Developing confidence in Public Speaking

There are not actual rules regarding the confidence built up on how to speak before public. The innate or real potential is within the particular human being but some rules can really be helpful and i tried to collect and summarized below...

FIRST- GET THE FACTS ABOUT FEAR OF SPEAKING IN PUBLIC

Fact No. One: You are not unique in your dear of speaking in public. Surveys in colleges indicate that 80-90% of all students enrolled in speech classes suffer from stage fright at the beginning of the course.

Fact No. Two: A certain amount of stage fright is useful!!. Its nature's way of preparing us to meet unusual and unexpected challenges in our life. So, when you notice pulse beating faster and your respiration speeding up, don't become alarmed. Your body, ever alert to external stimuli, is getting ready to go into action.. If these physiological preparations are held within limits, you will be capable of thinking faster,talking more fluently and generally speaking with greater intensity than under normal circumstances.

Fact No.Three: Many professional speakers have assured that they never completely lose all stage fright!!.. It is almost always present just before they speak, and it may persist through the first few sentences of their talk or speech. This is price these men and women pay for being like race horses and not like draft horses. Speakers who say they are "cool as a cucumber" at all times are usually as thick-skinned as a cucumber and about as inspiring as a cucumber.

Fact No.Four: The main cause of your fear of public speaking is simply that you are unaccustomed to speak in public!!!. "Fear is misbegotten of ignorance and uncertainty," says Professor Robinson in THE MIND IN THE MAKING . For most people, public speaking is an unknown quantity, and consequently one fright with known quantity, and consequently one fraught with anxiety and fear factors. For the beginner, it is a complex series of strange situations, more involved than, say, learning to play tennis on drive a car. To make this fearful situation simple and easy: practice, practice, practice. You will find, as thousands upon thousands have, that public speaking can be made a joy instead of an agony merely by getting a record of successful speaking experiences behind you.
The story of how Albert Edward Wiggam, the prominent lecturer and popular psychologist, overcame his fear, can be an inspiration to all. He tells how terror-struck he was at the thought of standing up in high school and delivering a five-minute declamation.
"As the day approached, he writes, "I became positively ill. Whenever the dreadful thought occurred to me, my whole had would flush with blood and my cheeks would burn so painfully that i would go behind the school building and press them against the cold brick wall to try to reduce their surging blushes".
" On one occasion, I carefully memorized a declamation beginning,'Adam and Jefferson are no more.' When I faced the audience, my head was swimming so I scarcely knew where i was. I managed to gasp out the opening sentence, stating that ' Adams and Jefferson have passed away.' I couldn't say another word, so i bowed....and walked solemnly back to my seat amid great applause. The president got up and said,'Well Edward, we are shocked to hear the sad news, but we will do our best to bear up under the circumstances. During the uproarious laughter that followed, death would, surely have been a welcome relief. I was ill for days afterward.
"Certainly the last thing on earth i ever expected to become was a public speaker." A year after he left college, Albert Wiggam was in Denver. One day he read a pamphlet explaining the proposals of the Free Silverites; he became so incensed over what he considered the errors and hollow promises of Bryan and his followers, that he pawned his watch for enough money to get back to his native Indiana. Once there, he offered his services to speak on the subject of sound money. Many services to speak on the subject of sound money. Many of his old school friends were in the audience and i managed somehow to live through the introduction; and encouraged by even this tiny success, i went to talking for what i thought was about fifteen minutes. To my amazement, i discovered i had been talking an hour and a half!.
"As a result, within the next few years, i was the most surprised person in the world to find myself making my living as a professional public speaker.
" I knew at first hand what William James meant by the habit of success."
Yes, Albert Edward learned that one of the surest ways of overcoming the devastating fear of speaking before groups is to get a record of successful experiences behind you.
You should expect a certain amount of fear as a natural adjunct of your desire to speak in public, and you should learn to depend on a limited amount of stage fright to help make you give a better talk..