DID YOU KNOW THAT MOST AMERICANS WOULD RATHER DIE THAN SPEAK IN PUBLIC?

Jeff Myers
Summit Ministries
Summit.org

It's true! Public speaking beats out poisonous insects, disease, and even death to top the list of common fears!

I should know.

Nearly 25 years has passed, but I remember my terror as if it were yesterday.

It was fall semester of eighth grade and Ms. Marrietta announced, "Today, we begin oral book reports…"

My heart sank.

We drew numbers to determine the order of presentation. I drew…number one.

Terrified and embarrassed, I burst into tears. It was one of the worst days of my life.

Sadly, the fear of public speaking is common. Studies show that 95% of Americans say that if asked to give a speech they would flatly refuse.

Fear keeps millions of concerned citizens from speaking up in defense of truth and righteousness.

I CONQUERED MY FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING, AND YOU CAN TOO!

For much of my life, shyness prevented me from achieving my goals.

In middle school I ran for student government and lost because I was too afraid to give a campaign speech.

Whenever a teacher called on me in class…my mind went blank.

I finally realized that unless something changed, my awkward communication style would keep me from making a difference. I decided to change.

In desperation I joined the high school debate team. I practiced my speeches in front of the mirror. I taped them for review. I studied award-winning speakers. All these steps helped, but I still struggled with fear.

I continued to struggle until one day I stumbled across a truth so simple, and so profound, that it changed the course of my life.

I heard a story about a shepherd who was driving a herd of sheep onto a railroad car. The first sheep encountered a suitcase waiting to be loaded, and simply jumped over it.

The baggage handlers moved the suitcase, but the sheep continued to jump. Each sheep jumped because the sheep in front of it had jumped.

This was a perfect story to describe the stupidity of doing something just because everyone else was doing it. Peer pressure was a subject about which I cared deeply.

I took that story and developed a speech. Almost immediately I became more confident, and began winning awards and praise from others.

What changed? Only this one thing: I now had a mission. Here's the lesson: develop a sense of mission, and fear loses its power over your life.

THREE STEPS TO DEVELOPING A FEAR-CONQUERING MISSION

Use these three strategies to gain the courage to speak boldly:

1. Write a mission statement, a manifesto of what is most important to you. Ask:

a. When I die, what do I want my loved ones to proudly recall about my life?

b. What issues really get me excited or make me furious?

c. If I could dedicate my life to just one or two causes, what would they be?

2. Based on this mission, make a list of speech topics. Brainstorm how to make each topic persuasive to an audience.

3. Develop a "fear-conquering" statement. I suggest: "I will be speaking about (subject). This audience desperately NEEDS to hear this because (societal reasons and personal motivations)."

These three steps will go a long way toward helping you conquer fear so you can speak up with confidence.
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Jeff Myers, Ph.D. teaches leadership and communication at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. He also directs the Summit at Bryan College, a branch of Summit Ministries.
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