• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Paddy Spruce | Confident Public Speaking

Confident Public Speaking

  • Home
  • About Paddy
  • Blog
  • Contact

courage

Courage to Speak

February 25, 2013 by Paddy Spruce

Tweet

Does it take courage to speak in public? If courage is managing your fear, then you may need courage. If you intervened when seeing a single woman being abused for singing in her native language on a bus, would you need courage? There is a risk that the perpetrators will turn on you and make you their target. It’s your call as to whether you will take this risk to assist someone in need of help and support.

The risk of speaking in public is surely not in the same category. If you choke, the audience won’t abuse you. If you lose your place, the audience won’t call you names. They will just wait patiently for you to recover.

The real action will be in your mind, not theirs. You might come up with a worst case scenario with no supporting evidence. The worst case scenario might make you feel very uncomfortable. Just remember all this is happening in your imagination, not in reality.

Try ignoring the thoughts in your own mind and get on with the presentation. They might think the pause is part of your presentation. It is for many speakers.

I remember one occasion when I was speaking to a large audience when the CEO entered the room. I don’t know why, but I felt the need to acknowledge his presence. I said something like ‘ we are very fortunate this morning to have someone join us who as done so much…….’ Actually I was stalling as I had forgotten his name. I paused and then kept going ‘someone whose input over many years…..’ I asked my memory to keep looking while I stalled, believing that it would come.

It did. I tried to remain calm, knowing that my memory doesn’t like pressure.

I then said ‘Please welcome……….. this morning’. I don’t think anyone knew that I had forgotten his name.

So you don’t need courage. You need patience and a sense of calm. Rehearse. Have brief notes as a backup. Use powerpoint for details that you are likely to forget. Breathe deeply. Trust your memory if you have rehearsed. Trust your notes if you haven’t. Some of the world’s best speakers use notes.

You will need courage to intervene to support a person being badly treated on a bus. You don’t need courage to speak in public.

Call me if you need Public Speaking Training.

Paddy Spruce
03 9808 8990

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: courage, fear, public speaking, risk

Footer

Latest Blog Posts

Dunno

What’s the risk of replying ‘I don’t know’ when asked a question? The questioner may be miffed that you don’t know something that they expect you to know. No big deal. Pretending that you know is a far greater risk. Nowadays, we are expected to have an opinion on many things – politics, religion, defence, […]

The ego tango

The tango is a wonderful dance but you need a partner. The ego dance is not so wonderful but again you need a partner. Imagine someone tells you that you are mistaken or wrong. First step. You reply energetically ‘I am not wrong. You are’. Step two. Steps three and four can be more energetic. […]

Subscribe to my blog and newsletter

Subscribe to my mailing list

* indicates required

How to contact Paddy

Ph: +61 (0)418 996 970

Paddy is located in Melbourne, Australia and welcomes requests from beyond.

  • LinkedIn

Copyright © 2022 Paddy Spruce