Mohamed Case

You are standing at the front of a large room,

with an audience of 100 people looking back.

You have just finished giving a presentation

and everyone is on their feet clapping. When

you leave the stage, people are waiting to talk

to you. They tell you how much they enjoyed

your talk. They say it's the best presentation

they've seen in years! You've done a great

job. How does it feel? Can you feel your heart

beating? Do you feel energized? Proud?

Few things are as rewarding as speaking successfully in front of a crowd. It's an exhilarating

experience. Perhaps one of the reasons it's so rewarding is because it involves

overcoming a very basic fear that we all share. Overcoming fear feels good. It shows

us that we're capable of more than we may have thought.

But how can a person overcome the fear of public speaking? Is it possible to succeed

when the thought of speaking in public makes your hands shake, your voice crack,

and your face turn red?

The answer is Yes. No matter how nervous

you may feel, you can manage your fear and

be a great speaker. You can even use your fear

as a secret weapon to make your presentations

more effective. This is true whether you're

an experienced speaker, or someone who has

never spoken in public before. The first step is to realize that fear of public speaking is

normal and to understand what this fear is all about.