Silence is no longer golden. Good verbal communication is highly valued. However, the fear of speaking in public haunts millions of people in every profession. Even experienced presenters can feel great discomfort at the prospect of speaking in front of a group.

No matter how the phobia is acquired, the treatment is the same.

1. Teach the body to be calm at will. This includes proper breathing and “inner awareness body centering.” Learning to pace yourself allows you to speak more slowly and pause at will.

2. Organize information for a listening audience. This includes learning to work with a structured narrative, complete with beginning, middle and end—beyond the simple laundry-list method of stacking ideas.

3. Examine your emotional beliefs to change any negative statements that reinforce your inhibitory impulse. For example, “I have the right to make a mistake” would be a helpful statement for a perfectionist. For someone who feels that he or she is imposing on people, frequently resulting in a rushed presentation, a new entitlement might be “I have the right to my speech time.” Positive statements encourage the expression of your ideas.

4. Correct the way you breathe prior to a presentation. At this moment, you are usually tense in anticipation. Your stomach is locked, so you breathe with your chest. This hyperventilation depletes the carbon dioxide in your blood, makes your heart beat faster, and increases the levels of sugar and adrenaline in your bloodstream. Thus, the “fight or flight” response is triggered. Sitting in the auditorium, unable to respond to this signal, you may feel trapped and helpless. Even the most experienced speaker has been known to experience a reaction of dread.

This exercise can help you to relax:

• Concentrate, and pull your belly in slowly as you exhale with the nose.
• Hold this for three counts.
• Relax your belly muscles and take a breath. Do not fill up your lungs or breathe so hard that your chest moves.
• Continue breathing this way, counting “1-2-3” each time for 10 breaths.

Breathing correctly can dramatically effect your comfort level.

5. Control your body through inner awareness. Even experienced speakers can exhibit out-of-control behavior. So, the first minutes of a presentation may be accompanied by rapid-fire speech, nervous pacing, jerks, and ticks. These symptoms diminish as the speaker becomes more familiar with his place in front of the audience.

6. Practice your presentation skills. There is a huge difference between having a conversation and speaking in public. The untrained speaker who relies on the audience for feedback and approval is bound to go into a state of shock when the cues he receives are unfamiliar. You may feel disconnected from yourself. You need practice to overcome the shock of the first few moments of a presentation and to develop an effective style.

7. Be likable. I frequently ask people, “What is your personal objective in giving a presentation?” The answer usually is to communicate a message, to sell a product, to unite people, to convince them to do something. The answers are always about the speech, never about the speaker. Your most important personal objective is to be likeable. By this I mean the general impression of confidence, ease, and warmth you project so that your audience feels comfortable with you. If you are likeable, you have a much better chance of getting an idea across, selling a product, and convincing people to support you.

You can learn to speak with increased relaxation, charm and personality in using a repertoire of skills. PE

Natalie Rogers is the president of Talk Power Inc. and author of The New Talk Power. 800-525-3718.

ACTION: Follow these suggestions to help you feel more comfortable and be more effective when speaking in public or making presentations.