Speak With No Fear

Mike Acker is a leadership and communications coach. He is president and lead coach/speaker at ADVANCE, where he works with companies like Microsoft, INOPPS, Diace Designs and E-Bay. Mike Acker has more than 18 years of experience in giving keynote presentations, leadership development, and organizational management. Mike Acker has given presentations to groups of 10 to 10,000. In 2014, he became chairman of GO on the Mission, a non-profit which works to lift kids out of poverty in Senegal and Mexico. Mike Acker is a graduate of Northwest University and Wayne State College.

Does the thought of speaking to a large group (or even a small group) cause you to break out in a sweat? If so, welcome to the human race. Everyone has a fear of public speaking at first. You're not alone.

However, you don't have to stay that way forever. There are 7 strategies you can use to overcome your fear and ultimately become a polished public speaker. It won't happen instantaneously, but if you keep working at it, you will get there.

STRATEGY #1 — UNCOVER & CLEAN THE WOUND. Don't try and cover your public speaking fears with band-aids. It won't work. Instead, uncover and then clean your wound. Figure out why you're nervous and deal with it.

STRATEGY #2 — IMAGINE THE WORST. Imagine that everything goes wrong in your upcoming speech and it's an utter disaster. Figure out how you will deal with your emotions in advance and control the situation.

STRATEGY #3 — YOU BE YOU, GROW INTO YOU. Accept that you're going to deliver your speech in a way which aligns with your personality and get comfortable with that. Use that trait as an integral part of your speech.

STRATEGY #4 — SPEAK TO ONE. Remind yourself that a crowd is really just a large number of individuals. If possible, meet some of them and then when you go on stage, talk to those few you know.

STRATEGY #5 — IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU. The people in the crowd are less concerned about you than you may realize. Even when you're speaking, they're not thinking about you so relax. Serve them without being worried.

STRATEGY #6 — CHANNEL THE POWER. Don't try and get rid of all nervousness when you speak. Instead, channel your stress and nervousness into obsessing over creating a positive outcome. That's a worthwhile aim.

STRATEGY #7 — BE IN THE MOMENT. Enjoy any and all public speaking opportunities you get. Be in the moment rather than worrying about what went wrong in your buildup. Have fun and you'll ace it.

Ah, public speaking. Some people love it but for most people it's the stuff of nightmares and cold sweats in the middle of the night. Mike Acker makes the point that it doesn't have to be that way, and I agree.

The thing I liked most about this book is it's down-to-earth and has some very practical strategies anyone can use. I liked the underlying message that you can do something about your fears rather than simply accepting they are there. In the current business environment where podcasts, YouTube channels and social media all have huge reach, finding your voice and projecting it is becoming more important than ever before.

This is a short book which gets to the point, but the ideas it explains have a very long shelf life. Great book.