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Regardless of whether you’re speaking to six people in a Board room or six thousand people in front of a camera, public speaking is a universally stressful concept. Great leaders throughout history have struggled to acclimate to the concept of orating to a crowd.
Winston Churchill, one of history’s most famous speakers, had to overcome a severe speech impediment before he could deliver the words that pulled Britain through some of its darkest hours. In the business world, investment guru Warren Buffett has stated many times that public speaking ‘scared him to death’, according to reports from Forbes.
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According to Marjorie L. North, a Speech Pathologist and Lecturer at Harvard University, the acute anxiety, commonly known as ‘stage fright’, that people feel before greeting a crowd is inevitable. “When your heart starts pounding, you’re sweating, your hands are shaking, your knees are shaking, and you feel like you’re going to pass out – that’s the way everybody feels,” she recently told NBC.
However, contrary to popular belief, being a confident speaker is hardly ever a natural skill. North stated that it has to be learned and honed. So, what can you do to improve your own skills in this area?
