“The first step I took to overcome the fear of public speaking was to book speaking engagements, so I was forced to push through the fear. My first large speaking engagement was to over 650 people, talk about jumping in the deep end!”

Public speaking is terrifying for most people. As a self-confessed introvert, it is for me the biggest fear I have. Why? For me being an introvert is not about shyness; I’m not shy. I do, however, feel exhausted when I’ve been around large groups of people. I find engaging in “small talk” cumbersome, but do enjoy having deep, meaningful conversations. I get tired and unresponsive after I’ve been out and about and with large groups of people for too long.

I don’t shy away from the spotlight, and I’ve been profiled a high-performing leader. However, public speaking to large groups of people absolutely terrifies me. I have for many years presented to clients, at trade shows and to board of directors, so why do I become terrified with large groups of people?

After struggling with this fear for years, I decided it was time to do something about it.

The first step I took to overcome the fear was to book speaking engagements, so I was forced to push through the fear. My first large speaking engagement was to over 650 people, talk about jumping in the deep end! My second was to conduct a workshop at a conference of over 80 business women. Both events were within 12 weeks of each other.

Right, I have the engagement booked; now I would like to understand why I have this fear. So I did some research.

Here is what I found.

We are all human, and as such we are hardwired to worry about our reputation above all else, and we worry about what people think about us. I was surprised to find that our brain actually controls how we react to treats to our reputation. It’s called a fight or flight syndrome, a natural reaction from your body to protect it from harm.

Our body releases adrenaline into the body which results in the body taking a low-power position (we slouch and attempt to divert our head and eyes downward). When we attempt to resist this position by lifting your posture and head to a confident pose, your body reacts with the muscles causing your hand and legs to shake, instinctively your body is preparing for an attack.

Okay, now I know why my hands shake; it’s a natural reaction. So, I’m not going to worry when that happens whilst I’m presenting.