of making a presentation leave you cold? Would yo rather do ANYTHING other than stand up in front of an audience and talk for 20 minutes? When you conside that you have to do all of this completely in English, does that make it even worse?
Stop now. It doesn’t have to be this way. By following our simple step by step guide below, we can remove the fear and help you to make any presentation in English both successful and pleasant!
1 It’s all in the mind
Take two people; one is confident and experienced when it comes to giving presentations, the other is frightened to death. If we were to get inside each of these two person’s minds we would observe two totally different scenarios. We play videos to ourselves in our minds when we anticipate what a future event will be like. The frightened person will be playing a very negative video: they will be sweating and tense and with a dry mouth, struggling to speak as they stand paralysed with fear. There will be clear images of them failing as the audience looks totally bored or confused. People will whisper and laugh to each other as they sit and watch you bomb out live. Can’t you just feel your red and hot face? Contrast this with the confident guy, smiling, at ease and in control. He makes a clever joke and everybody laughs as they anticipate a well-delivered, fun presentation. This guy’s video contains strong positive feelings, the buzz of a large crowd laughing, the look of interest, enjoyment and respect for you is written on their smiling faces. You feel good! You are good at this and everybody knows it!
Let me tell you a secret. YOU have the power to choose which of these two videos you play. But, the more you play the negative one, the easier it becomes to let your brain run down this destructive path. By allowing your brain to develop this video, it becomes the easiest pathway to follow. Don’t let your mind follow the easy path of a negative scenario, work hard at reporgramming it with a positive one. Remember, it’s your choice.
2 Who Are Your Audience?
Always start by asking yourself: who will be at my presentation? What do they want to learn? What do they already know? Why not contact the organiser and ask them all the same questions. This way you will be able to plan a presentation that is in line with their expectations. Otherwise you risk pitching the level of information either too low.Once you have discovered exactly who will attend and what are their personal concerns, fears, worries, needs and desires, you must keep this information clearly in your mind as you plan. Imagine someone typical from the audience. Clearly visualise yourself talking directly to them as you plan what you are going to say.
3 Plan A Summary
Before I started to really write anything today, I simply wrote down the titles of the different parts of this article. The headings of each section were the easiest things to decide. This was just a list of titles at first, then I remembered that I wanted to tell you about the powerful effect of positive visualisation,so I added that to the list. The next step was to think of the order or sequence in which to present them. The first thing that we had to think about, before we did anything else, was to deal with the positive thinking issue. I then planned the order of each of the other parts of my article. Once I was happy with this, it allowed me to simply complete each section in more detail. You will need to do this when you start to plan your presentation.
4 Let PowerPoint help you!
A lot of people have a terrible fear that their brain will go blank. You will be unable to remember what you had planned to say! You must deal with this by using the positive visualistion technique I outlined in the first section, but with PowerPoint you can remove this worry immediately, by using brief sub-titles on each slide to prompt your memory. But be ready for every eventuality! All your mental preparation and careful planning would be wasted if you arrived at the presentation room to find that nobody had prepared the projector! Or, it was present, but wasn’t in good working order! Rather than be left in a sweaty mess of panic and, be prepared. Simply print paper hard copies of each of your PowerPoint slides so that you have some back-up if the worst case scenario happens!
5 A clear introduction
Make sure that you begin by introducing yourself, who you work for or represent, saying what are you responsible for and giving some information regarding your personal experience in this area. If you are sure that it will come naturally, make a little joke. Believe me, your audience will be feeling nervous, too and so any excuse for them to laugh out loud will provide THEM with some very welcome relief! But this is no place to try out new jokes! Always make sure that you run any joke past a trusted colleague first…
Also, do you want your audience to interrupt you with any questions they want to put to you, or would you prefer to deal with questions at the end. It’s probably best to do the latter:
“If you do have any questions about anything that I talk about today, I would be very happy to answer them at the end of my presentation.”
You then need to help your audience to follow your talk by summarising briefly exactly what you are going to be telling them. Like any road journey, help the listener follow the route that you will be following by using “signposting” language to indicate how one section will follow another in a logical sequence:
“First of all, I will tell you about….”
“Next, I want to explain….”
“After that, I will show you…”
“Then, we will see how….”
(You can then repeat: next / after that / then until your final point)
“Finally, I will tell you about…”
Remember, always plan what you are going to say by constantly asking yourself:
“If I were in the audience, could I easily understand and follow that point?”
6 Say it
This is the part of the presentation when you actually give the details behind each section. Again you can help everybody follow where you are leading them by “signposting” the end of one section and the beginning of another:
“OK, so we have looked at the effects of the economy on sales, now I want to move on to tell you about discounting.”
“That’s all I want to say about the 2008 figures, let’s now take a look at what happened in 2009.”
“I’ve told you all about what happens in our head office, but now I want to turn to examing what happens in the transport depot.”
7 Tell them what you’ve said
You want the audience to remember the contents of your presentation so it never hurts to summarise one last time what you have just said:
“So, let me summarise for you: First of all, we saw how the department deals with enquiries, then we looked at how orders are processed, after that….etc”
Then always try to conclude by reminding your audience again who you are and what you can help them with:
“Thanks for your patience and interest everyone. My name’s Peter Hayes of inlingua Manchester, helping you to do your job in English!”
8 Practise it all on a friend or colleague in advance of the big day
Once you have written your slides and planned exactly what you are going to say, you now need to find a trusted friend or colleague on which to practise. Ask them to help you by making notes as you present to them under the following headings:
- Did I make it easy to follow? Did I “signpost” the sequence of the different parts of the presentation clearly enough? – Did the presentation give you clear information that you found useful and easy to understand? – Did you feel comfortable watching and lsitening me talk?
- How could I improve the presentation?
- What questions would you like to put when the presentation is over
- Finally, how long does this presentation last?
Finally, remember this. You are in control here. How successful and pleasant the experience of giving a presentation actually is really just depends upon you. Positive visualisation and careful planning and practice will simply lead to a winning presentation. Do you want to be a presentation winner? It’s a choice that only you can make! So what are you waiting for? Go win if you want to! Take control and surprise yourself with what you can achieve!
Peter Hayes, Director of inlingua Manchester Business English Training Centre, helps hundreds of senior managers and executives from all over the world to improve their English and reach their full career potential every week. If you found Peter’s article helpful, why not visit his website to find many more articles and podcasts to help you do your job in English? You can also book a FREE 90 minute lesson => http://www.inlingua-manchester.co.uk
Fear of public speaking ranks higher than fear of DEATH! Michelle Yozzo Drake reveals her secrets for overcoming the fear of public speaking to deliver powerful presentations.
You have just been told that you are going to get a promotion.
The joy you feel is quickly dampened by the realization that your new role includes presenting on a regular basis to senior management of your company and you are scared stiff!
What do you do?
Perhaps you enroll on a presentation skills course and whilst on that course you feel your nerves ebb away with each presentation that you give and each piece of feedback that you receive. One month later you are to give your first presentation at work and the nerves just flood back as though the training course meant nothing.
There are many simple ways to avoid this dreaded possibility and most of them are very straightforward.
Firstly be prepared, that means fully researching your subject and, as far as possible, your audience. Confidence increases considerably when you know your subject and know that no question from the audience can throw you.
TIP 1: All presenters naturally feel more at ease answering a question (assuming they know the answer) than they do presenting, so, if possible, get a plant in the audience to ask you an agreed question early on in the presentation; any nerves will simply vanish!
Knowing your audience will allow you to structure your presentation in a way which will hold their interest; seeing the audience interested in what you are saying will provide a great boost to your confidence.
Secondly, try your presentation on trusted colleagues first and get them to tell you what works and what doesn’t. Having already done the presentation is a guaranteed way to feel more at ease on the day.
Thirdly, do not worry about making a mistake. Joking about it can smooth the incident over, while endearing you to your audience.
TIP 2: Plan to make a harmless mistake early on and have a prepared humorous follow-up. The tension between you and the audience melts away as rapidly as ice in the desert. You could say perhaps “I fully expect sales to exceed £3,000 this month” (when you and the audience are expecting a figure of around £300,000), hesitate briefly, say, “oh well I’d better cancel the family holiday to Australia that I’d planned with my bonus this year!” Then follow up with “of course I meant £300,000″.
Fourthly, break the ice by meeting a few people from your audience before you speak; you will find that making eye contact with those people will be a great aid to making you feel at ease while you’re speaking.
Finally, deep breathing does actually help to relieve tense muscles, a quaking voice and queasy stomach. It also helps to sit in a chair, contract and relax your arm muscles. You can feel a big difference after you have done this, but if you find yourself becoming tense again, simply repeat or try it with other muscles especially neck muscles. Always have some water handy to prevent your mouth from becoming dry.
Try these tips and you will soon see that your confidence will rapidly increase. Also make sure that you do as many presentations as you can; the more you do the easier it gets. And the very best of luck!
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The College of Public Speaking assists the Corporate, Public and Voluntary Sectors improve their communication skills. Utilising the trusted research of US Educational Psychologist Albert Mehrabian, we use cutting edge business scenarios to develop speakers capable of performing on the international stage. Call us re Exceutive Speech Coaching, Train the Trainer, Ethical Sales Training or visit us at => http://www.collegeofpublicspeaking.co.uk
Vince Stevenson is one of England’s greatest speaking enthusiasts, having competed for and won many prestigious competitions. Vince is involved with speaking at many levels and has just finished his year as District President of the South-Eastern District of the Association of Speakers Clubs having been involved in its educational development for many years. Vince is a founder and lead trainer at the College of Public Speaking, a business dedicated to improving effective communication skills in industry. He is also an in demand after-dinner speaker.
Do you suffer from a crippling fear of speaking in public? Or know someone who does?
Does that nerve wrecking feeling of being the centre of everyone’s attention leave you feeling queasy, breathless and like your head is full of cotton wool? Not to mention highly embarrassing sweaty palms and painful blushing that leaves you feeling like an awkward teenager again?
If so you are not alone!
The fear of speaking in public touches the lives of many people and unlike a medical condition there isn’t the simple option of a pill to pop and many people do not feel comfortable, or can afford, a personal therapist to help them work through this phobia. As the years go on the effect that this condition has on your life becomes more and more frustrating as you struggle to communicate effectively in not only social situations but in your working environment also.
You might be worried that you’ll be passed over for a promotion or not recognised for the contributions you have made to important projects due to you inability to clearly and concisely communicate with your boss.
Fortunately there is an alternative to those pricey therapy sessions that can help you re-train your fear response into a much more positive speaking experience. Self-hypnosis is an alternative therapy that has provided outstanding results for people just like you.
Using self-hypnosis techniques that have been around for more than 100 years, many people are starting to take control of their public speaking fear using the power of the mind! A quality self-hypnosis program that is specifically designed to take you on a journey to becoming an effective public speaker will help you unlearn old fears and build amazing new confidence in your own abilities.
The key to this new confidence is understanding that you need to re-educate your mindset to lift away the fear associated with speaking in public and replace it with a healthy and calm perspective.
It’s lifestyle change… Much like using a healthy diet to keep weight gain in check, people who are poor communicators must commit to spending 20-30 minutes a day, for just 30 days, using these techniques to re-programme their fear response. But as anyone who suffers from a phobia of speaking in public will tell you, it’s a small price to pay to be able to communicate confidently in both your personal and professional life.
Just imagine if 30 days from now you were able to deliver a toast in front all of your family and friends at a special event or chair an important meeting or speak one on one with your boss about your contributions, aspirations and goals in your role at work – all without the slightest hesitation or twitch of nerves, wouldn’t that be truly amazing?
So if you suffer from a fear of public speaking, self-hypnosis might be the answer you’ve been looking for.
Lisa Dyke has put together The Mind Training Series which is a high quality range of self hypnosis audio programmes, for more information on curing the fear of public speaking please visit http://www.public-speaking-confidence.com
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from a crippling fear of speaking in public?
Does being the centre of everyone’s attention leave you feeling breathless or queasy, even feeling like your mouth is full of cotton wool, how about your nerves, are they shattered at the very thought of having to give a speech?
Do you find yourself sweating profusely all over or blushing painfully and generally feeling like an out of place teenager?
If so you are not alone!
The idea of speaking in public has a profoundly negative effect on the lives of so many people, and it’s not like there is the simple option of popping a “cure my public speaking fear” pill before you walk into a room now is there?
Of course there is the alternative therapies whereby you pay a specialist or some kind of therapist to spend hours (usually at an exorbitant rate) helping you talk about your fear, but who can afford that these days?
Unfortunately this fear can have a profound effect on one’s life as it can make you struggle to communicate effectively, not only in social situations, but also in your professional life too.
How many times have you thought that if you could just explain yourself better or talk to your boss clearly that you would be rewarded with the promotion or just for your day to day contribution to important projects?
Thankfully, there is now an alternative to those pricey one on one therapy sessions that can help you to overcome your fear of public speaking, and allow you to begin to enjoy the experience so much more.
Many people just like you are utilising an alternative therapy using techniques that have been known to a few for over 100 years, and they are seeing amazing results. These techniques are designed specifically to take you on a journey of self discovery in order to become an accomplished public speaker and they will help you unlearn your old fears and build new confidence in your abilities.
It’s a change in lifestyle… Much like committing to regular excersise to keep weight gain in check, people who are poor public speakers are committing to spending 20-30 minutes a day, for just 30 days, using these techniques to re-programme their response to their fears.
And as anyone who has suffered from, and overcome a phobia of speaking in public will tell you, it’s a small price to pay to be able to confidently communicate in both your personal and professional life.
Just imagine if 30 days from now you were able to deliver the toast at a special event attended by your closest friends and family, or speak one on one with your boss about your contributions, aspirations and goals in your role at work – all without the slightest hesitation or sweaty palm, wouldn’t that be truly rewarding?
So if you suffer from a fear of public speaking, this might be the answer you’ve been looking for.
Lisa Dyke has put together The Mind Training Series which is a high quality range of audio programmes, for more information on curing the fear of public speaking please visit http://www.public-speaking-confidence.com
Through my many years teaching voice and presentation skills, I have found that those who experience truly debilitating, gut-wrenching fear of public speaking have had a bad experience sometime during their elementary or even middle school years when they’ve been required to stand and speak. And while that one event may not affect every child the same way, for some the damage can be traumatic.
Please understand that I am not talking about the usual nervousness experienced by most of us making a presentation or giving a speech. That nervousness is good. It is beneficial: that extra spurt of adrenaline can help make your delivery exhilarating. In my business, I don’t advocate the elimination of nervousness; instead, I teach people how to control it, allowing it to work for them, not against them.
Here, however, I am talking about a fear of public speaking that is extreme and is a result of an embarrassing or humiliating experience during childhood that the individual cannot forget. By the way, those who tell me that they don’t remember such an event have often repressed that memory, hoping to never think about it again because it is too painful.
Public speaking is tough without a doubt. Having children in their elementary years stand up and speak to a group of their peers is tougher. All it takes is one mispronunciation of a word, one lapse of memory, one embarrassing faux pas, one humiliating remark from another student or from the teacher, and that child will never want to stand and speak again. Being laughed at by one’s classmates is agonizing.
Obviously, I am not an advocate of public speaking in elementary school. I think it is a mistake and I don’t believe we need to place our children in that scenario at that tender age. In today’s schools where kids are meaner and less disciplined than they’ve ever been, we are just adding fuel to the fire. Certainly not every child will have a bad experience; but, is it worth it for those children who will suffer? [I am not talking about class plays which I think are a positive experience because they involve group participation. With the play, the child is not being singled out and has the entire class as support.]
One of my clients, a psychiatrist from Toronto whose specialty was working with severely abused adults, was being asked to speak at various symposiums and conventions throughout Canada and the United States. She came to me because of her inability to get up on that stage. Upon talking to her, I discovered that at the age of 7, she and her cousin had performed a song in front of a group of people. When it was over, her father told her that she was terrible. Admittedly, Frances had lived through years of abuse by her father but she was an amazingly resilient woman and she was confident that it was that particular event that caused her to avoid public attention ever again.
While working with Francis I was able to build up her level of confidence because she had a truly magnificent speaking voice. I tested her and I also knew that she could sing; therefore, I was able to assure her that when she was 7, she probably did sing well and that her father was a stupid and wrong man for treating her the way he did. (Actually, he died during the time I was working with her and she flew back to Ireland to ‘nail his coffin shut!’)
While you may think Francis’ example is extreme, it really isn’t. If you knew all the horror stories I’ve heard through the years, you would understand. In today’s world where growing up is harder than it’s ever been, do we really need to subject our children to an experience that could do irreparable damage to their self-esteem? Let’s take that one pressure off of them and use other positive means of bolstering their confidence and self-image.
The Voice LadyNancy Daniels is a voice specialist and president of Voice Dynamic. Offering corporate and 2-day workshops throughout the US and Canada, Daniels launched Voicing It! in April of 2006, the only video training course on voice improvement. You can watch a clip from her DVDs on her website and ?before? & ?after? takes of her clients, as well as gain valuable information about voice improvement and what it can do for you both personally and professionally at: http://www.voicedynamic.com
If you’ve had an intense fear of public speaking for many years and have tried a variety of ways to rid yourself of the fear – without success, you’ve probably concluded that you’ll probably never get rid of the fear. Or, if you do, it will take a lot of time, effort, and reinforcement.
If you’ve used most conventional methods to get rid of your fear, you’re probably right. The Lefkoe Method (TLM) is not one of the conventional methods. In fact, TLM is the only technique that has been scientifically proven to totally eliminate the fear of public speaking. As Lee Sechrest, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, concluded after conducting a rigorous scientific study with 36 people who had a severe fear of public speaking, “The Lefkoe Method was effective
in virtually eliminating the fear of public speaking.”
How does TLM work and how can you use it to eliminate your fear? About twenty-one years ago I developed the first in a series of interventions that literally do produce rapid and permanent change. The most important one, the Lefkoe Belief Process (LBP), eliminates the beliefs that are the primary cause our behavioral and emotional patterns.
After helping hundreds of people with a fear of public speaking totally eradicate that fear, we discovered that there are only a few beliefs that cause the fear.
Mistakes and failure are bad.
If I make a mistake or fail I’ll be rejected.
What I have to say is not important.
People aren’t interested in what I have to say.
I’m not capable.
I’m not competent.
I’m not important.
I’m not good enough.
What makes me important or good enough is having people like me or think well of me.
Change is difficult (or takes a long time, or needs reinforcement, etc.)
Inherent in public speaking is at least some fear.
When all these beliefs are eliminated and a little bit of de-conditioning occurs, the fear is gone—permanently. Let me show you how the LBP works for one of these beliefs.
David, one of my clients, complained of significant fear whenever he had to speak in front of a group. His palms got sweaty, his heart pounded in his chest, and he had a hard time focusing on what he wanted to say. One belief he had formed that contributed to this pattern was Mistakes and failure are bad. Intellectually he knew that learning from mistakes was a good thing, but deep down he felt this statement was the truth for him and, in fact, making mistakes upset him.
When I asked David what happened early in his life that led him to that conclusion, he replied: “Dad and mom got annoyed with me whenever I didn’t do what they wanted, when they wanted. They’d say things like: ‘Can’t you ever do anything right?’ and ‘How many times do I have to tell you?’.”
After telling David that his belief was, in fact, a valid child’s interpretation of his parents’ behavior, I asked him for a few additional interpretations of what his parents did and said. In other words, what else could their behavior and statements mean other than the meaning he gave it as a child?
His answers included: My parents thought mistakes and failure were bad, but they were wrong. My parents didn’t get angry because I made a mistake or failed; they got angry because I didn’t do what they wanted, when they wanted. The way my parents reacted had little to do with what I had done; it was a function of poor parenting skills; a couple of parenting courses and they might have treated me very differently.
I then asked David, “If your parents’ behavior could have had many different meanings, can you see that the belief you’ve been living with as “the truth” is only “a truth,” just one interpretation out of many?” He nodded agreement.
“Didn’t it seem as a child when your father was yelling ‘How many times do I have to tell you?’ that you could see that Mistakes and failure are bad?”
“I did see it,” he exclaimed.
“Take another look, now. I know you saw your parents and heard their words, but did you literally see Mistakes and failure are bad? Because if you really ‘saw’ it, please describe what it looks like.
“I guess I didn’t really see it,” David replied.
“What did you see?” I asked.
“I saw my parents yell at me when I didn’t do what they told me to do and I heard what they said.”
“And what is the inherent meaning of that? What do you know for sure about you or about making mistakes or failing?”
“Nothing. The events had no meaning until I gave them one.”
“David,” I said, “Say the words, Mistakes and failure are bad, out loud. … Do you still feel that that statement is the truth?”
“No. No I don’t believe that any more.”
David had eliminated one belief causing his fear of public speaking. However, David had to go through the same process several times to eliminate each and every belief that caused his fear of public speaking. In other words for other beliefs he had such as “If I make a mistake or fail, I’ll be rejected” he had to find out what happened earlier in his life that lead him to the belief, find other ways of interpreting those events, and realize that his interpretation could not be “seen” in the events and that the events had no inherent meaning. Each time he did that a belief was eliminated until all the beliefs causing his fear of public speaking were eliminated.
Try walking yourself through this belief, using the events of your own childhood and you’ll discover when you get to the end of the process, your belief will be gone.
Morty Lefkoe is the founder of the Lefkoe Institute. Over 12,000 people have used The Lefkoe Method to stop unwanted behaviors and feelings, including the fear of public speaking. For more information, visit the web site Public Speaking Without Fear.
Fear of public speaking is a very common form of social anxiety. Fear of public speaking has often been called the ‘Greatest Anxiety,’ due to the large number of people who actually experience this fear. Fear of public speaking doesn’t just mean that you have a fear of making a speech in public. It can mean that you experience stage fright, or even that you have a fear of talking to other people in a social situation.
Fear of public speaking often holds people back from many things that they want in their lives. It may be job promotions, or fund raisers for causes that they believe in, but the fear of public speaking will, at some point, stand between you and what you want or need.
Symptoms of fear of public speaking include shortness of breath, inability to speak, a shaky voice, shallow breathing, rapid heartbeat, sweating, nausea, dizziness, or lightheadedness. There are many things that can cause fear of public speaking. Social anxiety can cause a fear of public speaking. It may also be caused by an earlier traumatic public speaking experience. There is no one answer as to why some people experience fear of public speaking, but for those who experience it, the fear is quite real – but it can be dealt with.
There are many tricks a person can use to get past their fear of public speaking. The first trick is to know exactly what you are going to say, but not to worry about memorizing every word of your speech. Use note cards, and write down your key points – in sentences that make sense. This way, if you freeze up and forget what you were going to say, you can refer to your notes, and pick up where you left off. Use big print on the note cards, and if possible, keep up with where you are on the cards during your speech, so it will be easy to find your place if you need to.
Once you’ve prepared and practiced your speech, stop. Put it away, and don’t think about it again, until you are on the stage, ready to deliver the speech. Often people over practice, and this just causes the fear to grow and grow. Remember it is okay to mess up when you are giving a speech. Simply laugh at yourself, the audience will laugh with you – not at you – and you can continue your speech. In fact, most people are much more relaxed after they’ve made that first mistake in the speech and laugh about it. They know, at that point, that they are going to be okay.
Speeches do not need to last for hours. You only need three or four main points. Say what needs to be said, accept the applause and say ‘Thank You,’ and go off and enjoy the rest of your day or evening. Another trick that works well is to have someone you know well to look at throughout the speech, and concentrate solely on that person. Give you speech to them, and them alone – even if the room is packed. This means that you bring your spouse along with you, or bring a friend. This must be someone that you are always comfortable talking to.
Many people feel that they must include jokes in their speeches. Unfortunately, many of these people fear that they are not funny, or that their joke will flop, and this causes more anxiety and fear. If you are worried about this, omit the jokes from your speech and be serious. The people are there to hear the information, not the jokes.
If all else fails – picture everyone in their underwear. This is an old standby that really does work. The point of doing this exercise is that it makes everyone in the room seem less intimidating. You don’t even have to picture them in their underwear. Picture them with hair curlers in their hair, or picture the men with facial cream on their faces. There are a variety of ways that you can envision them in your head. Before you start the speech, simply look out over the room, and get that less intimidating mental picture in your head – but don’t laugh outloud!
Gary Miller is the author of “Prisoners of Our Thoughts: How to break free from the grips of Social Anxiety and Fear.” To learn more about the book click here to go to the website at http://www.social-anxiety-cure.com.
In May 2006 the journal Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy published a research study that proves there is a way to permanently eliminate the fear of public speaking.
This research paper described how 36 people who had a fear of public speaking were divided into two groups to test the effectiveness of a fear elimination procedure called The Lefkoe Method.
One group was exposed to The Lefkoe Method.
The other group went to Toastmasters meetings.
After a few hours of exposure to The Lefkoe Method the first group spoke in public and each member of that group reported that their fear had literally disappeared.
The second group spoke in public at the same time and, of course, they had the same level of fear they had before.
However, researchers wanted to be totally sure that The Lefkoe Method produced the results they were witnessing.
So they had the second group go through the steps of The Lefkoe Method.
This group was asked to speak in public again and each participant reported that he or she had no fear of speaking in public.
Of course, by itself, this doesn’t prove that the changes are long lasting.
So researchers followed up with participants in the study two years later.
And they found that participants remained fearless when speaking in public.
So Dr. Lee Sechrest, professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, who conducted the study, concluded,
“The Lefkoe Method is an effective, quick, and convenient procedure to eliminate the fear of speaking in public.”
Morty Lefkoe, founder of The Lefkoe Institute and published author, was not surprised as he and his colleagues were already helping over 450 people a year eliminate their fear of public speaking at the time the journal article was published.
And how does it work?
According to Lefkoe it works by “undoing” the two main causes of the fear of public speaking–negative beliefs and emotional conditioning.
Many people who have the fear of public speaking have beliefs like “Mistakes are bad” and “If I make a mistake, I’ll be rejected.”
These beliefs cause them to fear making a mistake in front of an audience, fear looking stupid and fear people even seeing that hey have fear.
Emotional conditioning is that familiar phenomenon described by Pavolv’s experiments with dogs in which he got them to salivate at the sound of a bell by ringing it when food was given. Once this happened often enough the dogs salivated at the sound of the bell even when no food was given to them.
A similar process happens to help you get conditioned to fear the types of events that could happen when you speak in public.
For example, many fearful speakers fear being judged or criticized. They form their fear because when they were young their parents were upset at them whenever giving criticism. This caused them to feel fear and to “associate” fear to being criticized.
And so as an adult aware of the mere possibility that they might be judged or criticized when speaking in public they feel fear.
Lefkoe’s processes help people to disconnect from past conditioned fears and to stop negative beliefs cold.
So what can you do if you want to get rid of your fear?
You’ll have to follow the four steps of The Lefkoe Method:
1. Uncover the beliefs that have been causing your fear.
2. Isolate the events that led to the creation of those beliefs.
3. “Get” at a very deep and profound level that those beliefs aren’t true now and never have been, and that you never actually “saw” them in the world.
4. Dissolve the conditioning that’s locking your fear in place on autopilot.
When you do all four of these things you will speak without fear in public for the rest of your life.
Rodney Daut is a personal growth expert. He is a fully certified facilitator of The Lefkoe Method and can be contacted through www.undoityourself.com.
